Seriously Good Spiced Fruit Compote Food

SERIOUSLY GOOD SPICED FRUIT COMPOTE

Steps:

• Put all the ingredients, except the fruits, into a large saucepan and slowly bring to the boil, uncovered. Boil the syrup for 5 minutes then remove the pan from the heat.
• Top and tail the oranges, then slice off the skin and every scrap of pith, using a small, sharp kitchen knife. Cradle each orange in the palm of your hand, hold it over the saucepan and cut out the segments, letting them drop into the syrup. Squeeze any juice from the debris into the syrup, too, then discard.
• Add the apricots and plums to the syrup and return the saucepan to a medium heat. Bring to the boil, then simmer the fruits for 10 minutes. Leave to cool, then chill for at least 2 hours.
• Serve the poached fruits just as they are or as a brûlée: whisk the milk into the fromage frais to loosen it a little, then divide the fruits and enough juice to cover them, among six ovenproof ramekins and spoon on the fromage frais, thickly. Dust with caster sugar and then 'burn' the sugar with a blow-torch. (Or put the ramekins on a heavy baking sheet, place it under a very hot grill and leave for 1-2 minutes until the sugar has caramelised.)

SPICED FRUIT COMPOTE

Steps:

• Place cinnamon sticks and cloves on a double thickness of cheesecloth; bring up corners of cloth and tie with kitchen string to form a bag., In a large saucepan, combine the orange juice, raisins, brown sugar, salt and ginger. Add spice bag; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 8 minutes. Add fruit; simmer for 3 minutes. Discard spice bag. Serve fruit warm or cold with a slotted spoon.

CHAI-SPICED FRUIT COMPOTE WITH YOGURT

Steps:

• Bring 1-3/4 cups water to a boil in a 2 quart saucepan. Turn off the heat, add the tea bags and steep for 5 minutes. Discard the tea bags.
• Add the honey, apricots, prunes, and raisins to the saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the liquid thickens to a light syrup, 18 to 20 minutes. (It will thicken further as it cools). Transfer to a bowl, cover, and chill for at least 4 hours and up to 3 days.
• Divide the yogurt among 4 small bowls. Serve the compote over the yogurt, topped with the toasted almonds.

SPICED FRUIT COMPOTE

Steps:

• Stir first 5 ingredients in large saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Add remaining ingredients; simmer until fruit is tender, about 15 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer fruit to bowl. Boil syrup in pan until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 7 minutes. Pour over fruit. Cool. Cover; chill until cold, about 3 hours. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.)

WARM FRUIT COMPOTE

Steps:

• In a 5-quart crock pot, combine first 4 ingredients, then top with pie filling.
• Cover & cook on high 2 hours or until heated through, then serve.