Ricotta Stuffed Apricots

The other day at the super market I saw these beautiful orange apricots and felt like I really needed to find a way to use them. I decided to experiment with making stuffed apricots with sour cream or ricotta and rosemary.

I ended up trying out both and found that I really preferred the ricotta because there is already a lot of tartness from the apricots so the sour of the sour cream did not counter that flavor enough for me. I added a little bit of finely chopped rosemary and maple syrup to the cheese, scooped the mix into the apricot and broiled it until the cheese was just lightly browned.

The combination was amazing. I tart flavor of the apricots combined with the slightly sweet cheese and woodsy rosemary was amazing. I was mostly amazed at how filling this was considering the small size of an apricot and the small dollop of ricotta it takes to fill the space where the pit was.

This recipe became my breakfast for the next few days and I am sure to revisit it throughout the apricot season.

Enjoy!

2 firm but ripe apricots cut in half with the pit removed
2 tablespoons ricotta
1/8 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary (sprinkle it in starting with half the amount and then taste to see if you want to add the full amount)
2 teaspoons maple syrup plus a slight drizzle for the top

Mix the cheese, rosemary and 2 teaspoons of maple syrup together. Scoop into the place where the pit was in the apricot filling generously. Drizzle very slightly with maple syrup. Broil until lightly browned.

YUM!

My kids preferred to eat the ricotta mix on slices of apple. Another version of this uses cinnamon and vanilla in the ricotta with some maple syrup. This makes a great dip for apples. 

UPDATE: A Vegan Version I just made recently that is amazing:

 You make these the same way as the non-vegan version but I made cashew cheese to go in them instead of ricotta or mascarpone. Here is the deal with cashew cheese:

Fill a large container (that can hold at least 4-6 cups of stuff with 1 cup of raw cashews and the rest with boiled water that has cooled just for a minute or two. Allow it to sit at least 1 hour but it is even better (smoother end result) if you can let it sit all day or over night and most of the day. 

Next drain the water into a measuring cup and add to the cashews about 2 tablespoons maple syrup and 1/4 cup of the reserved water. Using a very good blender (Vitamix or that sort) or an immersion blender on high speed mix these together until smooth. If it does not seem to be blending you may need to add a bit more water but be cautious about this and take it slow doing it just a tablespoon at a time. You want this to be very smooth and thick about the texture of mascarpone cheese. 

Follow the rest of the recipe as above in the non-vegan version.  

In Celebration of my Friend

Thirty-one years ago my best-friend was born, one and a half years ago she died after battling breast cancer for a little less than a year. Her family is celebrating her birthday by playing in a park and having a little picnik snack.

To celebrate I made a French Glace Strawberry Pie but with a lot of changes due to the fact that her husband, their two kids, and his fiancee are not eating any grains or sugar. This was one of her favorite desserts if not her favorite. I made if for her for her birthday about three years ago and she was so excited and gave me the biggest hug.  This one looks great and I was amazed at how the glace part still thickened very well. 

I am going to give you two recipes here the original one and the sugar and grain free (although there is a tiny bit of corn starch) version. 

Original French Glace Strawberry Pie (Or Raspberry):
1 qt. strawberries
1 c sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
Baked Pastry shell
3 oz cream cheese, creamed

Hull berries. Spread the cheese over the bottom of the pastry. Cover with half the berries. Buzz the rest of the berries in blender (or with an immersion blender). If necessary add water to make 1 1/2 c juice. Mix sugar and cornstarch. Bring the juice to a boil in a sauce pan on the stove. Add the sugar mixture and cook, stirring, until thick (but not too thick, it will thicken a bit more as it cools) and clear. Cool and pour over the berries in pie shell. Chill well. Serve with whipped cream. 

The Sugar-Free Grain Free Version: 

The Pastry Crust Recipe: A Coconut Flour Crust

Instead of sugar in the recipe above use 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 2 tablespoons honey. Follow all the other instructions the same as the recipe above. 

Making it at Home: Yogurt

I have never really enjoyed yogurt all that much but I have found recently that I can tolerate Greek yogurt and my littlest one likes yogurt quite a bit and with it packing in the protein I like to give it to her. I do find it to be very expensive though and had been thinking about making it at home to save money.


I was browsing the internet and came upon a few recipes for yogurt that did not seem all that complicated but they required a large cooler full of 130 degree water plus a lot of other temperature taking during the process and lets just say I am usually to distracted during my day to do a good job of keeping track of this. 


I was about to go for it anyway when I ran into this website called A Year of Slow Cooking that happened to have a recipe for making yogurt in the crock pot with not really any attention needed except for adding the ingredients, turning off the crock pot after a while and covering it in towels.


Well I changed the recipe a little bit after the first time of using it to add a little more fat (for my little one who is way way low on the growth chart) and to make it thicker by straining the yogurt making it into Greek yogurt.


Here is what I came up with which is mostly credited to A Year of Slow Cooking you should check them out.

What to Gather


8 cups of whole milk (half a gallon)

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (optional for higher calorie content, slightly thicker yogurt)

1/2 cup of store bought yogurt (you only need this the first time after that just save 1/2 cup from your batch)


Crock pot
 




Thick bath towel

Cheese Cloth

 

Colander
 




Fruit/Honey/Maple syrup/cinnamon for serving


Set your crock pot on low heat. Add the milk and whipping cream. Let it heat, covered, for 2.5 hours. Turn the crock pot off (unplug) and let it sit for 3 hours. (I have found that letting the yogurt sit on the counter for the last 15 minutes of this helps it not cool everything down too much. In a bowl add the 1/2 cup of yogurt and whisk with 2 cups of the heated milk. Whisk back into the milk in the crock pot. Cover it back up. Cover the whole crock pot with heavy towels to help keep the heat in. Let it sit for 8 hours or overnight, the longer you let it sit the stronger it tastes. 


(This next step is optional and just makes it thicker more like Greek yogurt, higher protein ratio.)


At this point line a colander with cheese cloth that has been folded so that there are about 4 layers of the cloth. Place the colander over a large bowl or the sink. Pour the yogurt into the cheese cloth. You will see that it is draining a liquid. The longer you let it drain the thicker the yogurt will be. It is helpful to stir it sometimes so that the liquid can get to the bottom. I usually lose patience after 20 minutes but if you are going to do it longer place it in the fridge while it is draining. 

Refrigerate for 7 to 10 days save 1/2 a cup to make your new batch. 


Once it is drained you can put it into containers and refrigerate and it is ready to eat. When we eat it we like to warm up some frozen berries, add in a little honey or maple syrup and maybe a tad bit of cinnamon. Or check out the smoothie recipe from a while back that is great too!

I really like that we control the amount of fruit and sugar content. I hate going to the store and looking at the yogurt they have and seeing that it has corn syrup or sugar and the sugar content is nearly as much as a soda (are you kidding me?) no wonder I always have thought they were sickeningly sweet. We had only been getting plain yogurt but the Greek Yogurt can cost more than a dollar for only 5 oz.


On the other hand this yogurt only costs about $3 for the whole batch. On A Year of Slow Cooking she figured out that it costs more or less 1/10 the amount to make it at home. That was for YoBaby, I think Greek yogurt is even more expensive so think of the savings!