Recipe: French toast gets a flavorful fruit topping
June in California tastes like apricots: Fragrant, sweet but with an edge. Delicate and distinctive, this golden fruit can be tart like a cherry, its close cousin, especially if picked too soon. The longer it hangs, the sweeter apricots get.
Apricots develop sugars only while on the tree. A piece of fruit may get softer after harvest, but not sweeter.
Of course, an apricot can stay too long on the tree – and turn to overripe mush (if the birds don’t get it first). With apricots (as in many things), timing is everything.
So a perfectly ripe apricot is a precious thing. This simple sauce showcases just-right apricots. The little bit of almond extract (almonds being another close cousin) brings out the apricot flavor. Stir gently to avoid breaking apart the apricot slices.
This sauce also can top ice cream or pound cake. Or try it on the savory side, atop pork chops or grilled chicken.
Apricots are in season, ripe and precious. |
Apricot French toast
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
For sauce:
½ pound apricots (3 to 4 large), pitted
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon almond extract
For toast:
2 eggs
¼ cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 thick slices white, French or sourdough bread (day-old preferred)
1 tablespoon butter
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Powdered sugar
Simmer the apricots for 3 to 5 minutes. |
Instructions:
For sauce: Slice apricots into eighths. Set aside.
In a heavy saucepan, combine 1/3 cup sugar, water and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute.
Gently add apricot slices to simple syrup. Over medium heat, simmer apricots until just tender, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and gently stir in almond extract. Set aside.
While apricot sauce simmers, prepare French toast. In a shallow bowl or pie plate, beat together eggs and milk. Add 1 tablespoon sugar and vanilla extract.
Heat griddle or large pan. Melt butter. Dip bread slices in egg batter, covering both sides. Transfer slices to griddle or pan. Sprinkle cinnamon over each slice. Fry until golden brown, turning once (about 5 minutes total).
Transfer toast to plates and spoon apricot sauce over top. Sift powdered sugar over sauce and toast as desired.
Serve immediately.
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Garden Checklist for week of April 21
This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.
* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.
* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.
* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.
* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.
* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash.
* Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.
* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.
* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.