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Bourbon Pickled Apricots

from Chris Schlesinger, John Willoughby, and Dan George's Quick Pickles
Bourbon Pickled Apricots

Ingredients
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup white grape juice
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons whole allspice berries
8 whole cloves
Finely minced zest of oranges
1 tablespoon peeled, minced fresh ginger
8 apricots, quartered and pitted (about 4 cups)
1/2 cup bourbon of your choice

Yield: About 4 Cups

This and many other wonderful
recipes may be found
in Chris Schlesinger, John Willoughby, and Dan George's
Quick Pickles
from Chronicle Books



Apricots are picky fruits - they grow only in very specific climatic conditions, they easily succumb to all kinds of diseases, they don't travel well, and they don't continue to ripen after they are picked from the tree. For all of these reasons, it makes sense to take advantage of those occasions when you find good fresh apricots for sale and to buy as many as you possibly can, because their delicate, sweet, aromatic flavor is incomparable.

Fortunately, apricots' firm, almost dry texture makes them ideal for pickling, so if you buy enough you can preserve them for several weeks. Here we combine them with rather light-colored liquids so that we also maintain much of the appearance that led ancient Greeks and Romans to label them "golden apples of the sun."

Serve this pickle with pork chops or steaks or (our favorite way) as a snack with cocktails. They also make a nice complement to a cheese platter.

In a nonreactive saucepan, combine the vinegar, orange juice, grape juice, sugar, and maple syrup and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.

Add the allspice and cloves. As soon as the mixture comes back to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the zest and ginger, and allow to cool to room temperature, uncovered. Add the apricots and bourbon, then cover and refrigerate.

This pickle can be served within an hour of cooling, but the flavor improves over the next 2 days. It will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 6 weeks.


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