Fresh Apricots

Making a dish for Thanksgiving that requires fresh apricots. Does anyone know where I can get some in the Western Suburbs? I have tried Whole Foods, Super H mart, Caputo's, Jewel, Dominicks, Michael's Fresh Market, Garden Fresh with no luck.

Thanks,

Kevin

Not to be overly pessimistic, but... if you do happen to find them, I would highly doubt that they'd be any good this time of year. Apricots are way out of season in these parts, and they don't travel particularly well - so anything you get from a distant part of the planet is likely to have been picked well before it was ripe. Maybe you can use a different fruit?

Kennyz,

Agreed. When I was at Whole Foods they mentioned that they can sometimes source them from South America this time of year.

I'm with Kenny, though - I'd start looking for a substitute: either rehydrate dried apricots by poaching them in some white wine, or switch to plums or grapes or another fruit. If H-Mart doesn't have them, I would guess they're not around - they're usually a good source.

Canned actually wouldn't be a bad substitute, depending on the recipe.

As someone who doesn't think a fresh apricot is all that flavorful at the best of times, I agree that the quest to find some out of season ones is probably misguided to begin with.

If it's going to be a baked dessert, I'd use canned ones. If it's something where they're chopped up, say stuffing, I agree with Mhays' idea of reconstituting dry ones. I think they have more flavorful (being concentrated from the fresh fruit) and doing so in wine or even apple juice adds flavor.

Another possibility, depending on the dish, would be mixing in some apricot preserves. Any trick like that is going to get more apricot flavor into the dish than the fresh fruit likely would.

Thanks for the comments. For a first course on Thanksgiving, I was going to steal a recipe that I saw on Dinner Impossible. Grill some asparagus and wrap asparagus and a slice of apricot in Proscuitto and then grill that....

Kevin

Ah - you do need a fresh fruit, but it doesn't need to be a stone fruit: you could sub pineapple (maybe overly assertive) or melon (flavor would work really well but IDK how it would hold up to grilling) or something like apple or pear - I'd say apple would be your best bet, a fairly tart one.

A ripe mango would work.

KevinT wrote:Thanks for the comments. For a first course on Thanksgiving, I was going to steal a recipe that I saw on Dinner Impossible. Grill some asparagus and wrap asparagus and a slice of apricot in Proscuitto and then grill that....

Kevin

What about persimmon? (Are those in season yet?) Select a semi-firm persimmon and peel it first. I really like the combo of persimmon and prosciutto.

KevinT wrote:Thanks for the comments. For a first course on Thanksgiving, I was going to steal a recipe that I saw on Dinner Impossible. Grill some asparagus and wrap asparagus and a slice of apricot in Proscuitto and then grill that....

Kevin

Kevin,

Everyone celebrates Thanksgiving in their own way, so take this with the knowledge that it is just one man's humble opinion... To me, Thanksgiving is largely about celebrating the bounty of America's harvest - and there are no asparagi or apricots being harvested here in late November.

The dish sounds delicious though, and there are similar-tasting things available now that might work well using virtually the same preparation. Brussel sprouts, for example, are abundant, and I think they're wonderful on the grill. You could grill 'em up, then wrap in bacon, thread onto skewers, and grill again. Serve with thin slices of tart apple, or maybe even a crunchy, raw cranberry relish. I think that would be both delicious and seasonal.

Kenny

Kennyz,

Ah, we got that covered. We are doing a brussel spout gratin and fresh cranberry sauce...