Roasted apricots, yummy!

Apricots are here and you are likely to only find fresh apricots at your farmers market because they are fragile and do not ship well. Apricots are also one fruit that is better cooked than fresh. I figured out how to 'cook' apricots and freeze them when I was given about 15 lbs at one time! I wanted to cook them easily and quickly, so roasting them made perfect sense. Roasting will reduce the water content, intensify the flavor and reduce the volume thereby taking up less freezer space. A half sheet pan, pictured here will shrink down to fit into a 1 qt freezer bag.

I have used roasted apricots as a filling in between layers of an almond cake, a lemon cake, over vanilla ice cream, and best of all in apricot sorbet. Fresh apricots made into a sorbet tasted like baby food, but roasted, they were sophisticated and packed with tons of apricot flavor. So rinse, cut the apricots, remove the pits, place halves cut side up, drizzle with honey and sprinkle with cinnamon. Then roast in a hot oven, about 450° (or gas BBQ with the middle burner off). Check after 20 mins and then add time as needed. Cool and place in freezer bags, flattened to stack easily in the freezer.

Bon appétit!

Spring Art Boutique Delights

For the past few years I have hosted a spring art boutique with my jewelry artist friend Tina St John. This year we invited a 3rd artist, Sam McKinney, who grows and makes lovely gourd pieces. During the school year when I'm teaching full time, I bounce between cooking in my small but efficient kitchen and working in my spacious new art studio. So alongside the dining room table laden with some of the recipes that follow, I'll have a few handmade journals, some prints for framing and hand printed cards. Tina hand makes beautiful jewelry and both she and Sam are part of the Art Co-op in Three Rivers, near the entrance to the Sequoia National Park.

Of course, I featured local spring fruits and vegetables. This included the previously posted Chilled Spring Pea soup with garlic cream and bacon crumbles. Everything tastes better with a little bacon, non? Our local Southeast Asian strawberry farmers have just opened up their roadside stands featuring the old fashion Chandler variety of sweet and red fleshed strawberries. These strawberries have a short shelf life and can't be shipped, so enjoy them now. When it gets hot, they 'll be gone until next spring. I served a Mediterranean Orange 'Salad" with Pomegranate Molasses topped with local pistachios, a platter of baby carrots and radishes to be savored with a yogurt green garlic dip, a cardamom Indian style carrot cake, a lemon butter cake layered with roasted apricots and an Asian Slaw.

Gajar Ki Cake- Carrot cake with pistachios

From Madhur Jaffrey's Spice Kitchen

Notes: Take the cardamom seeds out of the pods and grind the finely in a mortar. Cardamom is used like vanilla in Indian cooking.

Serves 6-8

INGREDIENTS:

4 Tbsp butter softened, plus about 2 tsp to coat the pan

1 cup unbleached all Purpose flour, plus 1 Tbsp for dusting the cake pan

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp table salt

2 large eggs

½ tsp ground cardamom seeds, see note above

1 cup sugar

1 ½ cup peeled and grated carrots

2 Tbsp chopped pistachios

2 Tbsp chopped walnuts

2 Tbsp golden raisins

DIRECTONS:

1. Rub a 9 " round cake pan that is 1 ½" in height with about 2 tsp butter, then dust very lightly with flour.
   
2. Preheat the oven to 350°
   
3. Sift the flour, with the baking soda and salt, set aside.
   
4. Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the cardamom, sugar and 4 Tbsp of softened butter. Keep beating until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
   
5. Add the sifted flour mixture to the large bowl and fold gently with a spatula. Add the carrots, nuts and raisins. Fold in gently.
   
6. Pour into the cake pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is golden red.
   

Oranges with Pomegranate Molasses and Honey

From Bon Appétit | December 2008

This light, bright dessert of oranges, dates, and cinnamon. is a great way to end a heavy meal,

Yield: Makes 8 to 10 servings

INGREDIENTS

8 large navel oranges (preferably Cara Cara), all peel and white pith cut away, oranges sliced into thin rounds
1/4 cup floral honey (such as tupelo or orange blossom)
3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses*
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
8 large Medjool dates, pitted, chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Arrange orange slices, overlapping slightly, on large rimmed platter.
   
2. Whisk honey, pomegranate molasses, ground cinnamon, and sea salt in small bowl to blend; drizzle evenly over oranges.
   
3. Sprinkle oranges evenly with chopped dates.
   
4. Variation: add chopped mint and pistachios as a garnish
   

DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

* A thick pomegranate syrup; available at in Visalia at Mediterranean Market and Deli.

Asian Slaw

from the 'Chef' at Joseph Phelps Vineyards

serves 6-8 side servings

For Dressing:

5 oz.	Canola oil
1 oz.	Dark sesame oil
1 Tbsp	Lemon juice
1 Tbsp	Orange juice
2 oz.	Rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp	Minced garlic
1 Tbsp	Minced ginger
1 Tbsp	Soy sauce

For Slaw:

1/2 head	Green cabbage sliced very thin
1/2 head	Red cabbage sliced very thinly
2 lrg	Carrots shredded (grated)
3 Tbs.	Black sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS:

Blend all ingredients for dressing (also great marinade)

Mix vegetables

Dress vegetables the season with salt and pepper to taste. Best dressed the day you are serving it.

Toasted Almond Torte with Roasted Apricots

Last weekend I hosted an artist boutique and put out a big spread of seasonal sweet and savory treats. The eggplant and feta rolls were featured as well as a butternut squash soup with cinnamon croutons. The bread pudding with whiskey butter sauce was good, but this was the favorite of the day.
This torte recipe popped out of the files and although not a new one, Sunset April 1984, it was fantastic. I altered fruit to reflect the fall season and my frozen summer bounty. In the early summer I roasted apricots with a bit of cinnamon and honey for about 30 minutes in a hot 450+ oven, then stacked the quart bags in the freezer. After defrosting them, I spread them between the layers as a filling and again on top, prior to ‘frosting’ with slightly sweeten whipped cream.
I sliced the torte in small wedges and some even asked for seconds. YUM!


Toasted Almond Torte with Roasted Apricots

1/4 cup whole unblanched almonds
1 cup (1/2 lb.) butter or margarine
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
1 ½ cups roasted apricots
¼ slivered almonds

Toast nuts in a 9 inch pan in a 350 degree oven until golden under skin, 10 to 12 minutes; cool. Whirl nuts in a food processor or blender to grind finely.
Beat butter and granulated sugar with a mixer until creamy.
Beat in eggs, vanilla, and almond.
Blend flour, baking powder, nuts; add alternately to batter with milk, blending well.
Pour into a greased 9-inch round cake pan.
Bake in a 350 degree oven until top springs back when touched, about 40 minutes.
Cool 5 minutes on rack. Invert on serving plate; cool completely.
Cut into 2 layers. Spread ½ the fruit on bottom layer; set top layer in place. Spread the rest of the fruit on cake; top with whipped cream and sprinkle with the slivered almonds. Serves 10.