I really love this dish, it’s delicious and relatively simple to make but looks fancy. It’s worth the extra bit of cost to use saffron. I find I prefer bosc pears because they get softer a bit faster (the D’anjou pears were still a bit too crunchy…) I used sour cream as I couldn’t find crème fraiche. The site now has a subscription on it but the recipe is: bring all ingredients except pears and crème fraiche to a simmer in a medium sauce pan. Once it’s simmering, add the pears (whole, peeled). They should be fully submerged (add water if you need to get them fully submerged. it’s better to use a smaller pan so you add less liquid). Simmer with a partially covered lid for 30 min. Take the pears out and then let the poaching liquid simmer/boil til it’s down to 1 cup of a syrupy liquid (15 or so min). To serve, cut the pears in half, scoop out the seeds, top with the reduced syrup and crème fraiche. You can also cover and chill the pears, and then warm up the syrup and top.
