Apricot Salad With Orange Flower Water And Pistachios Recipes

QUINOA SALAD WITH APRICOTS, BASIL AND PISTACHIOS

Steps:

• Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Stir in the quinoa. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook until the liquid is just absorbed and the quinoa is moist and nearly tender, about 15 minutes.
• Transfer the quinoa to a large bowl and immediately stir in the oil, apricots, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Set aside to cool slightly, about 20 minutes, stirring a couple times. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours.
• When the quinoa is cool and ready to serve, stir in the arugula, basil, lemon juice and pistachios. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with the goat cheese and serve.

GLAZED BEETS WITH CREME FRAICHE AND PISTACHIOS

Steps:

• For the beets, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Massage each beet with about a teaspoon of oil and season with salt and pepper. Individually wrap each beet in aluminum foil. Place the beets on a baking sheet and bake for about an hour, or until you can easily pierce them with a knife.
• When the beets have cooled enough to handle but are still warm, unwrap them and rub them with a dry kitchen towel or paper towels to remove their skin. Cut the beets into quarters and allow to cool completely.
• Fill a high-sided saute pan with 1/4 cup of water, the honey and butter and place over medium-high heat; stir gently. Once the mixture begins to thicken and form a glaze, turn off the heat, add the cooked beets and toss to coat them in the glaze. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• For the pistachios, toast them in a small saute pan over medium heat just until they're warm and you can smell their "pistachio-ness." Cool and chop or crush them slightly; they should remain chunky to give good crunch to the dish.
• For the creme fraiche, place it in a bowl and mix with the lemon zest and about half the chopped mint. Refrigerate until you're ready to assemble the dish.
• To serve, spoon the creme fraiche mixture over the bottom of a medium serving dish. Place the warm beets (reheat them if necessary) on top of the creme fraiche in a single layer. (Resist the urge to pile these beauties high; you'll want to be getting creme fraiche and beet in every bite.) If there's any glaze leftover in the pan, pour it over the beets. Sprinkle the pistachios over the beets. Tear the parsley leaves with your fingertips and let them fall naturally over the beets. Sprinkle on the rest of the mint, add a few grinds of fresh black pepper and you're good to go.

ARUGULA SALAD WITH GRILLED APRICOTS AND PISTACHIOS

Steps:

• Heat a griddle over a hot grill or burner, or preheat an indoor grill.
• Combine arugula, half the pistachios, and basil in a large bowl.
• Whisk together vinegars, salt and pepper, and 3 tablespoons of the olive oil.
• Cut apricots in half and remove pits. Brush cut side with remaining olive oil. Grill for about 2 minutes on the cut side, until seared but intact. Remove from the heat.
• Toss together arugula mixture, dressing and half the apricots. Arrange on a platter. Arrange the remaining apricots, goat cheese or feta and remaining pistachios over the top, and serve.

POACHED APRICOTS WITH PISTACHIO AND AMARETTO MASCARPONE

Steps:

• Poach the apricots: Add Sauternes, lime half, vanilla, sugar and 3 tablespoons/40 milliliters water to a saucepan just big enough to hold the apricot halves in one layer. Place the pan over high heat and cook until the sugar has melted and the liquid boils.
• Remove the pan from the heat and place the apricots in the hot liquid, cut sides down. Leave them to poach in the residual heat until they are soft but still hold their shape (20 to 40 minutes, depending on how ripe they are) flipping them every 10 minutes. Set the apricots aside to cool slightly. (If not serving immediately, transfer the apricots to a covered container and refrigerate until needed.) Squeeze the lime into the syrup and then discard it; return the saucepan with the syrup to medium-high heat and simmer until reduced to about 1/4 cup/70 milliliters, 5 to 6 minutes. Set aside at room temperature until needed.
• Prepare the mascarpone mixture: Combine pistachios, amaretti cookies and sugar. Add three-quarters of this mixture to a bowl with the mascarpone and mix it all together until combined, then fold in the cream.
• To serve, divide the apricots and the amaretti cream between four bowls. Pour the syrup over the apricots and sprinkle the remaining amaretti and pistachio crumble over the cream. Finish with orange blossom water and lime zest and serve.