This week, I have been posting about the classic French breakfast.
ON weekdays, the French rarely splurge on croissant or pain au chocolat, but opt for a reasonable serving of bread, butter and jam with coffee of course.
The inspiration for this week’s posting of the classic French breakfast came from a gorgeous display of fresh, ripe apricots. I simply could not resist. When I got home with my haul, I realized that I was only shopping for two and there was no way we could eat all of the fruit I brought home!
With a gleam in my eye, I got right to work on making simple, Quick Apricot Jam.
Start by washing and preparing the fruit. Cut off any bruising and make an X with a sharp knife on the bottom of each apricot.
The skin will slip right off the ripe fruit, after it has been blanched in boiling water for 2 minutes.
Prepare an ice bath; a bowl filled with cold water and ice. Lift the fruit out of the boiling water with a strainer or a slotted spoon and into the ice-bath until the fruit is cool to the touch.
Next simply pull the skin from the fruit, starting on the X you made on the bottom of each apricot.
Chop the apricots finely.
Add the apricots and the sugar to a heavy bottomed sauce pan.
Cook stirring often, scraping the edges of the pan with a rubber spatula, until mixture is very thick, 12-15 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla and salt.
Quick Apricot Jam
1-pound fresh apricots
1 cup sugar
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
Wash fruit and cut off any bruises. Using a sharp knife, cut and x in the skin of the apricots on the bottom of the fruit. Place apricots into a pot of boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove the fruit and submerge in an ice-bath. When fruit is cool, remove the skin and chop apricots finely. Put apricots into a medium heavy bottomed saucepan set to medium heat. Add 1 cup of sugar and stir well. Continue to cook stirring often and scraping edges of the pan down. Fruit will get very thick and bubbly after about 12-15 minutes. Remove from heat and add salt and vanilla and stir well. Pour jam into a clean jar and keep for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
Let me know how YOUR classic French breakfast turned out! I would love to hear from you!
