Recipes for Shabbat

Compote

By Eileen Goltz

My Aunt Maureen (a favorite relative who is a fabulous cook) as a version of hot fruit compote is one of my all time favorite dishes. I serve it year around, whenever I feel the need for comfort food, and especially when I roast a turkey or Cornish hen. To me, compote is that special side dish best appreciated when fresh fruits aren't readily available or when we have a little extra dried fruit we want to use up.

As a toddler my youngest used to describe compote as sort of a cholent for fruit and it caught the essence of it,sort of. In reality compote is literally a form of preserves and is one of the very first dishes I taught him to make. It is one of the simplest ways to get your kids involved in cooking because the recipes are all very forgiving and if a piece or two of dried apricot or canned pineapple end up in someone's mouth instead of the bowl nobody will ever know (or even care). Try giving even the youngest of your helpers a plastic knife and let them "cut" up some of the fruit. You'd better buy extra ingredients because if your kids are anything like mine half the recipe was gone before I ever got it cooked.

Making compote is easy and the prep work can usually be done in about  10 to 20 minutes. The fruit is the preserved, combined or flavored by cooking or marinating them in syrup. The compote can be made by cooking the fruit in syrup or by pouring boiling syrup over fruit and allowing the fruit to steep in the syrup. You can also poach the fruits and then marinate them in syrup. To make life even easier you can use canned fruit and eliminate some of the cooking.

Compotes can be made several days in advance of when they'll be needed  and can stay in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks (if it lasts that long). Most can be served either hot or cold. The following recipes span the spectrum of the very easy marinated fresh fruits to the more involved boiled and baked recipes and they are guaranteed to perk up even the most boring of meals.

NOTE: For most of the year a little compote goes a long way but with Pesach not too far away you may want to know that it is the one time of year where making 3 or 4 different types of compote in one week is perfectly acceptable. Honestly, who among us hasn't used compote as a "natural" counter point to the mounds of intestine blocking matzo we've consumed. Most of the following recipes are acceptable or can easily be adapted for the week of Pesach.

NOTE: If you are making these recipes for Pesach make sure that the canned and dried fruit you use is certified kosher for Pesach.

NO TIME TO MAKE COMPOTE, COMPOTE (pareve)
You can put this dish together in under 20 minutes and it tastes like you  were in the kitchen all day.

Drain all the fruit (reserving the syrup), and put the fruit into a bowl. In
a large sauce pan combine the sugar, 3/4 cup of the reserved syrup, wine,
lemon juice and rind, orange juice and rind and cook slowly at a simmer for
about 15 minutes. Cool, and then pour the syrup over the fruit. Mix to
combine and then cover and chill in several hours. Serves 6 This recipe can
be doubled or tripled.

BAKED FRUIT COMPOTE FOR PESACH (pareve)

Soak the dried fruits in cold water (to cover) overnight. Drain the fruit
and place them in a saucepan together with the orange juice, water, cloves
and cinnamon. Simmer gently for 45 minutes, and then add lemon juice and
sugar and cook, stirring frequently, for l0 minutes longer. Preheat oven to
375. Drain the fruit, reserving the liquid, and place fruit in a shallow
ovenproof casserole or pie plate. Add just enough liquid to barely cover the
fruit. Sprinkle crumbled macaroons over the top. Bake in preheated oven for
15-20 minutes. Serve either warm or cold. 8 to 10 servings

FANCY DRIED FRUIT COMPOTE (pareve)
A few more fruits, a couple more steps but this recipe is a very elegant
twist on a simple recipe.

In a large saucepan combine the wine, sugar, cinnamon sticks, zest, lemon
juice and water in a saucepan over high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil.
Reduce heat to low. Cover saucepan and simmer about 10 minutes. Add
raisins, prunes, figs, apricots, pears, and apples and return to a boil.
Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Serve warm or chilled using the
toasted almonds as a garnish.

FRESH PINEAPPLE AND PLUM COMPOTE (pareve)

Combine pineapple chunks and plums large bowl. Sprinkle the fruit with the
brown sugar and toss gently. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Serve the compote on individual serving place. Sprinkle the top of each
serving with a little toasted coconut just before serving. Serves 12.

ELEGANT FRUIT COMPOTE

Combine the sugar, potato starch, pineapple juice, orange juice and lemon
juice together in a sauce pan and cook until the mixture thickens, stirring
constantly. Remove the mixture from the heat, set it aside to cool. When the
mixture has cooled, in a large bowl combine the pineapple, mandarin oranges, apples, bananas and cherries or grapes. Pour the liquid mixture over the fruit and then cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. When ready to serve place the fruit compote in its serving dish and top with the toasted almonds. Note: other fruits in season may be added.

VANILLA FRUIT COMPOTE

From orange, with vegetable peeler, remove 3 strips of peel (about 1 inch
wide each); squeeze 1/2 cup juice. In 5- to 6-quart sauce pot, place sugar,
cinnamon sticks, vanilla bean, orange peel, and 3 1/2 cups water; heat to
boiling over high heat, stirring frequently until sugar dissolves. Reduce
heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add pears and apples to syrup, gently stirring to combine; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 8 minutes or until pears and apples are tender. Stir in cranberries and peaches; cook 1 minute longer. Pour fruit mixture into large heat-safe serving bowl; stir in orange juice. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to 3 days to allow  flavors to blend. Serves 8 to 10. This recipe can be doubled or tripled.

FROZEN FRUIT COMPOTE (pareve)

In a large bowl, combine the strawberries, blueberries and blackberries and
1/2 cup sugar. Let stand at room temperature until the berries thaw, about 1
1/2 hours. Stir occasionally, taste, adding the remaining sugar if necessary.
In a large colander, strain the berries with a bowl under it so you can save
the juice. Place the cornstarch in a medium saucepan and stir in the juice.
Turn on the heat to medium and cook, stirring, until the juice becomes thick
and translucent, about 10 to 15 minutes. Let it cool. Place the berries in
an attractive bowl. Pour the sauce over the fruit. Add the oranges and stir
gently. Cover and chill until serving time. Serves 8 to 10.

CRANBERRY COMPOTE (pareve)
This is a versatile dish, delicious warm, cold or at room temperature; with
meat, poultry, as an appetizer, condiment, dessert or between-meal snack.

Cut the pears and oranges into 1/2 inch pieces. Cut each apricot into 6  pieces and then set them aside. In a large saucepan, bring the water and  sugar to a boil, stirring the mixture occasionally. When the mixture comes to a boil stir in the pears and apricots Reduce the heat and simmer the fruit in the uncovered pan for 5 minutes. Stir in the oranges, and continue simmering the fruit in the uncovered pan for 2 minutes. Stir in the cranberries, and cook them over medium heat in the uncovered pan for 5 minutes, stirring the compote occasionally. When the cranberries burst the compote is done. Remove the compote from the heat.

Eileen Goltz, a professional chef and caterer, is the author of the new cookbook, Perfectly Pareve.