Day 74: Pears Helene

This recipe comes from Tyler Florence of Tyler's Ultimate on the Food Network. It's called Vanilla Poached Pears with Chocolate Sauce and Ice Cream (a.k.a. "Poire Belle Helene").

I followed the recipe pretty close, but I removed the wafer and just used regular chocolate syrup.

It tastes pretty good, but I think I would have preferred the pears a bit softer. I have very little patience when it comes to most things and unless you give me strict guide lines like "when the toothpick comes out clean" or "when the noodles are golden brown" I tend to screw things up. The direction of "the tip of a paring knife will go through the flesh of a pear with just a little resistance" meant almost nothing to me. What is "just a little" this all depends on my strength, my sensitivity to resistance, and how sharp of a knife I'm using. Eh. If I see this on a menu sometime, I'd love to taste a professional's version.