Poached Pear Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette

This lovely salad was part of a cooking class at Sur la table. My good friends Rick & Catherine treated Rob and myself to the class in celebration of my 60th. We will certainly make every recipe that Chef Dina Paz offered in her Date Night: Cozy Fall Dinner class!

The poached pears can be made ahead and kept covered, in the refrigerator for 3 days. The poaching liquid, maybe used over and over, if placed in the freezer.

Ingredients for Poached Pears:

• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
• 2 firm-ripe pears, peeled, halved lengthwise and cored ( I used 4)

Directions for Poached Pears:

Place the wine, orange juice, sugar and cinnamon in a medium saucepan and place on the stove over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and add pears, cut side down; poach until pears are tender, about 15 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to cool in poaching liquid. Remove the pear halves from the poaching sauce, cover and refrigerate until ready to slice and serve. 

Ingredients for Vinaigrette:

• 2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
• 1 medium shallot, peeled and minced
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions for Vinaigrette:

In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the vinegar, shallot and mustard. While whisking vigorously, slowly drizzle the olive oil till emulsified. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Ingredients for Salad:

• 1 medium head Bibb or red leaf lettuce
• 3 ounces crumbled blue cheese
• toasted walnuts

To assemble salad:

Place the greens in a large bowl and toss with enough vinaigrette to lightly coat. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

To serve:

Divide the dressed greens among chilled plates, arrange sliced pears around the salad and sprinkle with blue cheese and nuts.

Serve immediately.