| Apricots [message #14228] |
Sat, 04 April 2009 19:20  |
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Apricots
Smooshes!
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| Re: Apricots [message #14231 is a reply to message #14228 ] |
Sat, 04 April 2009 19:41  |
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Looking for foods naturally containing vitamin D (a discussion from a previous blog post) I roamed the wholefoods counter today, and nearly brought home some apricots, but they were treated? with some sulphurous compound and I just wasn't sure if I was being unreasonable wanting apricots au nature? 
Apricots and ginger sound so yummy, I'm regretting those squidgy little fruit which I left on the shelf... but I have got a bar of Green & Blacks with ginger bits in... *scurries off to kitchen so fast that I leave spelling errors in my wake*
[Updated on: Sat, 04 April 2009 20:29]
Someone says "pie" and we all go on alert, like meercats. "Pie? Where?" - Blackbear
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| Re: Apricots [message #14240 is a reply to message #14228 ] |
Sat, 04 April 2009 20:30 |
 skating librarian
Messages: 571
Registered: October 2008
Location: Vermont |
Senior Member |
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Our food co-op carries dried apricots, sulphered and un-sulphered, organic and conventionally grown, from Turkey and the US. That creates a real arrrgh moment.
The unsulphered ones are usually from Turkey, non-organic, and may have a larger carbon footprint.
Even if I plant an apricot tree this year, I'm still a couple of years away from fruit.
Thin apricots to a spacing of 5 to 7 cm. or your crop will suffer ... in April or May when they are the size of a gooseberry (obviously an English gardening book, the National Trust always suckers me in with deals on gardening books). Protect from birds. Do not pick until ripe ... late July or August. Does that help? I must admit that not thinning is something I am at last getting over, as my nectarines really suffer if I don't.
This year I may even thin the grapes!
"Winning a war is like winning an earthquake" Jeanette Rankin
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| Re: Apricots [message #14242 is a reply to message #14240 ] |
Sat, 04 April 2009 20:40 |
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| skating librarian wrote on Sun, 05 April 2009 01:30 |
... when they are the size of a gooseberry (obviously an English gardening book, the National Trust always suckers me in with deals on gardening books)
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Are there no gooseberries in the States? *ducks after showing such ignorance*
Someone says "pie" and we all go on alert, like meercats. "Pie? Where?" - Blackbear
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| Re: Apricots [message #14247 is a reply to message #14228 ] |
Sat, 04 April 2009 21:53 |
Nurse Jane
Messages: 12
Registered: November 2008
Location: Indiana |
Junior Member |
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What is orange essence? It is the orange version of vanilla extract?
When in trouble or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout.
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| Re: Apricots [message #14256 is a reply to message #14250 ] |
Sun, 05 April 2009 00:57 |
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Gooseberries are in the currant family, of which several species grow in the US (I have collected them wild in botany class in California) but I don't think they are much cultivated here. Some species are the alternate host in the life cycle of a fungus that affects pines, so the forestry folks discourage them. Of course, the real solution to that is to not grow massive monoculture "forests," i.e. "farms" of pines, but modern agrubusiness doesn't tend to think that way.
The currants of this family are NOT the same as the little tiny raisins called currants, which are true raisins dried from grapes. Botanical common names – a source of fascinating research into history, folklore, ethnology, etc., but not reliable at all for talking about plants across cultural and geopraphical boundaries!
Abigail
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| Re: Apricots [message #14257 is a reply to message #14228 ] |
Sun, 05 April 2009 02:55 |
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Diane in MN
Messages: 2732
Registered: October 2008
Location: Twin Cities, MN, USA |
Senior Member |
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This looks very good, thanks Robin. I like the combination of orange with ginger and orange with apricots very much. I'd guess dried sour cherries would be good in this--I substitute them for raisins in molasses cookies with similar spices, and they work very nicely there.
If I had patio fruit trees they would be seriously unhappy right about now, because it's snowing and the wind is supposed to pick up overnight. "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?" asks the poet. Answer: YOU BET.
I was wondering why Betty Crocker and Fanny Farmer never tell you to adjust if your batter looks too runny/ too dry. And it’s probably because Betty and Fanny are expecting you to buy standard white flour at the standard white shop
Probably also because Fanny was one of the first, if not the first, to standardize measurements and recipes, and because they were writing for new cooks who'd want guaranteed results and wouldn't dream of experimenting with ingredients.
"The point of books is to have way too many but to always feel you never have enough . . . " Louise Erdrich
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| Re: Apricots [message #14289 is a reply to message #14231 ] |
Sun, 05 April 2009 17:30 |
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| southdowner wrote on Sun, 05 April 2009 11:41 |
Looking for foods naturally containing vitamin D (a discussion from a previous blog post) I roamed the wholefoods counter today, and nearly brought home some apricots, but they were treated? with some sulphurous compound and I just wasn't sure if I was being unreasonable wanting apricots au nature?
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No you are not being unreasonable If you can find them, NZ dried apricots are not usually treated. The Sulphur compound makes them keep the bright orange colour - if you see dried apricots of a dark orange/brown colour they probably arent treated.
NZ apricots are dried much more than the turkish ones I have seen - those are moist and plump - ours are dry and leathery (and chewy and delicious) but will plump up if soaked in warm water for a while if thats your thing
http://www.21food.com/userImages/chidafang/chidafang$3101542 1.jpg
Those are not what NZ dried apricots look like. But YMMV as to your preference
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| Re: Apricots [message #14332 is a reply to message #14294 ] |
Sun, 05 April 2009 20:57 |
b_twin_1
Messages: 2596
Registered: September 2008
Location: Victoria, Australia |
Senior Member
[Moderator] |
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| southdowner wrote on Sun, 05 April 2009 18:52 |
| BlueRose wrote on Sun, 05 April 2009 22:30 |
If you can find them, NZ dried apricots are not usually treated. The Sulphur compound makes them keep the bright orange colour - if you see dried apricots of a dark orange/brown colour they probably arent treated.
NZ apricots are dried much more than the turkish ones I have seen - those are moist and plump - ours are dry and leathery (and chewy and delicious) but will plump up if soaked in warm water for a while if thats your thing
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Thank you BlueRose, this does ring a bell - I vaguely remembered that dark apricots are the ones to look for, but these were a vivid orange, and made me think I should pass... but drat you Robin, I now want apricots and will have to go out apricot-tracking in the morning
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The sulfur dioxide helps to preserve the orange colour for a while. It isn't "forever". If you buy a pack of treated apricots and put them, say, in the fridge, and forget them you will find that they will go "not orange". They aren't "off" just the sulfur has worn off. But it may take a year!!
And I'm with BlueRose - ours are leathery too and I much prefer the flavour. And if you want to be extravagent then soak in them in apricot nectar... mmmmmmm I used to add them to porridge.  (They didn't need soaking then!!)
I've got a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel ~ Blackadder
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| Re: Apricots [message #14343 is a reply to message #14341 ] |
Mon, 06 April 2009 00:35 |
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Diane in MN
Messages: 2732
Registered: October 2008
Location: Twin Cities, MN, USA |
Senior Member |
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| cgbookcat1 wrote on Sun, 05 April 2009 23:16 |
I have one of their ice cream makers, but haven't experimented any further than thin mint ice cream (which I keep making over and over). Do you have a favorite cinnamon ice cream recipe?
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Here it is: 1 cup heavy cream, 2 cups half and half, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 TBSP cinnamon (or to taste). Put it in the machine and that's it.
By the way, good going Spartans--I'll be rooting for them tomorrow night!
[Updated on: Mon, 06 April 2009 00:36]
"The point of books is to have way too many but to always feel you never have enough . . . " Louise Erdrich
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| Re: Apricots [message #14355 is a reply to message #14272 ] |
Mon, 06 April 2009 07:40 |
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Susan from Athens
Messages: 817
Registered: October 2008
Location: Athens, Greece |
Senior Member |
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| Fake Frenchie wrote on Sun, 05 April 2009 21:51 |
| Susan from Athens wrote on Sun, 05 April 2009 10:56 |
Oh so good! A recipe after all this time. And a spring-like recipe too! These would be fabulous with cinnamon ice cream. Or apricot granita... Sinful thoughts abound.
Do take days off Robin! And more recipes is a very easy way to do it (and we always are willing to eat more!).
That said, I hope your apricot tree bears fruit and you get to eat some of it (instead of feeding the local birds). I have a lovely little apricot tree, that flowers beautifully but has only borne one fruit in ten years 
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Cinnamon ice cream? Where? In Greece? I'm booking a flight!
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Weeeeellllll, actually the first time I had cinnamon ice cream was in a little town called Rolle on the shores of Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) at an artisanal ice cream maker, back when those were quite rare some 25 years ago. I had a ball of cinnamon and a ball of apple and my, was it good. But here I actually meant to make my own like Diane said, though, probably with more milk and less cream. I find cream very hard to digest.
“I have always imagined heaven to be a kind of library.” –Jorge Luis Borges
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| Re: Apricots [message #14357 is a reply to message #14274 ] |
Mon, 06 April 2009 07:42 |
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Susan from Athens
Messages: 817
Registered: October 2008
Location: Athens, Greece |
Senior Member |
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| southdowner wrote on Sun, 05 April 2009 21:58 |
Susan you horror - I'm just making resolutions to be good and eat well, and now this!
| Susan from Athens wrote on Sun, 05 April 2009 09:56 |
These would be fabulous with cinnamon ice cream. Or apricot granita... Sinful thoughts abound.
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Oh well, I could always eat the Green and Blacks which I put at the back of the cupboard for emergencies 
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I am so easily carried away by other people's temptations, I feel only right in returning the favour. Anyway, apricot granita can be quite healthy if made at home (low fat) and you can always serve it with the biscuits and shavings of your Green and Blacks on top (I would use Valrhone single estate, but that's just me: Green and Blacks rarely does it for me, with the exception of the dark chocolate with ginger variety).
“I have always imagined heaven to be a kind of library.” –Jorge Luis Borges
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| Re: Apricots [message #14362 is a reply to message #14343 ] |
Mon, 06 April 2009 08:22 |
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cgbookcat1
Messages: 138
Registered: October 2008
Location: Massachusetts |
Senior Member |
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| Diane in MN wrote on Mon, 06 April 2009 00:35 |
| cgbookcat1 wrote on Sun, 05 April 2009 23:16 |
I have one of their ice cream makers, but haven't experimented any further than thin mint ice cream (which I keep making over and over). Do you have a favorite cinnamon ice cream recipe?
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Here it is: 1 cup heavy cream, 2 cups half and half, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 TBSP cinnamon (or to taste). Put it in the machine and that's it.
By the way, good going Spartans--I'll be rooting for them tomorrow night!
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Thanks, Diane!
Susan, I found the extract at the grocery last night, but I might add some orange zest anyway.
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