2UE stone fruit recipes

Stone fruits: peaches, apricots, plums and nectarines

In the July 2009 issue of Burke’s Backyard magazine, on sale Monday, June 29, our Kitchen Garden feature is all about growing stone fruits such as plums, peaches, nectarines and apricots. Midwinter is the perfect time to plant one of these deciduous trees, because you do it when they are dormant.

In the July issue you’ll find lots of tips on how to plant these bare-rooted deciduous plants, which stone fruit varieties are best for your climate zone, and how to care for them during spring and summer, too.

Plus, Tracy Rutherford has two sensational recipes for you to keep and try. One is for a home-made apricot tart, and the other is a wonderful breakfast treat – French toast with roasted nectarines.

Dried fruit Salad

In the meantime, stone fruit are not in season in the shops now, so we have a super-easy recipe for you which uses dried fruit. This is a classic Middle-Eastern dish which I originally found in Claudia Roden’s famous ‘Book of Middle-Eastern Food’ (Penguin Paperback).

500g dried apricots
500g other dried fruits (eg, prunes, raisins, peaches, figs or a mixture of these)
125g blanched almonds
50g pistachio kernels
water
sugar to taste (1-2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon rose water

Put all the fruits and nuts in a large bowl and mix to combine well. Cover with water and sprinkle over some sugar and the rose water. Cover and leave to soak for at least 2 days (48 hours) or more. You can give it all a stir once or twice if you’re keen.
After two days the fruits are full of liquid and soft and the salad is ready to serve with ice-cream or natural yoghurt.

Copyright 2009 CTC Productions