Poached Apricots with Orange and Rosemary

About two weeks ago the first apricots appeared in our local organic supermarket. And last week, I came up with yet another great use for them! It’s one of those desserts that can take care of themselves while you’re calmly enjoying your main course. Well, almost: if you’re short-term memory is nearly as good as mine, you might need an alarm, or your poached apricots might turn into mashed apricots…

Combining orange and rosemary with apricots results in a fresh and pleasant taste that goes perfectly with the decadent sweetness of the honey-sweetened sour cream. I prefer to use sour cream instead of heavy cream, and not only because I prefer the taste. It also spares you one extra step: no need to whip the cream! Just add honey to the sour cream and stir – that’s it.

This recipe gives four smallish portions! For a vegan version, use non-dairy sour cream flavoured with vanilla and agave syrup, for example.

For the apricots:

• 600g apricots


• 3 Tbsp sugar


• 100ml water


• 50ml Cointreau


• 1 rosemary sprig


• 3 long stripes of orange peel (1/3 of one orange or so)

For the cream:

• 150g sour cream


• 2 Tbsp honey

This is how to do it:

1. Halve the apricots and place them in a heavy pan in one layer.

2. Add the rosemary twig and orange peel stripes. Sprinkle the sugar on top.

3. Pour the water and Cointreau on the apricots. They should be completely cover – if not, add more water.

4. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and let simmer, cover, about 10 minutes, or until the apricots are softened but not turned into a mash yet. Then remove from heat, divide on 4 serving plates (the juice, too!), and serve with a generous dollop of sour cream sweetened with honey.

 

P.S. This dessert is also safe for kids. Thanks to the cooking, there’s no alcohol left in the final product :)

Winter Vegetable Tagine with Chickpeas and Apricots

I’m not a big fan of very spicy foods, yet I love dishes full of flavour - and so I fell in love with tagine at the first mouthful. The name of this dish comes from those cone-shaped earthenware pots in which tagine usually is cooked. I don’t have one, so I use a large pan instead.

In this recipe, I used winter vegetables that are both very rich in taste and low-budget at this time of the year. Try to use vegetables that require the same amount of time for cooking, or add the quick-cooking veggies later (especially if using sweet potatoes like I did).

I cooked more chickpeas than needed for this recipe, and ended up using the rest for making hummus (recipe will follow in my next post!). For a faster version, you can use canned chickpeas.

For 4-5 portions you need:

• 900g winter vegetables (I used swede, potato, sweet potato, carrot, celeriac, and butternut squash)
• 1 large onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3 Tbsp olive oil for frying
• 2 tsp ras-el-hanout
• ⅓ tsp chili flakes (feel free to use more if you like it spicier)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 200g canned tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 125g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked
• a handful of dried apricots
• 1 Tbsp honey or agave syrup
• zest of half of a lemon
• salt and pepper to taste

Cut all vegetables in more or less equal-sized cubes. Chop the onion and garlic. Heat the oil in a large pan, add onion and fry over medium heat for a few minutes. Then add garlic, chili, and ras-el-hanout, stir, and add rest of the vegetables. Fry over a low heat a couple of minutes more. Then add tomatoes, tomato paste, chickpeas, honey (or agave syrup), apricots, cinnamon stick, lemon, salt, and pepper. Add water if necessary. Let simmer over a low heat until all vegetables are tender, some 30 minutes or so. Stir occasionally and check if more water is needed.

Serve with couscous or bulgur and fresh coriander or flat-leaf parsley.