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1
Put the halved pears in a non-reactive pot large enough to hold them in a single layer and scatter the sugar over them.
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2
Tuck the orange peel and the cinnamon stick among the pears and pour the wine over them.
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3
Bring the pears and wine to a simmer. Cover the pot and poach for 30 minutes. Turn the pears gently with a slotted spoon, cover with lid ajar, and poach for 30 minutes more.
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4
Remove pears with slotted spoon, and remove and discard the cinnamon stick. Bring the remaining liquid to a boil abd reduce by one third to one half, watching to be sure it doesn't burn. You'll need at least a cup for the charoses and it's so good you'll want more for pouring over vanilla ice cream later in the week.
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5
Pour the syrup over the pears and let them chill overnight before continuing, or use them right now in Part Two if you're in a hurry. The longer they sit, the better they get, but they're pretty good right now.
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6
Peel, core, and roughly chop the apples. Chop the pears into similarly sized pieces.
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7
Combine apples, pears, and walnuts in a large bowl and add half a cup of poaching liquid. If you prefer a looser mix, add more liquid.
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8
Here's where your own preferences come in. If you like a spreadable charoses, dump the contents of the bowl into your food processor and pulse until the charoses is the desired consistency, adding poaching liquid as needed (this is what I do). If you like it roughly chopped, skip this step. Just don't puree it - you want some texture.
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9
Cover the bowl of charoses and chill until it's Seder time. You're the cook, though - who said you couldn't have some right now?
