Butter-Sautéed Apple Compote

Name: Butter-Sautéed Apple Compote
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 2 lb apples, half tart and half sweet (peeled, cored, diced 1/2 inch); 3 tbsp brown sugar (packed); 1 ½ tbsp lemon (juice); ¾ tsp cinnamon (ground); 1 pinch salt; 2 tbsp butter

Sides & Vegetables · European

A variant of Apple Compote — The butter-first sauté branch described in the reference notes.

6 ingredients · 30 minutes · 2 servings

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Contains dairy

Restrictions

ContainsdairyIt is in an ingredient you cannot leave out.

Diets

VegetarianPescatarianNo porkNo alcohol · check

Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.

Ingredients

Servings:

2 lb	apples, half tart and half sweet (peeled, cored, diced 1/2 inch)
3 tbsp	brown sugar (packed)
1 ½ tbsp	lemon (juice)
¾ tsp	cinnamon (ground)
1 pinch	salt
2 tbsp	butter

Optional

Not counted above. The dish works without them.

3 tbsp	water (only if the pan runs dry)
⅛ tsp	nutmeg (grated)
1 tsp	vanilla
1 tsp	lemon (zest)
1 tbsp	cornstarch (slaked in equal water)

Steps

peel6 min
raw
apples, then core them — skins left on do not soften at compote temperatures and show up as leathery flecks in an otherwise tender spoonful
dice4 min
1/2 inch, even
peeled apples — cut size is the timer here. A 1/4-inch dice is tender in under 10 minutes and slumps into sauce if you look away; 1/2 inch gives you a usable window. Mix a firm tart apple (Granny Smith) with a softer sweet one (Honeycrisp, Gala, Fuji): the tart pieces hold their edges while the sweet ones break down slightly and become the syrup that binds the dish
mix2 min
mix separately; melt butter in the pan
Toss the diced apples with lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. In the pan, melt the listed butter before adding the coated apples.
saute16 min
medium to medium-low, uncovered, stirred every few minutes
Cook the coated apples in the melted butter over medium to medium-low heat, stirring gently as their juices release. Continue until the pieces are fork-tender and the juices coat them. Lower the heat if the sugar catches; keep the pieces intact rather than mashing them.
rest2 min
off heat
compote — the syrup thickens noticeably as it cools, so a pan that looks slightly loose off the heat is correct. Serve warm with pork or roast chicken, or cold over yogurt, oatmeal or pancakes; sealed and refrigerated it holds about a week, frozen about three months