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1
Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
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2
Turn the heat to very low and cover.
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3
Cook for about 30 minutes, at which point most of the port will have been absorbed.
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4
If the fruit is tender, its done.
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5
If not, add 1/2 cup water, bring to a boil again, cover, and cook for another 15 minutes.
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6
Repeat once more if necessary.
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7
Remove the fruit with a slotted spoon, then strain the liquid to remove the spices.
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8
Serve a portion of the fruit warm, cold, or at room temperature with a spoonful or two of its juice.
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9
Substitute almost any sweet or neutral liquid for the port: water, oloroso sherry, red wine (add a tablespoon of sugar), sweet white wine, orange juice, and so on.
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10
If you prefer less-than-sweet results, add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice at the end of cooking.
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11
Vary the spices.
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12
Try a tiny grating of nutmeg in place of the allspice, peppercorns, and star anise, for example.
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13
Some coriander seeds are also nice.
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14
Since the preparation of this dish is absolutely foolproof, the challenge (and most of the fun) lies entirely in the shopping, especially since there is an incredible variety of dried fruits available, much of it of superhigh quality.
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15
In the course of fine-tuning this recipe, I tried not only the obvious prunes, figs, apricots, peaches, and pears, but also cherries, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, and even banana.
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16
I tend toward the traditional but really enjoyed the tartness that dried pineapple added to the mixture and encourage you to experiment and find the mix of fruits that suits you best.
