Category: apricots

Cooking with ®Revol: Fruits & Herbs in Mini-Cocottes…Roasted Apricots with Rosemary, Chocolate/Tarragon Icecream

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Cristina

En Español, en color !

Why do herbs have to pair savory dishes? Herbs (fines herbes) can add a fresh, subtile parfum, to our desserts…

Quién dijo que las hierbas solo van con lo salado? No…pueden ser un toque fresco y sutil en nuestros postres…

And I insist here! It has to be delicate, not over-riding…we want apricots to taste like apricots, and chocolate is chocolate…but once swallowed, a provocative taste comes to our tongue, and our memory…and there, Bingo! We all know rosemary…maybe some people have never used tarragon, so typically French, with hints of anise, mint, pine and pepper.

Ojo ! Insisto….tiene que ser algo delicado, que no tape el gusto original…Los damascos tienen que seguir teniendo gusto a damascos…y el chocolate debe ser chocolate…es como que el sabor a la hierba debe volver al paladar, e instalarse en nuestra memoria gustativa, y ahi, Bingo! Todos conocemos el romero, pero quizas no tanto usen el estragon, tan tipicamente francés, como con una alusion a anis, menta, pino y pimienta…

For my roasted apricots, what better that these mini-cocottes, with their lids, in these “vitamin” colours? So playful, so original, matching our spring/summer mood? Yes, casseroles are not a winter thing only…

Y qué mejor para mis damascos al horno, que estas mini-cacerolitas individuales, con las tapas de distintos colores “vitamina”. Quedan “topisimas” en la mesa !! (esta es una palabra que “aprendi” en mi ultimo viaje a Buenos Aires..me la enseño Trini, la hija de mi amiga Patricia..cuando algo es muy “top” ya es “topisimo”…Me encanto! Palabra adoptada!!! )

Warm apricots…brûlés..(we can hear the “crack, crack” of sugar) icecream..contrast in temperature, texture…What else?

Damascos tibios…brûlés..(podemos escuchar el crack, crack del azucar) …helado..contraste en temperatura y textura..Qué mas?

Posted in abricots, apricots, dessert, ice-cream, revol | 23 Replies

Apricot Chutney, for a Cheese Course….My Apricot Saga (Part III)

Posted on June 28, 2011 by fromBAtoParis

Finally, the end of my apricot saga…with this apricot chutney, that will make your cheese board, even more appealing!! I would also use this chutney to accompany chicken, cold meats, or even for sandwiches….

Keeping this chutney in jars is like making sure the best of the summer will stay with us for some months…brightening our colder and not so shiny days…..

Here I used roquefort cheese, but the cheese variety is absolutely up to you ! And I “crowned” the cheese with some caramelised hazelnuts that then I chopped ! I love the crunch of the hazelnuts, the sweet/salty contrast between chutney and cheese….

The backstage of the first photo

I hope you adopt this chutney for your summer evenings with friends….
Enjoy!

To make this Apricot Chutney, you will need:

(around 700grs)

*small red onion, 1 *garlic, 1 clove, chopped *chilli pepper (or any other pepper), 1 point *fresh ginger, en brunoise, 1/2 tbsp *olive oil, 1tbsp *butter, 1 teasp *apricots, 500gr *sugar, 200gr *white vinegar, 100gr *cilantro, chopped, to taste

Put the olive oil and butter in a saucepan, and sauté the onion, ginger, garlic, and chilli pepper. Add the rest of the ingredients (the apricots should be washed, rinsed and cut in small cubes), except the cilantro. Take it to a boil, and then lower the heat. Cook for 30′/40′ until desired “jam” consistence, stirring from time to time. Once finished, add the cilantro. Put the chutney in sterilized pots. cover with the lid. Put the pots upside-down till completely cool. You can keep this chutney for several weeks. Once the pot is open, keep it in the fridge.

For the caramelised hazelnuts, follow my recipe here…using hazelnuts instead of almonds…

Posted in abricots, apricot saga, apricots, chutney, cilantro, ginger | 21 Replies

"Morceaux Exquis" Exquisite Bits….& Bites: Shrimp/Apricot Forks….My Apricot Saga (Part II)

Posted on June 26, 2011 by fromBAtoParis

I was on the Metro, the other day, on the way to Le Bon Marché….my “temple”, specially during the sales-season….when I saw an ad, for a new exhibit “Morceaux Exquis”. The exhibit has nothing to do with cooking….rather it is an interesting tour around the artistic representation of the human body (and its different parts) in Mediterranean cultures….!

I loved the music of the words…and the concept ! Et oui ! an exquisite bit & bite can be made up of just two ingredients…just two things…three minutes in the kitchen, yet…an explosion of flavour!

Even bees love it!!

….like here…ripe apricots, shrimp, and a vinaigrette made with cilantro, dill, ginger...and just that!

So sweet…. so tangy….so orange….so Hermès …. yes, I am “soldes” vulture!!

Enjoy!

Shrimp/Apricot Forks
(for 10 people)
*shrimp, 20 *apricots, 5

For the Vinaigrette:

*ginger, a small piece, chopped *olive oil, 100ml *dill, 1tsp, chopped *cilantro, some leaves, chopped *garlic, 1 clove, chopped *lemon juice, 1 *fleur de sel *pepper

Prepare the vinaigrette combining all the ingredients. Sauté shrimps (previously peeled, intestine removed) in olive oil. Accomodate big slices of apricot and shrimp on fork. Drizzle with vinaigrette. Season to taste (fleur de sel/pepper)

Recipe (adapted) by Juliana Lopez May

Posted in apricot saga, apricots, cilantro, crevettes, shrimp | 14 Replies

My Apricot Saga (Part I) Apricot Amandine Tart, with a Hint of Dulce de Leche

Posted on June 19, 2011 by fromBAtoParis

Ready for the beach? I am! The moment I enjoy the most? The late afternoon….when the breeze turns a little bit cool, and I have this craving for a coffee…a coffee with something! “A little something”, I always say….

Then I will make a pause in my highly-intellectual activities, like doing crosswords…Last year, during our holidays, my son had the greatest idea: he bought himself the book General Culture for Dummies! We had so much fun! We spent twenty days submitted to his “interrogatoire” My husband was the champ! He knows everything! I think this is one of the reasons why I married him…he always tells me stories…stories based on facts..no, that’s not the way to put it…what I love about him is that I never get tired of his conversation…whatever he has to tell me amuses or interests me!

Well…going back..or rather starting with this Apricot Amandine Tart..I had it on the beach of our hotel last year, during our vacations in Thailand! Yes, there was a pastry chef that mastered French pâtisserie…so this and a coffee? Heaven to me!

The “pâte sucrée” is the one I always use in all my recipes, so crispy…fragile (that’s true!) but worth the effort of fitting it inside your mold…I used a rectangular one here… and then, to dare French masters, I committed the sacrilege (Oh, mon Dieu!) of pairing the “crème amandine” with a thin layer of dulce de leche…a “soupçon” (I love this word!!!!)

The result? When the mild acidity of the apricot meets sweetness in two textures: creamy, for the amandine, more compact, for the dulce de leche…..As Oscar Wilde said: ” I can resist everything but temptation”…..

Enjoy!

For the “pâte sucrée”, follow my recipe here.

Pre-heat the oven 170°C. Fit the pâte into the mold. Cover with aluminum foil, and some weights. Bake for 15′.

Once cool, apply a thin layer of dulce de leche. Then make the “crème amandine”, whisking 100gr of soft butter, and 100grs of sugar. Then add two eggs (one by one) and finally incorporate 100gr of almond flour, and 25gr of flour. Put the cream inside the mold, not until the edge since the cream will swell when baked. Cut the apricots in halves and accomodate them according to your taste and the shape of the mold. Bake 180°C till the crème amandine becomes golden brown. You can decorate sprinkling icing sugar, some caramelized walnuts or almonds, pistachios if you have…