August 4, 2010

Another Great Summer Breakfast

I tend to eat the same thing for breakfast over and over.  A lot of people seem to eat cereal for breakfast everyday, so I suppose that's normal.  But I am really not a cereal person.  I like a breakfast with a little more substance.  And while I generally like variety, for breakfast I need something quick, that I can prepare on auto-pilot while my coffee is brewing.  Last summer I had toast with cream cheese and fruit quite often.  Two years ago, when I had a few collard greens in the garden, I had a poached egg over sautéed collard greens and onions at least a few times a week. This summer my go-to breakfast has been homemade yogurt with granola. Yes, I know I promised to share the granola recipe with you, and I'll get to it.  It's just that when a reader shared her favorite summer breakfast with me, the highlight being beautiful apricots, I had to get to it right away.

This is a crisp, a baked sweetened fruit dish with a crunchy top layer, perfect for topping with a scoop of plain or vanilla yogurt. Its super-simple prep work takes less than 10 minutes and only dirties two pans and a couple spoons.  It bakes in half an hour, and can be made the night before and left to sit on the counter or refrigerator until morning.  The wait time helps the flavors blend.

By now you know that I favor recipes that I can store in my memory bank and alter according to what I have on hand.  This is a good candidate, as it only requires one measuring spoon (a tablespoon) and one measuring cup (a half cup).  The original recipe is written using apricots, and the crunchy, sweet topping contrasts with the tartness of the apricots nicely.  My husband is not a big fan of apricots; he prefers cherries, so I did try this recipe once with cherries.  I felt it was a bit too sweet for breakfast, but then again, I not a big fan of cherries.  He really enjoyed it.

Breakfast Apricot Crisp 
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Fruit Layer
1 lb fresh apricots
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon flour
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Topping
1/2 stick of butter
6 tablespoons regular or turbinado sugar
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup flour (use whole wheat if you prefer)
big pinch of salt
2 tablespoons sliced or chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 400º.  Break apricots in half.  Then tear each half in half, so that apricots are in quarters. In 4x7" baking dish or similar sized casserole dish, combine apricots with sugar, flour and nutmeg.  Stir to combine.

Topping: In small saucepan, melt butter.  When butter has melted completely, stir in sugar, then stir in oats. Then stir in flour.  Mixture should form clumps. Then stir in salt and almonds. Sprinkle topping evenly over apricot mixture. Bake at 400º for 30 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven and let sit overnight.

Serve topped with a dollop of yogurt. Cover any remaining crisp and refrigerate.

2 comments:

  1. This is soooo good. Maria made it for us this weekend. It is terrific. A great way to start the day.

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  2. I second what Mr. Brilliant said. I got to finish it off the next morning for breakfast. Thanks Maria!

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