Tag: Apricots

Weekend Finds 7:6:14

July 6, 2014February 10, 2017

I don’t know about you all, but I had a truly lovely July 4th. I ate possibly one of the most delicious summer holiday meals every – perfectly grilled steak, BBQ chicken, grilled veggies, and that green rice salad I’ve been going on about. Now I’m at the coast with family, and couldn’t be happier that I get to spend this holiday weekend with people I really love. With that, on to the weekend finds.

1. Corn, Tomato, and Garlic Confit Pasta

Past with roasted tomatoes, corn, and garlic confit from Food52 // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust — Doesn’t that look like a bowl of summer?

Garlic confit sounds intimidating to me. It really does. But let me say this – it was so easy to make. Like painfully easy. And it added immensely to this dish from Food52 (by Dash and Bella). This dish screams summer, and was so creamy and flavor packed. Just start roasting those tomatoes early! They need 2-3 hours in a low oven.

2. Easy Marinades

Easy Marinades // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust — Marinate everything!

I love summer because it means marinating meats and throwing them on the grill. I’ve got a couple good marinade recipes in my back pocket, but more can never hurt, nor can the ability to throw one together no matter what you’ve got on hand. This little tidbit from Bon Appetit offers some great ideas, as well as a general equation to make your marinades perfect.

3. Apricots!

All things apricots // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust — My favorite apricot recipe.

If I’m being honest, I think apricots are kind of an undervalued stone fruit. I love their small size (the perfect snack), their soft skin, and their mild/sweet/tart flavor. Perhaps my favorite thing to do with apricots is halve them, fill the hole where the pit was with a spoonful of honey, and throw them under the broiler for a few minutes. Top with Greek yogurt, mascarpone, or freshly whipped cream, and some chopped pistachios. Other bites of apricots that look delicious are these crostinis, a different roasted apricot technique with butter and brown sugar, this couscous with apricot (sub fresh for dried apricots please), and this apricot miso jam (I know the recipe calls for dried apricots, but still, two of my favorite things in a jar together, yes please right now thank you).

4. Peas, peas, peas

Summer Peas // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust — A little ingredient education never hurt anybody.

I love ingredient education, and various kinds of peas are something that I confuse sometimes. It’s actually pretty important to know the different between your peas, particularly shelling peas and snap peas. Read here about which are best for what.

5. Vibrant Table by Kimberly Hasselbrink

Vibrant Food by Kimberly Hasselbrink // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust — Doesn’t that cover make you want to cook? Photo from The Vanilla Bean Blog.

This is the cookbook that the green rice salad with nectarines and corn is from (the one I haven’t been able to stop talking about and made for the 4th of July), and that recipe was so freaking good, now I really want this cookbook. I love when books are organized seasonally – I feel like it makes it easier to flip through. And taking a look at some of the recipes in the table of contents, I feel like this book is something I’d reach for again and again. Wish list!

Apricot Foldover Pie

June 20, 2014February 10, 2017

I’ve been wanting to make this apricot foldover pie for a few weeks now. I’ve been dreaming about how soft the apricots will get, and how homey and rustic the crust will taste with whole wheat pastry flour. And yesterday was the perfect excuse, as it was Jonah’s last night before he left for 2 weeks in Europe for work. Hard life he leads, that guy.

So he heads to work, I whip up the dough and throw it in the fridge to chill before running to the store to pick up fruit. I found the most tender apricots and the juiciest raspberries to use for this pie. In fact, I couldn’t help myself and ate a couple raspberries on the approximately 2 minute drive back to my house.

I cut up the fruit and mix up the filling. All is going well until I try to start rolling out the dough. I was working up a sweat, I kid you not. It’s so tough, and it’s starting to get huge – way bigger than needed to fill the pie dish with some overhang. But no matter, I drape it into the pie dish, pour in the filling, and then start folding up the edges. As I’m folding it all up, I realize how thick the crust is despite having rolled it out to be far bigger than necessary. I knew something must be wrong. I go back to check the recipe, and there is my glaring mistake. I misread 1/2 cup of whole wheat pastry flour for 1 1/2 cups. So, you know, I basically doubled the flour.

At this point, I have to leave for work in about 40 minutes. What else could I do? I dump the filling back into the mixing bowl, toss the original crust, and start from square 1. Instead of chilling the dough for the prescribed 30 minutes, I stuck mine in the freezer for about 5. Rolled it out, filled it up, and threw it in the oven, asking my roommate Sophie to take it out when the timer beeped.

And it came out beautifully. Rustic, perfectly golden, all that. I can only imagine what a disaster it would’ve been trying to eat that crust if I hadn’t discovered my mistake and started over. But there you have it. It all works out in the end. And everyone makes mistakes.

Apricot Foldover Pie

Note: I like cardamom. A lot. So I used 1/2 tsp of it. However, it is a strong flavor. I suggest smelling it, and seeing if it’s something you would like lots of or a little of, and then add either 1/4 or 1/2 tsp based on your whiff.

Ingredients

Pie Dough

1 1/2 cups AP flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbl sugar
12 Tbl (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp white vinegar
1/4 cup ice water, plus a few Tbl if needed

Apricot Filling

7-8 cups apricots, pitted and quartered (a little over 2 lbs)
1-2 cups raspberries (optional, though if you aren’t using raspberries, you’ll want to use more apricots)
1/3-2/3 cup sugar, plus 1 Tbl
3 Tbl AP flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4-1/2 tsp cardamom
2 Tbl unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

Pie Dough

To make the dough, mix the flours, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Add the chunks of butter, and cut them in with a pastry knife. You can also use an electric mixer with the paddle attachment (that’s what I did) or a food processor. Blend until the butter is roughly the size of uncooked chickpeas. In a separate small bowl, mix the egg yolk, vinegar, and 1/4 cup of ice water. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture 2 Tbl at a time, until the dough starts to come together. If you need to add extra ice water, do so 1 Tbl at a time. Make the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to two days.

Apricot Filling

When the dough is fully chilled, start to preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Taste a slice of your apricots – if they are sweet, use 1/3 cup sugar, if they’re less sweet add a little more. In a large bowl, toss the quartered apricots, raspberries, sugar, flour, and spices together. Set aside.

Roll the chilled dough out into a circle about 1/8 of an inch thick. Transfer it into a 9-inch pie plate, leaving the edges of dough hanging over the plate (you’ll have lots of excess dough, don’t trim it unless you are just aiming for a more even appearance). Pour the fruit into the pie crust, and gently fold the excess dough over the top of the fruit. Brush the dough with the melted butter, pouring any extra into the fruit. Sprinkle the dough with about 1 Tbl of sugar.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, and set the pie plate on the sheet. Bake for 15 minutes at 450, then turn the oven down to 375 degrees F. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown at the edges and the fruit is bubbling. Allow to cool before serving with some fresh whipped cream.

Honeyed Broiled Apricots

July 8, 2013February 5, 2017

Dear friends, I would like to share with you perhaps my favorite recipe of the summer season (thus far, anyways). I don’t know about you, but I am a big fan of apricots.

I love them in pies, tarts, crisps, and fresh as a perfect afternoon snack. I love how little and manageable they are, I love the color, and I love the tangy flavor. Most other summer fruits are incredibly juicy (peaches, nectarines, melons, berries), but I kind of like that, even at their ripest, apricots have a funny little dryness to them.

Anyway, I had this bag of apricots in the fridge a few weeks ago, and decided, after a little searching here and there for a quick apricot dessert, to make one of the world’s easiest and most delicious desserts. I kid you not.

You could eat them with a fork, but I recommend getting your fingers a little sticky and just picking them up. These are a few bites of heavenly goodness. The warm fruit with the cold creamy yogurt is a dream, sweetened by the broiled honey. Enjoy!

Honeyed Broiled Apricots

Ingredients

Apricots (think 1 per person)
Honey
Greek yogurt (sour cream, whipped cream, or regular plain yogurt will also work, but I like greek yogurt the best)
Pistachios (shelled and chopped)

Instructions

Heat your broiler. Cut each apricot in half along the seam, and remove the pit. Put the apricots, cut side up, in a baking dish (a brownie pan or a pie dish will work well), and fill each cavity with honey. You don’t want the honey to overflow, but you want the cavity to be full. Put the apricots under the broiler for about 5 minutes, rotating halfway through. You want the honey to be bubbling and the apricots to show some good color.

Allow the apricots to cool a bit (not all the way), then move them to little plates or saucers. Top with a dollop of yogurt and a sprinkle of pistachios.

Friday Finds 6:21:13

June 21, 2013February 5, 2017

This week’s Friday finds revolves a lot around family, as I spent last weekend in Seattle for Father’s Day:

1. La Bête, Seattle, WA

We went to La Bête for brunch on Father’s Day, and wow, let me tell you, it was wonderful. Beautiful space, delicious food, great staff… everything about it was just lovely. I have also heard great things about dinner, so if you’re in the Seattle area, you should absolutely go to this spot.

2. Wine Tasting in Woodinville (specifically Ross Andrew)

Ross Andrew Winery // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler — Photo Credit Ross Andrew Winery

On Father’s Day, after brunch, we went wine tasting in Woodinville, WA. I’ve never been wine tasting before, but I must say I really enjoyed myself. When I get rich, I’ll go all the time, and I’ll buy all the wine. My favorite tasting room we visited was Ross Andrew – check out their Red Blend and their Meadow White Wine.

3. Apricots, peaches, and nectarines, oh my!

The stone fruits have arrived and I could not be more excited! I have made these super easy broiled apricots twice now, and I have a feeling I’ll be making them and variations on them many times this summer. Recipe coming soon! Other recipes to check out include this apricot and basil tart, this grilled peach crumble, and this nectarine galette.

4. Sayulita, Mexico

Sayulita, Mexico // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler — Photo Credit Ashley Gordon via National Geographic

My mom booked a place in Sayulita, Mexico in October, and Jonah and I will be joining her for a week (the week of my birthday! also the week of dia de los muertos!). We booked our tickets this week, and all I can think about is laying on the beach, drinking margaritas, and eating tamales. This would all be fine, if the trip weren’t 5 months away. Ah, the waiting game.

5. A Platter of Figs by David Tanis

A Platter of Figs by David Tanis // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler — Photo Credit Hamptons Magazine

I bought A Platter of Figs while up in Seattle, and the recipes look so lovely. David Tanis is a head chef at Chez Panisse, and has a lot of the same theories about food as Alice Waters and Tamar Adler – simple is good, you don’t need to have a specific recipe (he has lots of suggested variations accompanying his recipes), cooking and eating well are good, etc. What really caught my eye about the book was the photos and the pages. They aren’t glossy, and the photos are really rustic and beautiful. Take a look at it next time you’re at the bookstore.