Apple Coconut Compote

This is a winter favorite, made in large batches every Sunday morning. The companion Apple Coconut pies are "brewed" at the same time.

The compote, as with the pie, has small amounts of long-cooking oatmeal (a grain) and powders of a selected root vegetable (a legume) as its matrix. Heavens to Betsy, someone must be balancing taste values for health.

You take about 5 cups of apples, and trust me, Sunday morning is not the time you want to be coring and fine chopping 5 cups of apples, so go out and get yourself a 5 gallon can of sliced apples and quit whining about the fresh clause. PS the healthy, sturdy pioneers of "this land is my land" were dastardly canning as I am; you can too.

Take about 3 cups of your pre-soaked coconut flakes (unsweetened or sweetened, alter the raisins to compensate). Here's the deal. Flakes will taste like toothpicks out of a bag, even after cooking for 30 minutes, if not young and fresh. You can get young, fresh, frozen soft coconut flakes from Asian markets for a heftier price than the dried flakes. So, soak in coconut cream and a dash of lime (acid) to soften.

Take about 2 cups of raisins, lovingly drowned one by one in something warm and inviting for at least 45 minutes if not overnight. Did someone say brandy and orange juice with orange zest? Was someone thinking Cointreau?

Put the apples with a bit of water in a large pot and heat on medium. When they begin to bubble add half the coconut milk, and carnation milk with 1/2 stick of unsweetened butter and half the spices. Keep mixing, and keep to a low bubble. Now add the coconut flakes and raisins. After about 10 minutes of gentle stirring, add the rest of the milks and the oatmeal with 1 T of root powder (sweet potato) and the rest of the spices. Keep stirring gently and adjusting thickness.

Do not add sugar or honey to this. Squirt some lime juice to tart up the taste, if that's where you're at, taste wise.

When the oatmeal is completely broken down, but the apples are still in chunks, it is done. Someone who says BAM! a lot has a show on the Food Comedy Network where he suggested serving plain apple compote over a bagel. Very comedic, but nope, you just serve it in a bowl. You may, if it is a Holiday Morn, ladle an amount of Eggnog (see prior recipe) over it, for a Holy Breakfast of Champions.

Taste Values:
Level 1:
Level 2:
Level 3:

[Interpretation of Taste Values from the XYZ Tastewheel (c) 2006 All rights reserved]


Health Values:
Depends on your personal constitution, season, geographical location, and current state of body, spirit and and mind!