Chilled Apricot Soup
3 Comments
I'm about to start a war. Ready?
I put on a sweater yesterday.
I realize these are incendiary words since half of the United States is sweltering in August heat. But not here in New England. It's freezing this morning, rainy and blustery. The maples are tipping orange at their tops. And the garden is certainly the worse for wear. I was just thinking yesterday evening--in my sweater--that I'll soon need to chop out the hostas for the year.
So. I'm all about grabbing the last bits of summer. And nothing's better than a chilled fruit soup to do just that.
In case you haven't checked it out, there's a whole science/art break-down of these lovely summer favorites in COOKING KNOW-HOW, available here. And one of the very first recipes in our book about getting off processed food, REAL FOOD HAS CURVES (available here) is a chilled peach soup. But since apricots are quickly disappearing from the farm stands around us, I thought it best to give them one last go. Here's how:
First, halve and pit 2 pounds ripe apricots. They needn't be the perfect ones. The "seconds" will do--and are maybe better.
Put them in a large saucepan with 4 cups (1 quart) water, one four-inch (or so) cinnamon stick, 4 or 5 allspice berries, and 3 or 4 green cardamom pods. Bring this mixture to a boil over high heat. Then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the apricots are meltingly tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
Use a slotted spoon to transfer the apricot halves to a large blender or a large food processor fitted with the chopping blade. Return the liquid in the pan (with the spices) to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue boiling it until it's reduced by about half.
Strain the cooking liquid into the blender or food processor, thereby leaving the whole spices behind. These you can now discard.
And by the way, about those spices. The cardamom is pure genius against the perfumy apricots. Have I told you how addicted I am to cardamom? Bruce has been making cardamom snickerdoodles. Holy cow! And I've even snuck a few of the black seeds into chocolate brownies. Totally addicted.
OK, once all the liquid's in the blender or food processor with the fruit, add 1/2 cup plain yogurt (we used goat yogurt for a little zip), 1/2 cup white wine, and 1/3 cup sugar (or 1/2 cup if your apricots were sour). Bruce used turbinado sugar, a type of less-refined sugar that can revolutionize your baking. We should talk more about those sugars. Fantastic. But you could also use honey. You might want to start with 1/4 cup honey and see how sweet it is for your palate. And use a fairly neutral honey, not a really strongly flavored one.
Blend or process until smooth, then add a pinch of salt to brighten the flavors, maybe about 1/2 teaspoon. Remove the canister from the machine and put it in the fridge (with the soup inside, natch) for a couple of hours, or up to three days.
Pour the soup into bowls and put a few snipped thyme leaves on top. Or some cracked black pepper. Or leave it be. (Or put it in glasses and add a shot of vodka!)
Reader Comments (3)
No war, but I am kind of jealous, as autumn is my favorite season, and I know you are snuggled up in a hand-knitted jumper! I'm with you, utterly bewitched by cardamom, especially since I found my mortar and pestle at the thrift store. I'm using cardamom in all the places I used to use cinnamon. The soup looks tempting. My neighbor has an apricot tree, which is draping across my fence, tantalizing me. However, I do also have a peach tree, which is loaded and looks to bear ripe fruit within a week.
Oh, grab those apricots. But of course, if you have peaches. . . . With the latter, I'd suggest using the lower sugar amount for sure.
M.
This sounds wonderful...loving the other stuff on here as well. Totally anti additive and numbers in food myself as you will see if you check out my site. Keep up the good work!