Apricot Compote

Last year, Trader Joe’s did wonderful offers on fruit, such as 3 lbs of organic cherries for $5.99 and a dozen of organic apricots for $3.99. I very rarely buy my produce from Trader Joe’s, because their quality isn’t on par with PCC. But these were steals!

The cherries didn’t last long in our house, but the apricots were a little tart, so I let them ripen on the counter top. In a day, some of them were starting to go bad at the stem, so I decided to make a batch of apricot compote.

Compote is a dish of slowly stewed fruit in a sugar syrup. It can be served at breakfast, dessert or as a snack. Sometimes I’m very lazy in the kitchen, so instead of slowly stewing my fruit - I cook it very fast and cheat by thickening the liquid with a slurry of potato starch. It still tastes pretty darn good!


APRICOT COMPOTE
2-4 servings

Ingredients
700 g (1 ½ lb) apricot flesh/other fruit, cut into chunks
70 g (⅓ c) sugar, adjust depending on your taste and the tartness of the fruit
2 t unmodified potato starch mixed with 1 T of water to make a slurry, optional

Method
1. In a medium sauce pan, pour in some cold water to about 2 ½ cm (1 inch) in depth.

2. Add the apricots/fruit and place onto the heat. Boil the mixture or about 10-15 minutes or until you get a jam (jelly)-like consistency with lumps of fruit still visible.

3. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Taste and adjust the sweetness according to your taste.

4. Pour in the starch slurry and stir until thickened. Allow to cool and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve, enjoy!