Apricot Rosemary Jam

Ingredients
6 C (about 2.5 lbs) juicy, ripe apricots
2 C sugar
½ t salt
3 T pectin
3 T lemon juice
~12" fresh rosemary sprigs

Directions
Halve apricots and remove pits; rough chop into large pieces. Combine sugar, salt, pectin and lemon juice in large sauce pan. Add apricots and stir to coat thoroughly. Add rosemary sprigs. Let sit at least 2 hours and up to overnight (refrigerate).

Stir to combine juices with sugar that may have settled to bottom of pot.  Bring to boil; boil 6-8 minutes sstirring frequently (reduce heat if needed to prevent jam from boiling over or excessive spattering).

Remove from heat. Remove rosemary sprigs and discard (some loose leaves in the jam is fine, but they can be removed if preferred). Mash with potato masher for chunky jam, or purée with immersion blender for smoother jam.

Return to heat; continue boiling until jam is reduced to 4½ C; skim foam off top if/as needed.* Scoop or pour jam into sterilized jars.

* You can test jams for consistency: Scoop a little jam onto a spoon and place it in the freezer for 3-5 minutes to reach room temperature. Tip the spoon on end; if it's too thin and runny, continue boiling another 3-5 minutes and retest.

Couscous with Apricots & Ginger

This comes from a collection of recipes - "The Well-Fed Backpacker". With ingredients that are easily transportable, require no refrigeration, and easy one-pot cooking, this could make a warm, filling breakfast or is plenty sweet to serve as a dessert. Personally, I don't think it needs the extra honey. I happened to have pearl couscous on hand, but the smaller grained variety would work just fine.

Recipe makes enough for one hungry hiker.

Ingredients:
1 C couscous
1½ C water
½ C dried apricots (torn or diced, if desired)
½ tsp ginger
¼ tsp cinnamon or nutmeg
1 T honey
salt to taste

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in saucepan, stir to combine. Heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes or until water is absorbed and couscous is tender.

Cheese

This is more of a reminder than a recipe. When I was traveling in Italy, and when I would eat somewhere "nice" (i.e. typically a bit more expensive, with multiple courses) I was more than once served something like this.

In Italy, cheese was typically served after the main (meat) course and salad, right before the dolce, dessert. The cheese was most likely to be fontina, pecorino, some type of romano, or another local variety; the fruit always a stone/pit fruit (nectarine, peach, plum) -- though that could have been simply because of what was/wasn't in season at the time I was there; and honey for drizzling...often a locally made variety.

I served a cheese, fruit & honey plate recently to a group of girlfriends who came over for the evening -- not for dinner, just for cheese & wine, and later on...dessert. Simple to prepare, but a bit more upscale than your typical cheese and crackers. :)

Cornbread Stuffing (w/ sage & dried fruits)

2 qts cornbread, cubed
2 Tbls olive oil
1 white onion, chopped
½ C dried cranberries
½ C chopped dried apricots
1½ C chicken broth
2 eggs
½ tsp salt
2 Tbls chopped sage leaves

Cube 2 quarts of cornbread and let sit, uncovered, at room temperature 1 day. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes, until crisp. Set aside.

In a large fry pan, cook onion in olive oil until soft and dark brown - about 20 minutes. In a large bowl, mix onion with cranberries and apricots, chicken broth, eggs, salt and sage. Stir until thoroughly combined.

Gently stir in conrbread cubes. Transfer stuffing to a 9x13" casserole dish, lightly coated with non-stick cooking spray. Bake at 350° 40 minutes or until browned. Serves about 10.

I also have a Sourdough-Mushroom Stuffing recipe. Between these two, you could play around with what kind of bread you use and what other ingredients and spices you add (the mushroom/onions/leeks with parsley verses the cranberry/apricot with sage) and come up with some delicious alternatives. I've seen recipes with wheat or rye bread, sausage, apples, pears, thyme, rosemary...

Tomato, Apricot & Chickpea Chicken

4 chicken breasts
salt
pepper
olive oil
2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1/3 C chopped dried apricots
1 Tbls sugar
3 minced garlic cloves
1 15 oz can chickpeas (garbanzos)
1/4 C chopped parsley



Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add cumin, coriander and cayenne; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add chicken and cook until golden, turning once (about 6 minutes); transfer to a plate and set aside.







Stir tomatoes, apricots, sugar and garlic together in skillet. Simmer 5-10 minutes to allow flavors to blend (and to reduce juices).

Return chicken to pan and simmer, covered, until chicken is cooked through (about 10 minutes). Drain and rinse chickpeas (garbanzo beans), and add to skillet along with parsley. Cook until heated through.
OR...



Place chicken in casserole baking dish, cover with tomato-apricot mixture, top with chickpeas and parsley; bake in oven (350°) until chicken is cooked through.