apricot almond crumble, the long way round

We're finally starting to cook in C's new kitchen.  Apricot Almond Crumble is on our menu tonight.  

But it seems like everything we decide to make requires something that the new little kitchen doesn't have.  This time it's a small baking dish, so I dashed out to find one this morning.  I passed by Williams Sonoma, Sur La Table and Pottery Barn...too expensive. Both local supermarkets are short on space and didn't have any pans at all.  Everything else required an endlessly spiraling parking garage or a healthy hike.  I was about to turn for home when I spotted the unthinkable---a parking space---right in front of a TJ Maxx. I was fresh out of quarters because the DC parking meters are set for, like, 3 minutes per quarter.  So I sprinted across the street to the nearest store for change.  It was a nice looking hair salon, and they were happy to give me a couple of dollars worth of change for the meter.  While I was there I remembered that I didn't have time to get my hair cut before coming to DC, and wondered if they had any openings in the near future. They had an opening---in ten minutes.  So I fed the meter and got my hair cut.  My roots were looking a little worse for the wear so I decided to get those done while I was at it.  I just needed to feed a few more quarters into the meter.

A couple of hours and a handful of quarters later I was heading into TJ Maxx. They had lots of baking pans and I grabbed one for $4.99 in a red glazed pottery to go with C's other dishes.  A little bit of a line, but then I shot out the door.  The meter was blinking aaaaaaaaand I had a ticket flapping on the windshield.

On to Whole Foods.  For this privilege I had to descend down several levels, then back up an elevator to finally get to the star of the show, the apricots.  I filled a bag extra full, after all this I didn't want to be caught short.  There was no price posted for them, and I assumed since they were in season that they must be on some ridiculously low special. The checkout line was manageable, although the lady in front of me was convinced that her organic cat food was 69 cents a can, not 79 cents. When it was finally my turn I was horrified to see my bag of apricots ring up at almost $10. The Haagen daz vanilla bean ice cream added another...oh forget it.  It's a good thing this dish is easy to make, otherwise I might start to resent it.

I halved and sliced 8 large apricots and tossed them with a squeeze of lemon juice.  Then I put the slices in the square baking dish and let them sit a while to get their juices flowing.

For the topping I mixed a cup of flour with 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup sliced almonds, and 1/3 tube of almond paste, crumbled.  Then I worked in 3/4 of a stick of butter, cut in small bits, with my hands until the butter was incorporated and there was no dry flour feel.  It should have a large crumb texture. Sprinkle the mixture evenly on top of the apricots,

and baked at 375 for about 30 minutes or until it's bubbling and browned.

It's sitting all pretty and innocent on the counter now.

 

 

Maybe it's the long day, the second glass of wine, or the new haircut talking, but it was pretty great.  I'm sure you'll find cheaper apricots, but definitely don't forget the Haagen daz  :)