Spiced Wine With Dried Fruit Food

PANNA COTTA WITH DRIED FRUIT COMPOTE

Steps:

• Panna Cotta.
• In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over cold water. Let stand for 3 minutes.
• Meanwhile in large saucepan, heat and stir cream and sugar over low heat until sugar is all dissolved. Stir in softened gelatin until dissolved. Then, add buttermilk and salt. Divide and spoon into 30 individual glass bowls or 1 large bowl to divide later.
• Cover and refrigerate until set, at least 3 hours for individual servings or up to 24 hours for large bowl.
• Dried Fruit Compote.
• In large nonreactive pan, combine water, wines, fruits and spices; bring to boil.
• Remove from heat and let stand 15 minutes; drain, reserving 1/2 liquid, and reduce remaining liquid by one half.
• Stir sugar, zests and liqueur into reduced liquid. Add fruits; stir together and refrigerate until ready to serve.
• To Serve.
• Remove panna cotta from individual molds or scoop portions from large bowl onto individual serving plates. Spoon dried fruit compote on top.

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 WINE WITH DRIED FRUIT

Steps:

• Place tea bags in large glass measuring cup. Pour 2 cups boiling water over. Let stand 4 minutes. Discard tea bags.
• Combine tea, wine and all remaining ingredients in medium saucepan. Stir wine mixture over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring mixture just to simmer. Remove from heat. Cover and let steep 20 minutes.
• Rewarm wine over low heat (do not boil). Discard bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Ladle wine, raisins and dried fruit into mugs and serve.

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.)

PERFECT POACHED FRUIT

Steps:

• Place the vin santo, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla bean, and zests in a large, shallow saucepan with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Peel the pears, leaving the stems intact, and scoop out the seeds from the bottom with an apple corer or melon baller. Lay half the pears on their sides in the poaching liquid and simmer for 20 minutes, carefully turning the pears once with a spoon. Remove with a slotted spoon. Poach the remaining pears in the same liquid. Snip off the hard stems from the figs with scissors. Add the figs, apricots, prunes, and the first batch of poached pears and simmer 5 to 10 more minutes, until the pears and the dried fruit are all tender.
• Chill the pears, dried fruit, zests, and poaching liquid. Remove the cinnamon, cloves, and vanilla bean before serving if you like.

POLISH DRIED FRUIT COMPOTE RECIPE (CHRISTMAS)

Steps:

• Place all the ingredients (not the lemon juice) in a medium size pot, cover and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice. Set aside to cool or serve hot. You can separate the fruit from the liquid before serving but this is optional. You can serve the compote using a ladle or transfer it into a jug.