Ingredients
1 bottle red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
5 ounces plus 5 tablespoons honey
4 whole cloves
3 Thai bird chiles
2 sticks cinnamon
1 whole star anise
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
4 green Bartlett pears, peeled, cored and quartered (about 2 pounds)
One 4-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
Zest of 1/2 lemon
3/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
Directions
In a large saucepan set over medium-high heat, add the wine, 5 ounces of the honey, the cloves, chiles, cinnamon, star anise and vanilla seeds, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and add the pears. Submerge the pears fully by placing a plate small enough to fit in the pan, over the pears. Cook until tender, 20 to 22 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Refrigerate the pears in the cooking liquid until cool, about 1 hour.
Meanwhile, combine the remaining 5 tablespoons honey, the cream cheese and lemon zest in a bowl, and beat with an electric hand mixer until smooth.
Place 1 ounce of the cream cheese mixture on each plate, then top each with 2 pieces of pear, and sprinkle almonds over the top to serve.
By: Damaris Phillips
***Grabbed from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/damaris-phillips/mulled-wine-poached-pears-with-toasted-almonds