We knew, when we tucked those pears into the village baskets, that we had to include a recipe for wine-poached pears.  This is a dessert that's under-rated. Which is such a shame. It hits so many notes, the chill of the pear flesh, the sweetness of the wine, the spice from cinnamon, clove, and star anise. The warmth of the orange. And then the rich chill of fresh whipped cream or smooth mascarpone cheese. It's just so good and so, so striking. A sexy, sophisticated Valentine on the plate.   

Caramelizing onions is one of those things no one thinks you need a recipe for. Just cut them up and cook until caramelized, right? Except most recipes call for caramelizing your onions for 10-12 minutes. Or 15-20 minutes. Which, my friends, cannot be done. At all. You can brown them in that time and achieve some nice color, but you're really just singeing the onions. Or, if they have enough time to start releasing, singeing the onion's natural sugars. And once that happens, it's impossible to achieve that depth of flavor that only comes from truly caramelizing your sugars.  For true,...