Stovetop Cobbler

Have I mentioned apricot cobbler? I still have a handful or two of fruit wrinkling and waiting in the fridge for me to make into one last cobbler. I tried various methods and really liked the stovetop one--nice not to have to turn on the oven, although cooking on the stove can make you pretty hot too!

I used my cast iron skillet for this creation, and a recipe found here as inspiration. Of course I tweaked it . . .

Stovetop Cobbler
(yield 4 - 6 servings)

4 cups apricots, washed and halved with pits removed
1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar (depending on your sweet tooth--I liked it a bit tart)
1/4 cup water
1 cup flour, sifted
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 TBSP sugar
2 TBSP butter
1/2 cup yogurt

Instructions: Combine first three ingredients in your skillet and cook over medium heat about 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. In the meantime stir together flour, baking powder, and the 2 TBSP sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly then stir in yogurt. Drop by spoonfuls onto the fruit filling and cook over low heat another 10 minutes, uncovered. Cover and cook another 10 minutes. Brown under oven broiler prior to serving.

After browning, there's not much to do but scoop it out in to bowls, top with whipped topping or vanilla ice cream and DIG IN! As other seasonal fruit becomes available adapt the recipe to suit (mostly the water and sugar depending on the fruit's sweetness and water content).

Apricot Sausage Pizza

Well, I'd better get crackin' on these apricot recipes if I'm going to post them in July! First up: Apricot Pizza!

Not really a recipe here. Just pizza dough, browned sausage, apricot quarters (with skins), caramelized onions, and goat cheese. Bake at 350F for about 12 minutes then remove and add mozzarella cheese, chopped sage, and lavender and bake another 5 minutes. YUM!

served up with fresh steamed green beans with salt

My taste-tester was skeptical about apricots on pizza but ate half the pie at one sitting! Cook's word: great combination of flavors, but a little dry. I might brush the crust with olive oil first another time.

Apricots!

No recipes yet, just a late-night teaser (it's 1:16 here). After about two hours of sorting pictures from the beach, the last few weeks of cooking, and general summer activities, I only had energy to post one picture.

My sister and brother-in-law were gracious enough to let us go pick apricots in their garden a few weeks ago, and I've been thinking of ways to use them ever since. Most popular: apricot cobbler. Most fun: apricot/sausage pizza. There are some jars of apricot halves and apricot jam in the hall closet and some chutney waiting to be processed in the new-to-me boiling water canner I picked up recently.

We're down to a few handfuls of these fine fruit, and with company coming tomorrow, I think it'll be one last apricot cobbler (maybe with a handful of frozen blueberries thrown in?!). I'm not too sorry to say a final "good-bye" to them, especially when I'm pretty sure it'll be a tasty one!