Introduction to Dried Apricots: The Golden Gem of Fruits
The Dried Apricots are small and sweet fruits that are golden-orange in color and belong to the Rosacea family together with peaches, plums, and cherries. These juicy Dried Apricots are not only savored for their firmness, sweetness that is subtly squeaky with a delicious tang but also by their compact nutritional value that holds many health benefits.
Importance of Apricot Dry Fruit:
Nutritional Profile:
A Dry Apricot is compact as a fruit yet it contains a lot of nutrition in it. They are also low in energy content as well as being very rich in essential vitamins and mineral bodies. A typical serving of apricots
- Vitamin A: We need Beta carotene for healthy eyes and a healthy immune system.
Vitamin C: Protein: aids in skin care and support of the immune system.
Fiber: Supports good digestion and good health of the colon.
Potassium: A macronutrient category vital for the heart and moderation of water in the body’s interior.
Also, the consumption of apricots is associated with an increased amount of such antioxidant agents as beta carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin.
Health Benefits:
- Improved Digestion: It helps in digestion and prevents constipation and dry apricot promotes digestion of food and prevents constipation.
Eye Health: It is useful in maintaining proper eye health as well as preventing eye ailments that are related to old age.
Skin Health: These vitamins and antioxidants are also known to help one have healthy skin, the shiny skin associated with a healthy apricot life.
Heart Health: Potassium and fiber are known to reduce the pressure as well as cholesterol thus playing a role in the cardiovascular disease.
Culinary Uses:
The Dried Apricots is a very useful fruit when cooking. Accordingly, it can be eaten fresh, dried up, or as cooked greens. Apricot is delicious fresh that way it can be eaten as a fruit, used in salads or used in preparations of fruit smoothens. Most of the consumers know dried apricots as an additive for trails mixes and other baked products. Dry Apricots also finds its uses in preparing jams, jellies and sauces where it gives a sweet and slightly acidic touch to the food.
Cultivation
It is most Maltese apricot tree grows best in an environment consisting of cold winter, and hot dry summer periods. They are mostly cultivated in regions with Mediterranean weather, but they are also gown in areas of Asia, Middle East, and America. It is a small tree that has an early spring that is characterized by sweet white to pink flowers before the foliage comes out.
Fun Facts:
- In different cultures, people use apricot as a symbol of good luck and fortunate.
Kernels present in the apricot pits are used for production of oil, and in traditional medicine they are used at times.
The biggest producer of the Dry Apricot is Turkey while other leading producers are Iran and Uzbekistan.
How to Grow Dry Apricots at Home:
- Choosing the Right Variety: For proper growth of apricot trees, choose a variety that will grow perfectly under your climate conditions. Among them the most common are ‘Moorpark,’ ‘Tilton,’ and ‘Blenheim’ Some of them are self-pollinating and therefore can benefit your garden even if you plant only one tree.
- Planting Location: It has been described that apricot trees would put up nicely with full sunlight and a good drainage pattern of the soil. Select a site that has a chance to be exposed to sunlight for at least half a day, ranging to 6-8 hours. Mm, do not camp in areas that may be flooded, you know areas with low altars.
- Soil Preparation: As for soil, apricots are rather indifferent, but they do best on a soil slightly on the alkaline side of neutral.
- Work: Soil should be fertilized by adding compost or well rotted manure to it so that it is fertile and free from water logging.
- Planting: Bury the tree in a hole which has twice the width and also the depth of the root ball. Fill up the holes with soil so that they do not leave the tree deeper or shallower than what it was in the pot. Water thoroughly after planting.
- Watering and Fertilizing: Prune the tree, water it more especially during dry seasons to increase its mature size. Watering apricot trees requires depth so as to promote development of strong roots. There must be a regular fertilization program, usually, during early spring, use a balanced fertilizer.
Culinary Uses of Dry Apricot: Tips, Ideas, and Recipes
Despite being a bit sweet and slightly tart Apricot Dry Fruit can be eaten in many ways as a delicacy, dessert, or snack. Dried Apricots fresh or as part of a dish, or turned into delicious sweets, give a particular flavor to every meal. Below you can find the description of how apricots can be eaten fresh and some suggestions of how to use apricots in cooking, as well as several recipes.
Eating Fresh Dry Apricots: Tips & Ideas
- Selecting the Best Apricots: Dry Apricot should be slightly firm to the touch and its color should be as close to orange as possible. Do not choose those that have greenish color since they are unripe.
- Simple Snacks: Dry Apricot is very delicious fruit and can be eaten raw when it is freshly harvested. You just need to was them, cut them in half and take out the pit and you are ready to eat.
- Fruit Salads: Use apricots in fruit salad to garnish your dish and to bring an extra touch of taste. It is best to partner them with berries, melons, and citrus of all kinds.
- Yogurt and Cereal Toppings: Wash apricots and serve them raw for breakfast and add them to yogurt, oats or anything of your choice.
- Smoothies: Dry Apricot is taken with bananas, strawberries, some drops of orange juice in cooking to make a yummy and nutritious fruit smoothie.
Cooking with Dry Apricot: Ideas and Techniques:
- Grilling: From the recipes above one learns that apricots are tasty grilled and can be served in salads or used as part of a desert. Just cut the apricots in half crosswise, coat with a bit of olive oil and cook under a grill for some minutes until they are somewhat scorched.
- Roasting: Cooking apricots makes them even sweeter when eaten as a fruit. Take half of the halved apricots and put them in a bowl and pour a little honey on them and bake them for about 20 minutes in an oven. Eaten them on top of an ice cream or yogurt.
- Sauces and Glazes: A part from this, apricots are good for preparing sauces or glazes for some types of meat including chicken, pork and even duck. The fruit can be featured with flavors such as ginger, garlic, soy sauce in preparing a sweet glazing for the food.
- Baking: Dry Apricot can be used in baking to make muffins, cakes, tarts and any other baked product that one can possibly imagine. They are tart-sweet and are very useful as an accompaniment for different sorts of sweets.
Apricot Dry Fruit Recipes and Techniques
Dry Apricot Jam:
Ingredients:
2 pounds using fresh apricots, pitting and chopping the fruits you need to add 1 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
Instructions:
1. Add together apricots, sugar and lemon juice in a large saucepan.
2. Return to the medium heat and keep stirring the mixture until it becomes thick which will take about 30-40 minutes.
3. Spoon into sterilized jars and seal.
Apricot Chicken:
Ingredients:
Apricot chicken recipe: 4 chicken breasts, 1 cup apricot preserves, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 table spoon of Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder.
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven.
2. Put chicken breasts in a baking pan.
3. To make the glaze, in a bowl combine apricot preserves, soy sauce, Dijon mustard and garlic powder.
4. After that, you have to pour the mixture over the chicken.
5. Cook it in oven for twenty anything up to half an hour or until the chicken is properly cooked.
Conclusion:
Apricot Dry Fruit are fresh seasonal fruity and they can be consumed fresh as snacks, cooked and baked foods. They are so suited for our cooking needs that chefs and home builders love them the most. With the help of these tips, ideas and recipes you will be able maximize the use of Dried Apricots and bring a yummy twist to your recipes.
