Laura Young
reporter3.riverbendnews@gmail.com
Winter recipes often include dried fruits, and none is tastier in my opinion than the bright, slightly fuzzy apricot. Fresh apricots are also seen in grocery stores this time of year, so give some thought to trying out some recipes featuring this delicious, nutrient-rich gem of a fruit.
Here are some ideas:
- Cut up a few fresh or dried apricots into your favorite apple crumble recipe. I tried this over the holidays, and it was delicious. The apricots brightened up the dessert and added some nice variation in flavor and texture.
- When you're fixing up some chicken wings to nibble during a football game, add some pureed apricots to your honey-mustard glaze. They will thicken the coating and add a different kind of tang. Get out the napkins for this one!
- For an appetizer, try filling dried apricots with a dollop of blue cheese, drizzle with honey, top with a pecan half and garnish with a parsley leaf. Very elegant.
- On a homier note, try adding diced fresh or dried apricots to scones. Fruit is a common addition to this breakfast bread of Scottish origin. Scones differ from our Southern biscuits by including an egg in the dough and an egg wash on top. Enjoy this treat with a cup of hot herbal or black tea on a chilly morning. Ahhh.
- Cooks often pair fruit with pork, and you might want to substitute apricots for apples or pineapple in chutney or glazes. For example, puree apricots with bourbon and a dash of dry mustard to glaze a pork chop, rib rack or ham. You'll be delighted by how it keeps the meat moist and brings out its flavor.
In addition to cooking with apricots, they are super easy to add to your stock of snacks.
Melanie Southerland, Jefferson County Consumer Sciences Agent, says, “Apricots are a great snack choice. They are full of vitamins and minerals, flavonoids and potassium that are essential for keeping our bodies healthy. Flavonoids are organic compounds that occur naturally in plants. Higher intakes of flavonoids are associated with a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. Potassium is an essential nutrient because it helps maintain important functions of our bodies, such as blood pressure regulation. Apricots are also rich in Vitamin-A, which helps protect cells from damage. Eating apricots as a snack can help meet your bodies vitamin, mineral and potassium needs, as well as giving your body health benefits from eating a flavonoid rich snack. Apricots can be added to oatmeal, trail mix or just eaten on their own.”
So, yes! Apricots deliver great taste along with all kinds of healthy goodness. Some research has even gone into how apricot seeds might offer a treatment for cancer.
If you become an apricot fan, you also can consider growing apricots in your own yard. Suwannee, Hamilton and Lafayette all lie in growing zone 8b, which places it just within the range for planting your own apricot tree. Just Fruits and Exotics, a nursery in Crawfordville that specializes in fruit plants suited to our area, recommends the Blenheim variety of apricot tree (Prunus armeniaca “Blenheim”), which has been grown in the U.S. for more than 100 years.
Next time you're writing your grocery list, consider adding apricots. Look for fresh ones as you're browsing the produce section, and grab a container of dried apricots to have on hand for whenever your apricot inspiration strikes.