Apricot-Cherry Crisp

from "Local Flavors" by Deborah Madison


Apricot and cherries lead the season for stone fruits, and apricot-cherry anything -pie, crisp, cobbler or crumble -is a winning combination, especially in old-fashioned desserts like these. If pie cherries are available, include a cup for their flavor. And, if raspberry season should coincide, you can't go wrong throwing in a hand-ful or two as well.

Two and one-half pounds ripe apricots
1 pound sweet cherries
2 tablespoons sugar
One and one-half tablespoons minute tapioca
One-eighth teaspoon almond extract

The Crisp Topping
(Use your fingers or the paddle attachment of a mixer, work the butter with the rest of the ingredients until the texture is coarse and crumbly.

Six tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
Three-quarters light brown sugar, loosely packed
Two-thirds cup all-purpose flour
One-half rolled oats or finely chopped almonds
One-quarter teaspoon sea salt
One-half freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional.


    1. Preheat the oven to 375. Lightly butter a two and one half quart gratin dish. Pit the apricots and cherries, then toss them with the sugar, tapioca, and almond extract. Lay the fruit in the prepared dish.
    2. Make the topping. Pat the topping over the fruit. Set the dish on a baking pan to catch the juices and bake until the top is browned and the juices have thickened around the edge, about 45 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla or honey ice cream.

    Our Thursday Night Market is now open from 5-8. Now your week's shopping can include all your fresh seasonal produce for the week-end and our Sunday Market will stock you for the week. Most fruits and veggies are picked fresh the day of the market, and with a fast rinse, and a trip into the crisper, you can be assured they will last a week or so ~ that is, if there is anything left.

    Fresh At the Market This Week: Apricots, peaches, nectarines, Rainier and Bing cherries, figs, oranges, plumcots, plums, vine ripened tomatoes, herbs, lettuce, walla walla onions, torpedo red onions, Charlie's Lavender, yellow wax and green beans, fresh cut flowers, cucumbers, zucchini, green peppers, baby and regular bok choy, bitter melon and arugula, Be sure you try one of Nicky's Breakfast Burritos or a crepe from California Crepes, and a must is Mike's fresh smoasted- that-morning 'Wild King Salmon.'

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