Poached Pears In Ginger-Lemon Sauce - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 lemon
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, cut in julienne strips
1/2 cup sugar
to taste water
6 medium Asian pears, peeled with stems attached (2 1/2 to 3-inches diameter) (firm)
to taste lightly sweetened whipped cream (optional)

Preparation

With a vegetable peeler, pare yellow part only of peel from lemon.
Cut peel into julienne strips to make 1 table- spoon.
Ream enough lemon to make 1 tablespoon juice. In a 5 to 6 quart pan, combine lemon peel, lemon juice, ginger, sugar and 3 cups water.
Bring to a boil.
Add pears and more water, if needed, to cover them.
Simmer, covered, until pears are tender when pierced, about 30 minutes.
Put pears in 6 shallow-rimmed dishes or shallow bowls.
On high heat, boil syrup, uncovered, until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 40 minutes.
Pour syrup over pears.
Cool, cover and chill until cold or up to 2 days.