Nectarine Compote

Peel and stone some nectarines, cut them in halves and put them in a saucepan with some syrup at the small thread degree (see Sugar Boiling), and cook them until quite tender. When cold they should be served in a compote dish and the syrup poured over. A little spinach green added to the syrup improves the effect.

Compote Of Oranges

Put the thin peel of eight oranges into a saucepan with one pound of sugar and three breakfast cupfuls of water and boil for twenty minutes, skimming frequently as the scum rises. Remove the white pith from the oranges, taking care not to injure the inner skin; pull them into quarters, add them to the syrup and simmer gently for six minutes longer. Take them out with a skimmer, arrange in a heap on a dish, keeping the skin-side downward; boil the syrup until quite thick, and when cold pour it over the oranges, and serve.

Compote Of Peaches

Peel some ripe peaches, cut in halves and stone them, put them over the fire in a saucepan, cover with thick syrup and let them simmer till sufficiently cooked. Crack the stones, and when the peaches are done lift them carefully out of the syrup with a skimmer, place them in rather a deep dish and put the kernels in. Let the kernels and syrup boil till pretty thick, add strained lemon-juice to taste, mix in well with the syrup and then pour it over the peaches in the dish. This may be served either hot or cold.

Compote Of Peaches With Rice

Split nine peaches into halves, take out their stones and plunge the peaches into boiling water to loosen their skins; drain, peel, put the peaches in a basin and cover them with syrup at 30 degrees. Wash one-half pound of rice, blanch it for eight or nine minutes, then drain and refresh it; put it in a stewpan with sufficient warm milk to cover, adding more milk as it evaporates. When the rice is nearly cooked put it in together with a stick of vanilla cut in pieces, and two heaped tablespoonfuls of granulated sugar. Take the saucepan off the fire and keep it covered for ten minutes. Butter a border-mould, mix three tablespoonfuls of butter with the rice, and put it in the mould pressing it well down. Keep the rice warm for ten minutes, then turn it out of the mould onto a dish, fill the center with the halves of the peaches building them in a pyramid shape. Reduce some of the syrup with a little apple-juice and pour it over them. Blanch and peel some sweet almonds, split them into halves, stick one on each peach, and serve with the remainder of the syrup mixed with a little maraschino in a sauceboat.

Compote Of Pears

Cut four large baking-pears into six pieces each, lengthwise, but keeping one whole half for the center of the compote; pare and core the pieces of pears and put them in a lined-pan with some 16 degrees syrup, one teaspoonful of prepared cochineal and a little lemon-peel. Boil, drain, and arrange the quarters in a compote dish, putting the half pear on the middle. Boil the syrup till reduced to 30 degrees, pour it over the pears when cold, and serve.