Get sweet on apricots
What’s in season: Apricots and other stone fruit are a common sight at market stands this time of year, but the flavorful fruit are really starting to come into season. Apricots, including sweet, plump Helena apricots, large Robadas, cult-favorite Blenheims and fragrant Poppy apricots, as well as crimson Flavor Royal pluots and other pluots and apriums (hybrid fruit created by crossing apricots with plums) are making a colorful show with a season that typically lasts well through the hot summer months. Green apricots — unripe apricots similar in appearance to almonds — pop up occasionally; these are bitter- or sour-flavored fruit often used for pickling.
What to cook: Sometimes apricots are best savored as a simple snack, with a stack of napkins handy to help with each juicy bite. Slice the fruit to add sweet notes to a quick salad, or halve and grill apricots to caramelize the sugars before serving alongside a simple scoop of ice cream. Turn the fruit into a shrub — a sweetened, vinegar-based drink also called “drinking vinegars” — or add diced fruit to a summer sangria. If adding to a tart, galette or crumble, the skins are easily removed before using: Score the base of each fruit with an X, then place in boiling water just until the skin begins to curl. Remove the fruit to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and peel the skin away as soon as the fruit is cool enough to handle.
What’s on the horizon: Tomatillos, wrapped in their delicate paper skins, are making a good show at a number of stands, and corn is just starting to show up.