::. Recipes .::

Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt; cut in shortening and stir in dried apricots. Combine beaten egg and milk; add to flour mixture. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fill greased muffin pans about 2/3 full.

Bake at 400° for 20 to 25 minutes.

Dried Apricot Almond Biscotti

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2/3 cup California dried apricot halves, chopped

1 cup natural chopped almonds

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350*F (175*C). Lightly butter large baking sheet.

2. In food processor, combine first five ingredients. Pulse to blend. Add butter and vanilla; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add eggs and pulse 3 times to blend. Add apricots and almonds; pulse until mixture is evenly moistened. Transfer mixture to large bowl; use hands to form into dough.

3. Divide dough in half. On lightly greased baking sheet, shape dough into two 12-inch logs. With hands, flatten each log to a width of 2 inches. Sprinkle each with remaining sugar.

4. Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove logs to cooling rack for 10 minutes.

5. With serrated knife, carefully cut logs on the diagonal into 1-inch slices. Place on baking sheet cut side up; return to oven and bake 7 minutes, or until very lightly browned. Transfer to rack; cool completely.

Rosemary-Scented Pork Loin Stuffed With Roasted Garlic, Dried Apricots and Cranberries

INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons olive oil
16 whole peeled garlic cloves
2 tablespoons minced garlic cloves
1 (8 pound) whole boneless pork loin, patted dry, at room temperature
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary (snip with scissors), divided
16 dried apricots (or similar amount of your favorite dried fruit)
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup apple jelly
1/4 cup port
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons apple jelly
2 teaspoons cornstarch

DIRECTIONS

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position & heat oven to 250 degrees; Heat oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add whole garlic cloves and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon; reserve oil.
Turn pork loin fat-side down. Slit lengthwise, almost but not quite all the way through, to form a long pocket, leaving a 1/2-inch border of un-slit meat at each end. Brush cavity with some of the reserved garlic cooking oil, and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and 1 Tb. of the rosemary. Line cavity with sautéed garlic and apricots; sprinkle in cranberries. Tie loin together with kitchen twine or heavy-duty string at 1 1/2-inch intervals.
Brush with remaining oil, and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Set roast, fat-side up, diagonally or curved (so it fits) on a large, lipped cookie sheet or jellyroll pan. Warm 1/4 cup apple jelly along with the minced garlic and remaining rosemary; brush mixture onto meat.
Roast until a meat thermometer stuck into the center registers 125-130 degrees.(Start checking at about 1 1/2 hours.) Remove from oven; raise oven temperature to 400 degrees. Brush loin with pan drippings, return to oven, and continue to roast until the loin is golden brown and a meat thermometer stuck into the center registers 155 to 160 degrees, about 20 minutes longer. For even more attractive coloring, broil until spotty brown, 3 to 5 minutes.
Let roast rest 15-20 minutes; transfer to a carving board. Stir juices around pan to loosen brown bits. Pour through a strainer into a small pan, and stir in port, chicken broth and remaining 2 Tbs. of jelly; bring to a simmer. Mix cornstarch with a couple of tablespoons of cold water; whisk into sauce. Simmer until lightly thickened. Slice pork and serve with a little sauce.

Apricot-Orange Bread

INGREDIENTS:

6 ounces dried apricots, coarsely chopped
2 cups water
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon finely grated orange peel
3 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans.

Cook apricots in water in a covered saucepan for 10-15 minutes, until apricots are mushy. Drain and reserve 3/4 cup liquid; set fruit aside to cool. In a mixing bowl with electric mixer, cream margarine, and sugar; beat in egg and orange peel just until blended. Into a separate bowl, sift flour, dry milk, baking powder, soda, and salt. Stir sifted mixture into to creamed mixture alternately with reserved apricot liquid and orange juice.

Stir chopped soaked apricots and pecans into the batter. Turn batter into prepared loaf pans. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until bread springs back when lightly touched in center. Cool 5 minutes in pan. Remove from pan to rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.