During these unprecedented times, when staying at home is of the utmost importance, us here at The AU Review are going to be doing everything we can to help readers live their best lives, indoors.
As with many other media companies who typically focus on getting folks out and about, we’re shifting to adapt to the necessary lock-downs taking place all over the world. One way we’ll be doing so is simply by sharing our favourite recipes.
Over the next few weeks (or months, who knows) we’ll be publishing the cocktail and food recipes that we find most exciting, so that when you aren’t ordering in to support your favourite venues, you’ll know enough to quickly throw together some top-class concoctions.
Baked Apricots with Bay and Honey
New Phaidon cookbook Grow Fruit & Vegetables in Pots by internationally-acclaimed vegetable gardener and author Aaron Bertelsen is one of the smartest purchases you can make right now. That is, if you’re trying to master a crucial part of the whole home-cooking lifestyle many have turned to in recent months. We’ve been lucky enough to source a few recipes from the book, and first up is Bertelsen’s simple steps to make Baked Apricots with bay and honey.
As he tells it in the 240-page, 50-recipe book, this dish came from a friend and is an imaginative way to intensify the already rich flavours of this underrated fruit. Aaron suggests trying this alongside a scoop of good-quality vanilla ice-cream or with double cream. Note that this recipe, which serves 4-6, works well when complemented with fresh peaches. Preparation should be 15 minutes; cooking time should be 45 minutes.
Ingredients
- 100g / 3½ oz (scant cup) runny honey
- 5 cardamom pods, cracked open.
- Generous pinch of saffron threads
- 1 teaspoon coarse (kosher) sea salt
- 3 small bay leaves
- 10 apricots
Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
- Put the honey, 100 ml/3½ fl oz (scant ½ cup) water, the cardamom pods, saffron, salt and bay leaves into a small pan. Place over medium heat and cook until the mixture comes to a boil. Simmer gently for 3 minutes and then remove from the heat.
- Place the whole apricots in a small baking dish big enough to hold the apricots quite snugly – you don’t want too much space between them. Pour over the honey mixture, using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to scrape out any saffron threads that have stuck to the side of the pan.
- Roast the apricots in the oven for 40 minutes, removing them to baste and turn every so often, or until they are very soft, but still hold their shape.
- Remove from the heat and either serve immediately or set aside until cool and then store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Grow Fruit & Vegetables in Pots by Aaron Bertelsen is published by Phaidon and is available now for $49.95 AUD from phaidon.com.
Image credit: Phaidon.
