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APPLE berry spice compote sauce


A very anticipated Ricotta PANCAKE breakfast was waiting
to be served up and enhanced by a very special APPLE.



Back in mid-September...these firm, juicy
and attractively crimson colored...
' Redfree ' apples were picked from
one of our neighbourly orchards.

 



I had recently realized that
within our nearby city limits...

... we were actually blessed with stupendous
nearby orchards in Laval, Québec.

I've been in apple abundance heaven ever since.




If you are fortunate to ever get your
hands on these prized apples...
here's a little more INFO on the Redfree:


. The earlier picked ' Redfree ' apple is one of the
rarer apple variety and very worth seeking.
. The original seedling was planted in 1966 in a breeding orchard in
Lafayette, Indiana, U.S.A. at their agricultural experimentation center.
. This pleasantly firm and juicy apple has an off-white looking flesh.
. This variety is an excellent fresh eating apple as well as enjoyed as in dried slices.
. Its balanced mildly acidic and very sweet
characteristics offers a mild surprise to the palate.
. Its slight wine-like (vinous) flavour certainly adds to its particular interest.
. The absolute bonus is the fact that this apple tree is very disease resistant,
hence, no pesticides need to be used or in some very rare cases...
extremely low doses of spraying is necessary.
. Depending on the location the Redfree is grown...
one could easily go picking during a 2 month period...
usually between late July to Mid-September in most North American areas.  
. Once reaching a riper stage...the ' Redfree ' will serve to enhance the flavour
to salads, sauces and adaptable to most baking like pies and cakes.
. It keeps quite well if stored in good cool conditions up to a
2 month period without loss of quality.



Last week, a few of these wonderfully tasty apples had gone a little ripe.
My first applesauce of the season was beckoning to get a chance to
perfume our home as well as enhance some fluffy Ricotta pancakes ;o)




Apple ‘ Redfree ’ Berry
compote sauce
yields about 4 cups

Get PRINTER version HERE

INGREDIENTS:
(American / Metric measures)


. 8 medium 'Redfree' apples ** (peeled and cut into medium chunks)
. 1 tbsp. (15ml) lemon juice
. 1 cup (250ml) mixed (frozen) berries
(I used 3/4 raspberries and 1/4 blueberries)
. 1/4 cup (60ml) water
. 1/8 cup (30ml) Agave Nectar (OR any other sweetener of your choice)
. 1 tbsp. (15ml) grated fresh ginger
. 1 tsp. (5ml) ground cinnamon spice *


* Note: In order to make a difference to your applesauce...other SPICES can also be used in very small quantities : allspice, cardamom, cloves, coriander, ginger, mace and nutmeg.









** APPLE VARIETIES that can be used successfully for applesauce...alone or in combination are the following varieties.  They are classified by my absolute favourites to some very good alternative selections:







... My absolute favourites are: 
Pink lady__Red Free__Liberty
... Excellent selections are: 
Fuji__Golden delicious__Gravenstein__Jonaclicious__Jonagold__Melrose__Royal Gala__
... Other Great choices are :
Brae Burn __CortlandJohnaton__McIntosh__Red Delicious__Regent__Stayman Winesap
... Very good choices also are:
Black Twig__Earligold__Jubilee__Lodi__Honeycrisp__Mutsu (a.k.a. Crispin)__ PaulaRed__Shizuka__Ultra Gold

Please Note: Most chosen apples have been personally tried...and for the rest of the best choices...I referred to this chart.



PREPARATION:
1. In a medium saucepan, combine the peeled, cored and cut apples...in addition to the berries, lemon juice and water.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to the lowest simmer setting.  Cover the pot for about 15 minutes without stirring.
2. Uncover the pot...add the sweetener and ginger...give it a quick stir.  Cover pot again for another 15 minutes.
3. After this time the apples should have tenderized significantly and reduced the moisture perfectly.  Uncover pot and close heat.  Now, add the cinnamon and stir.
4. At this point, you can either have your applesauce mashed or left coarsely textured.
Serving and Storing:
. The applesauce can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.  It could also be poured into airtight glass jars to be placed in the freezer for up to at least six months.  There's no real need to apply the typical canning process method.



It's time to put it all together for breakfast.
 



Let's begin with some Ricotta Pancakes * ...
plus a generous slather of Apple Berry compote sauce...
a drizzle of Maple Syrup and lastly topped off with
a sprinkle of slightly roasted sliced almonds.

* For a great recipe on amazing fluffy pancakes...
kindly refer to my instructional post on Yogu PANCAKE Fluffs and
simply replace the yogurt by smooth tasting Ricotta cheese.




Whichever apple you select to make your very scrumptious applesauce...
make sure you make enough to savour it throughout many months to come.

Do you have a favourite apple(s) to
concoct your compote sauce delight?


Flavourful wishes,
Foodessa

Comments or suggestions ... write me :o)
Claudia at: foodessa [at] gmail [dot] com


Go HERE for more SWEET creations.


Please take note on how I bake and cook...
Here’s a 101 of sorts to make sure that there are no disappointments when trying my creations.  
Also...just so you know...feel free to increase the salt and sweet factor since I'm not high on either of them ;o)
. Use DRY cup measurements for...you guessed it...all DRY ingredients.
Anything DRY gets measured by spooning the overfilled ingredient (never shake the cup) and then level off with a flat edged tool.  Exception...Brown sugar should be packed in and leveled.
. Use LIQUID cup measurements for...all LIQUIDS that cannot be leveled like for example butter, yogurt...etc.  Measure the liquids at eye level to avoid overdoing what the recipe truly needs.
OVENS are unfortunately not created equal.  Mine is so old that it has reached many degrees off it's norm.  It's really worth investing a few dollars to test yours with an appropriate oven thermometer.  You'd be surprised how many ovens I've heard about not being where they should have been.  Before you lose any more ingredients and much time preparing a new recipe...run to the store...you'll thank me later. 


Other sweet breakfast RECIPES that may interest you:
- Apple - Yogurt rustic cloud pancakes
- Oatmeal Honey Spiced Pancakes
SAMBUCA samba to ORANGE ANIS rustic FRENCH TOAST
baked FRENCH TOAST stuffed with spirited FRUITS