Posted By Kimberly Turner on May 26, 2017 in Berries, Citrus, Cooking How-To Videos, Cooking Shows, Cranberries, Dates, Desserts, Easter, Featured, Figs, Fruit, Fruit & Vegetables, Ginger, Gluten Free, Herbs, Holidays & Events, How To Cook, Oranges, Papaya, Pears, Stone Fruits, Sweets, Thanksgiving, Tropical, Vegetarian, Wine Country Kitchens with Kimberly | 0 comments

If you’re looking for a hot, scrumptious, fruit dessert, try my recipe for Poached Napa Valley Vanilla Fig Balsamic Fruit Stew!

This stew is chock full of delicious fruits, and kicked up with the addition of syrupy, sweet balsamic vinegar – you will love this hearty, cold-weather dessert, full of the warmth of the holidays.

Poached Napa Valley Vanilla Fig Fruit Stew:

In this recipe, I used Napa Valley Vanilla Fig Balsamic Vinegar by Wine Country Kitchens. Its rich, thick consistency makes it pour like maple syrup, and has flavors of the Mediterranean, with sweet fig puree, combined with balsamic vinegar from Modena, Italy. It’s the perfect flavor enhancer, in this recipe.

Review Show: Napa Valley Vanilla Fig Balsamic Vinegar

Wine Country Kitchens offers a whole line of amazing fruit balsamic vinegars, including: Pomegranate White, Bordeaux Cherry, Tres Citrus, Strawberry, Blackberry Ginger and Barrel-Aged.

Type: Dessert Recipe

Yield: 2 servings
Prep Time: 12 min
Bake Time: 20 – 25 min

The ingredients & instructions are listed below the video for measurements & directions. Please enjoy this webisode of Wine Country Kitchens with Kimberly:

Cooking Show: How to Poach Napa Valley Vanilla Fig Balsamic Fruit Stew

Ingredients:

2 fresh Bartlett pears – peeled, seeded & halved
2 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp dried cranberries
1 tbsp dried papaya
6 dates – pitted & halved
4 – 6 dried prunes – cut into quarters
6 – 8 candied orange peel slivers – chopped
2 candied ginger slices – chopped
2 whole cloves
2 – 5 tbsp sugar – per your taste; I added an additional 1 1/2 tbsp per ramekin, after the fruit stew baked for 20 min.
1 tbsp Napa Valley Vanilla Fig Balsamic Vinegar – when I taste tested at the 20 min mark of baking the stew, I added an additional 1 tbsp more vinegar to each ramekin; this is as per your personal preference
water – enough to cover the fruit and up to 1 inch from the top of the ramekins
2 tsp butter
dash sea salt

Optional:

other fresh, dried or candied fruits, such as apples, figs, currants, berries
other spices such as cardamom, cinnamon or allspice

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Have on hand 2 oven-safe large ramekins.
Also have a baking sheet, on hand, to hold the ramekins.

Into each ramekin place: 1 halved pear, 1 tbsp dried cranberries, 1/2 tbsp dried papaya, 1 tbsp raisins, 3 halved dates, 2 – 3 quartered dried prunes, 3 – 4 chopped candied orange peel slivers, 1 chopped candied ginger slice & 1 whole clove.
Add into each ramekin: 1 – 2 1/2 tbsp sugar (or to your taste), 1/2 tbsp of Napa Valley Vanilla Fig Balsamic Vinegar, and a dash of sea salt.
At this point, my ramekins are about 1/2 full. Add enough water to cover the fruit and to come up to about 1 inch from the top of the ramekins.
Add 1 tsp of butter to each ramekin.
Cover each ramekin with its lid or with aluminum foil, if your ramekins don’t have lids.
Place ramekins on a baking sheet and bake in a 360 degree F oven for about 20 – 25 min. Make sure the pears are poached through & tender.
Check at the 20 min mark for pear tenderness. Stir and taste test for sweetness & spices.
- Note: At this point, I find that the sweetness needed some tweaking, so I added 1 1/2 tbsp sugar, and 1 tbsp Napa Valley Vanilla Fig Balsamic Vinegar into each ramekin. Stir through again.
Cover and allow to bake an additional 5 min.
Remove super-hot ramekins from the oven and allow to stand, covered for at least 5 min, before serving.
- Tip: If you want to be extra decadent, you could stir in 1 or 2 tbsp of heavy cream; an option, but certainly not necessary.