Stewed Pears with Ginger and Lemongrass

On a cold winter's night, there is nothing more satisfying than coming home to fogged up windows from cooking.  Nothing more satisfying than a warm house soaked in the smell of spices and honey.  Smells like Christmas, but with ginger and lemongrass instead of the conventional cinnamon.  And there is nothing more satisfying than eating this hot spiced pear stew with good company. 

I am aware that it is only October, but as I reside in Scotland, trust me, it's winter already.

Get creative.  Play around with the spices, add a vanilla pod in there.  Add some other dried fruits, here I added raisins.  Add a healthy splash of alcohol.

serves 4
Ingredients
1/2 lemongrass stalk, smashed
1 nob ginger, thinly sliced
3 tbsp raisins
3 tbsp honey
6 medium pears
2 limes
a handful of toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped


Method
Cut 1 lime into quarters.

Peel the pears and chop into bite size pieces.

Place the pears in a pot along with the ginger, raisins, honey, lime quarters and lemongrass. Add enough water to cover.  You can add more honey at this point, just taste as you go along.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover, reduce heat and let simmer for around 20 minutes or until the pears are tender.  Serve with hazelnuts and lime zest from the reserved lime.