The Apricot Glutt

The orchard this year, 2025 has been outstanding. We have had red currents by the bowl full, loquats by the bag and now apricots by the laundry basket full. This is the first year we have had to deal with a glutt of produce from the orchard.

Fruit trees don’t just give you a few here and there. It’s all or nothing. You eat so much of the one type of fruit you start to gag at the mention of its name. This is great because you have had enough and you are then happy to wait till next year when they are in season again. This is seasonal eating at it’s best.

So what do you do with all the fruit. For many of us we pickle, preserve and dehydrate. All these methods are to save the fruit for eating when times are lean. I personally can’t wait for winter to arrive to have warm stewed apricots in a pie or two !!

So what to do with all the fruit. Last year we went to the Agrarian Kitchen near Hobart, we had roast apricot ice cream. Well I tell you, this was a taste sensation. This is the inspiration to roast kilos of apricots, to try and recreate this incredible desert.

All I do for this now is halve the apricots and place stone side up on a shallow baking try on a piece of baking paper. I use the baking paper so the apricots don’t burn and camalise to much. I want the flavour of the apricot not the burnt bits. Pop them in the oven for about 20-25 mins on 180 degrees. This will vary depending on ripeness. I bake until they are soft and then pop them in a bowl and mash. When they are cooled, place in freezer containers and freeze until you need them.

All this work will be worth it in the future !!!!

On a savory note, Apricot chicken. Now this is a blast from the past recipe. We had this a lot growing up. I had totally forgotten about this combo. The sweet apricots and chicken seem to be a match made in heaven. So simple and tasty.

I didn’t have a recipe, I could have looked one up but I didn’t. Classic Cath, I just thought what would work? and what do we have in the garden? The experiment worked this time. My combo was

halve as many apricots as you like,

a few tomatoes,

some sage,

olive oil, pepper and salt,

and chicken thighs.

Method

Halve apricots, chop tomatoes, chop sage, glug olive oil - mix all together. Coat with fresh ground pepper and salt to liking. Nestle in chicken thighs. Cover with foil and bake 180 degrees until the apricots and tomatoes are stating to stew. Remove the foil and bake until chicken is cooked.

And lastly the best thing to do with a glutt of fruit is use it as decoration. Big bowls of fruit on the coffee table, dining table, kitchen bench speaks lush good times.

Cxx