oh, I am so so jealous!

I am jealous too! Love juicy plums, peaches and apricots!

I'm not from any gormet group, but I like simple things done simply. for Apricots I just slice them in 1/2 remove the pit in a sautee pan soften a little butter and place cut fruit cut side down and allow to brown slightly,then add a little brown sugar just before service (so the sugar and butter form a syrup) serve with sliced pork roast or venison. some variations I've tried that are good are to add a touch of cloves to the apricots or instead of butter and sugar you could use some wine.

Sounds like your neighbor has Blenheim apricots. We've got a many-decade-old tree in the backyard, perhaps a remnant from an orchard. We make jam and chutney from the apricots, in addition to stuffing ourselves with fresh ones. :)

Thanks for the links to apricot recipes. I have pounds and pounds and pounds of fresh apricots waiting to be eaten and these recipes will come in useful.

I make Apricot Ginger Jam (no pectin) by adding the sugar as described in other recipes and cooking down the mixture until it has reached the desired consistency. The fresh ginger tastes fabulous.

The absolute best jam I've ever made in my life though is Brandied Apricot Jam. Make the jam with pectin as per the instructions in the pectin box, but add brandy to taste. I inhaled this jam on fresh french bread all last summer. Okay, I was pregnant at the time, and also eating bread dipped in mustard, but honest, the jam is really good!! :-)

When I grew up in Southern California, our yard had two giant apricot trees. We would literally pick them by the bucketful. We had so many, we couldn't give them all away even after we used a lot of them!

We made jam, cobbler and pie. We of course ate them raw as well. I think my favorite was the cobbler my mom would make. We started doubling the amount of dough we would put on top of the cobbler since everyone in our family would fight over them. It was like having this wonderful sweet warm doughy dumpling with apricot sauce and vanilla ice cream!! I think I need to go find me some apricots and make some!

Here's the recipe:

APRICOT COBBLER

1/2 c. sugar
1 tbsp. cornstarch
4 c. fresh or frozen apricots
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp. water
1 c. Bisquick baking mix
1/4 c. milk
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. butter, melted

Mix 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch in a 2 quart saucepan. Stir in apricots and water. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir one minute. Pour into ungreased 1 1/2 quart casserole. Stir together remaining ingredients until a soft dough forms. Drop dough by 6 tablespoonfuls onto hot apricot mixture. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream. You can also use any fruit that you want.

Just the word "apricot" makes my mouth water. We're too far north here to ever get perfectly ripe fruit. Sigh.

No apricot trees in my area. They sound delicious.

My favorite fruit pie has always been apricot. We had apricot trees where I grew up and my mom would make apricot pie throughout the year. Mmmm...
I think I need to go home for a visit now...

I made the Clafoutis recipe yesterday for a party I was going to, and have to say, it was disappointing. Not bad, just not that good, and I probably won't make it again using that recipe. It calls for 1 T. of vanilla, and I just used 1 tsp. (I'm pretty sure it was a typo -- 1 T. is very unusual), and the 425-degree temp seemed to brown the top too quickly for the very undone dessert. It called for 30 minutes, but I had to lower the oven after the half-hour and bake it for almost 30 minutes more! Not sure why it took so long, but it remained extremely runny in a few places, so I kept baking it. (Maybe it was the liquid in the fruits that kept it from setting up in a few places?)

Some people at the party liked it very much, so maybe it was just me. Anyway, I know clafouti can be delish, so I'll try again with a different recipe.

Hi...here's a savoury recipe to offset all the other apricot desserts!!

Spicy Apricot Chicken

Ingredients:
750g chicken thigh fillets, cut into 5 cm pieces
5 tbs plain flour + 1/2 tsp salt, dash of pepper and cumin powder
2 tbs oil
2 tsp red curry paste
415 g can apricot halves in light syrup
1/2 cup chicken stock/ water
chopped basil/ coriander for garnish, optional

Method:
light coat chicken in the flour mixture.
Heat oil in a saucepan, add curry paste and stir fry over low heat for 1 minute. Add chicken and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, until chicken is golden.

Add apricots with juice and stock to the pan. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the chicken is tender.

Serve hot with couscous or steamed rice.

**

Bon apetit!

Here is a site with a lot of Apricot recipes from the Apricot producers of California http://www.apricotproducers.com/html/consumrecpe.htm

We have an apricot tree and have way too many to put up at once. I cut them in half and pit them, toss them in lemon juice, pack them so they lay flat in gallon ziplock bags. Seal the bag almost all the way, then using a straw, suck out all excess air and complete the seal. This kind-of 'vacuum packs' them. Freeze flat in stacks. Use whenever you have time all year for baked goods, jam, breads, or just eat plain. The lemon juice keeps the color nice and orange!

I agree, there's nothing like a fresh apricot, I love them when they're especially tiny.
We also like to stuff them with clotted cream or yogurt, and I made this tart with pistachios:

Apricot Pistachio Frangipane Tart

Hi there, stumbled across your blog via your beautiful post for Cobb Salad (had a huge one for dinner tonight and now I can't move!)

I'm no great cook, but my first inclination for apricot would be to do grill them with pork, as Larry suggested, or perhaps put them over duck. I think an apricot salsa would be really refreshing too.

Thanks for the great blog... looking forward to seeing what you'll come up with!

Oh gosh I just came back from my month long visit with the folks in the East Bay. I ate so many apricots, cherries, and peaches, I gained 5lbs. I didn't know you could actually gain weight from fruit but there you have it.

I have used simple coffee cake recipes, and put in fresh halves of apricots on top of the batter, and they sink mid way while baking. Try the Gourmet cookbook's coffee cake recipe.

Hi you all! I have a wonderful apricot tree that I love trying new recipes with! The apricots turn out so sun ripened and juicy! I want to make APRICOT TURNOVERS. My grandmother used to make them all the time from a tree in her yard, and I cannot find any recipes with fresh apricots. She used to boil the apricots in a pot (with the pits removed and the apricots cut in half), and I can't find any recipes. Do any of you guys know where I can find a good old fashioned recipe?? I would be SO grateful!!

Sincerely,
Stacey

Makes me wish I lived in a climate where I could grow my own apricots. The apricot crumble is making my mouth water.

Hi. I've been enjoying apricots from the farmer's markets recently, too. I wanted to make something special to preserve them for when they're gone--the season is so short! So I've been making brandied apricots based on a recipe from the Joy of Cooking.

Brandied apricots

Per 1 lb of apricots:
1 1/2 c sugar
1 c water
Brandy
1 pint mason jar

Put the water and sugar in a saucepan and heat to dissolve. When simmering, add halved and pitted apricots. Cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Remove the apricots with a slotted spoon and (gently) pack into a hot 1 pint jar. Reduce the syrup down to the consistency of light cream, then mix with equal parts brandy and pour to cover the apricots, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Check to make sure there are no air bubbles. Cover and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, then remove and let cool overnight before checking for a seal. Age at least 1 month before enjoying. (This recipe also works for peaches or plums--I leave the plums whole if they're small and just pierce the skin a few times to try to keep it from bursting. Peaches would probably be best peeled.)

I tasted some very delicious apricots are my mother-in-law's place and decided to make an apricot tatin - an upside down tart. Here's the link to the recipe: Apricot Tatin :)

I love apricots too, especially when I find gorgeous ones like you got....One thing I love making with them is apricot sorbet, and although there are plenty of recipes out there on the internet, I've found that I get the best results sort of winging it since the sweetness of any particular batch of apricots can vary hugely. First I make a simple syrup with 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Then I lightly steam the apricots and puree them. Then, when the syrup and apricot puree are both cool, I start adding the syrup to the puree. When it tastes slightly sweeter than I want the sorbet to taste, but not cloyingly sweet, I stop adding syrup. Then I freeze in my ice cream maker (or use the freezer method--freeze until firm but not rock solid then blitz in food processor and return to freezer). There are a million variations you can do with this simple recipe too--infuse the syrup with mint leaves or ginger before adding it to the puree, add a splash of amaretto to the sorbet base before freezing, add apricot brandy before freezing, etc...