This week’s RV Recipe is Apple Pear Compote, an awesome side dish for any meal…in the Rv or at the home kitchen table.

The practice of preserving apples by cooking them down in a sugared water solution and a little lemon juice or vinegar to make a sweet yet savory chunky compote actually dates back to medieval times in Europe.

Various apples (sweet to tart) can be used and the chunky compote flavor profile can be enhanced by adding other fresh and dried fruits. 

Compotes are often served as a side dish when having a pork dish as a main dish but can also be a tasty snack or even a topping over vanilla ice cream or a pie or tart filling.

Making Apple Pear Compote while camping?

Apple compote can be made with ease while camping and is a good way to use up aging fruits you have on hand that need to be eaten or tossed!

Which apples should you use for your Apple PearCcompote?

There are a variety of apples sweet to tart that make a good tasting compote.  A good rule of thumb is to choose a mix of two or three varieties. 

Very Sweet to Mildly Sweet

• Fuji
• Gala
• Honeycrisp
• Golden Delicious
• Crispin (aka Mutsu)

Sweet and Tangy

• McIntosh (cooks down very easily so will be slightly more watery)
• Braeburn
• Rome
• Cripps Pink (aka Pink Lady)

Tart and Tangy

• Macoun
• Granny Smith

Apple type to avoid

       * Red Delicious   (save those for slicing or eating whole rather than cooking or baking)

RV Recipe Cooking Tips for Apple Pear Compote:

• If you’d like your apple pear compote to have a pink color, pick a red variety as one of your choices; rinse and dice the apples but keep the skin on the red apples and cook with the other apples and fruit as noted in the recipe below.

In making this apple pear compote, I used fruit and ingredients I had on hand: Fuji apples, a few pears, dried cranberries and an orange along with a little acidity of the vinegar, some cinnamon and sugar.  The beauty of making this compote is that you can easily substitute or combine the fruit and varietal of fruit: apples, pears and dried fruits: figs, cranberries, cherries, raisins, apricots etc.  

Other substitutes that can be made are: using a few squeezes of lemon juice rather than vinegar and experiment with different spices added to the dish like roasted garlic, red chili pepper etc.

I prepared the compote on the stovetop of the RV Galley but you could prepare the dish using a heavy pot on an outdoor grill, use a slow cooker if you are going to be out and about on a hike or use an alternate method of cooking the compote by using a Crock Pot or an Instant Pot.

Apple Pear Compote RV Recipe

Makes 4 – 5 servings

Ingredients

2                 Fuji apples, rinsed, peeled and cored

3                 pears, rinsed, peeled and cored

1/4 cup      dried cranberries

                    zest of an orange and juice of 1/2 orange

                    sugar to taste ( 1/8 – 1/2 cup)  

                    pinch of salt

      1 tsp      cinnamon (or a few pinches of red chili peppers)

                    juice of a lemon or 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 – 1 cup  water (or substitute apple juice or apple cider)

1 tsp             vanilla

     

   

   

 

Directions for Apple Pear Compote

1.  Rinse fruit, peel, core and dice in 1″ pieces.  
2.  Place prepared fruit, water, sugar and vinegar or lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat.
3.  Stir fruit intermittently and bring the mixture to a boil. Continue stirring for a few minutes then lower the heat to simmer. 
4. Add spices.
5. Stir as needed for 20 – 25 minutes until fruit has softened and water is mostly absorbed.
6. Add dried fruit and zest and juice of 1/2 an orange.  Cook for another 5 minutes.  Stir as needed.
7. Off heat, stir in vanilla.
8. Serve warm or cold.
9. Cover and refrigerate leftovers and enjoy over the next few days.

Cooking Alternatives

Crock Pot

Spray interior of ceramic pot with baking spray.  Cook the ingredients in a Crock Pot as above. 

Place the crockpot on low and cook for 6 hours.

Instant Pot

Place the ingredients as listed above in the stainless steel liner of the Instant pot.  Close lid and steam vent. 

Cook an MANUAL 2 minutes then Natural release for 5 minutes, then intermittent Quick release bursts. 

Turn the IP off then turn the IP on SAUTE ,stir until desired consistency is reached. 

 

Want more RV Recipes? My cookbook Small Kitchen Big Flavors! is available at a great Introductory Price on eBay and my blog site at: https:/smallkitchenbigflavorsblog.wordpress.com