Harvest Savers - Apricots


The apricots that we were able to get were very near there peak of ripeness and only a few of them were of sufficient firmness to be able to handle traditional canning without turning to mush. Because of this A~ decided to process nearly half of them into Apricot syrup to enjoy with our Saturday sourdough-pancake feasts. It came out incredible!
That's them in front, we got two pints and one half pint. In back you can see the three quarts and one pint of canned apricots. Of course we ate quite a few of them fresh as well. When we were processing for the canned apricots, we ended up with a few pieces of softer sections that wouldn't have canned well, but the rest of the fruit was firm. We cut those pieces off and A~ found a recipe for an apricot basil dressing that sounded tasty so we made up a big batch.
We've used it so far as a marinade for some chicken and it gave it a great flavor (although in the future we would salt the chicken before grilling it.) Have some extra apricots or find a great deal on some at the farmers market? Here's the recipe.
Apricot Basil Dressing
2 apricots
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. sugar
1tbsp fresh basil (or 1 tsp. dry basil)
1 /4 cup vegetable oil
Combine 2 fresh ripe apricots (pitted), 2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar and 1 Tbsp. sugar in blender, whirl until blended. With blender running, slowly add 1/4 cup vegetable oil until thick and smooth. Stir in 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil. Makes 1 cup.
More canned stuff to come later. How're things canning up around your 'stead? Any great success? Failures? (They happen to us all... we lost a couple of cans of carrots earlier in the season, but I'll cover those to come.)
Have a great weekend all.
P~
The logo used at the top of this post is for the Harvest Keepers challenge sponsored by Path to Freedom.
3 comments:
Forgive my ignorance here, but what method are you using to seal the cans? How long will those cans you made keep?
I love that expression, btw, "eat what you can and can what you can't". Super!
If there are still more apricots, try drying halves or making a fruit leather. Small storage space and a wonderful winter treat.
~Sadge
r.a.~ no worries, I'm here to help if I can. We raw packed the apricots and preserved them using a water bath method. In english that means that we packed the cut and prepared apricots into the jars (cut side down) and then poured hot light syrup over them, sealed and cooked in a water bath for the recommended time. It was really very easy. I love that saying too, right to the point insn't it?
Sadge, Yeah I wanted to make some of those, but didn't have enough. Maybe next time.
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