Poached Pears With Vanilla

• 1 (750-ml) bottle – white wine, preferably riesling or viognier
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup vanilla sugar,
• 1 whole - vanilla bean, split and scraped
• 4 - firm bartlett, anjou, or bosc pears, peeled, leaving the stem intact

1. Place the white wine, water, sugar, vanilla bean, and pulp into a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
2. Core the pears from the bottom.
3. Decrease the heat to medium-low and place the pears into the liquid, cover, and cook for 30 minutes or until the pears are tender but not falling apart. Maintain a gentle simmer. Remove the pears to a serving dish, standing them upright, and place in the refrigerator.
4. Remove the vanilla bean from the saucepan, increase the heat to high and reduce the syrup to approximately 1 cup of liquid, approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Do not allow the syrup to turn brown. Place the syrup in a heatproof container and place in the refrigerator until cool, approximately 1 hour.
5. Remove the pears from the refrigerator, spoon the sauce over the pears, and serve.