Nurturing my inner... fruit bowl

There were two things going on in my head that morning (besides "I'm not really awake yet."): 1.) I have some organic fruit left from the Green Grocer delivery a couple weeks ago that I need to do something with before it goes bad. 2.) I need to jazz up breakfast so it's not blah.  This is what you get as a result of my early day, still half asleep, pondering and cooking adventure.

Fruit Chutney

2 d'anjou pears, peeled & diced
1 fuji apple, peeled & diced
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp Lyle's Godlen Syrup
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup Craisins
1/4 cup golden raisins
1 cinnamon stick
1/3 cup pecans, toasted & chopped
1 tsp corn starch
Pinch of salt

I like this recipe because it's got lots of good stuff in it, but it's simple.  A two pot wonder.  In the first pot goes the pears, apple, brown sugar, syrup, OJ, lemon juice, Craisins, raisins, salt and cinnamon stick.  Partially covered on a medium, low simmer setting for about 15 minutes.  Stir from time to time and to check on the liquid content so it doesn't burn.

Can use any combo of fresh and dried fruit.
Apricots would be another good option.

It always seems to be a challenge to me to find new ways to have a breakfast that isn't loaded with fat and doesn't use eggs.  (Because you shouldn't eat them every day.) This curious set of challenges was a motivator for this recipe.  It was also pantry cooking.

Oats with Milk

1/2 cup steel cut oats
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup nonfat powdered milk

And for the second pot... Oatmeal is a good for you food, but you have to do the real oats, not the packaged, nutritionless junk. I like steel cut for this.  But instead of making them with just water, I added some powdered milk I happened to have around.  Because I don't drink much milk, I have the powdered version handy for last minute guests to have coffee.  (I drink my coffee black with sugar most days.  But why should they suffer?)  It worked out great!

 

Very low simmer. Just bubbly edges.

The time on the container said 5-7 minutes, but it didn't seem done to me until about 8 minutes when it looked like rich, creamy oatmeal.  (Yet made with non fat milk, if you recall.  Boo ya!)  You won't need to add any sugar to this because you'll be combining with the sweet fruit mixture later on.


Sort of looks like extra thick cream of wheat.


Back to pot number one... In the last couple/few minutes of cook time, add the pecans and then the corn starch to thicken the remaining juice.  (Note: You don't want to cook the fresh fruit for too long so that the pears and apples break down so much and become pear and apple sauce.)

Smells warm and fallish. Bet this would also
make a great turnover mixture.

Time to create your breakfast bowl.  Add a nice scoop of the oats to a dish and another scoop of the warm fruit chutney on top.

That looks farm table ready to me.

Mmmm.  Sweet and full of wholesome grains.  I loved how chewy it was.  Full of good-sized chunks of fruit and crispy nuts.  The Craisins and raisins got all plumped up and soft.  The texture of all the items together, in each spoonful, was a real fruit symphony.  Music for your tastebuds!  That should surely wake you up in the morning.