Introduction: Class Up Your Dinner Party... With Stuffed Apricots

Funny story: I am neither a fan of apricots, nor of goat cheese... But put those babies together and I can't get enough!

This Instructable will show you how to make your own apricot and goat cheese based appetizers in a few easy steps. Plus, they're customizable to your own unique tastes!

Let's get started...

Step 1: Ingredients

The only ingredients absolutely necessary for this recipe are:

1.) Dried Apricots

2.) Goat Cheese

Here, you can see that I've used a Goat Cheese spread from Trader Joe's*; it's sort of like a tangy cream cheese, which is quite delightful.

To actually combine the indredients, you will need:

1.) Fingers, preferably clean.
2.) A butter knife (optional).

Additional ingredients are optional, and they include other dried fruits, various nuts, crackers, or anything else that you might want to mix in with these sweet and tangy flavours.**



*Actually, everything that I've used, sans the butter knife, is from Trader Joe's.
** I take no responsibility for whatever concoctions you come up with (unless, of course, they are awesome). Create at your own risk.

Step 2: Apricot + Cheese

Dried apricots are, of course, pitted, and so they have a slit somewhere along the side. Find the slit and split open the fruit about halfway. Using either your fingers or a butter knife, take a small amount (the size of 1-2 peas) and spread it along the inside of the apricot.

This is the base of your appetizer or, if you find that you like the taste right now, you're done.

If you're feeling adventurous, or particularly foody-ish, carry on...

Step 3: Find Your Taste

Here I will give you some guidance, but it's up to you to let your creative juices flow.

Here there be monsters...And they be delicious.

Take your assorted extras (here we've got some nuts and fruit), and play with flavour combinations.

In the main photo, we've got one of each of the following:

1.) Dried Cranberry
2.) Dried Blueberry
3.) Dried Cherry
4.) Almond
5.) Pumpkin Seed

In the other photo, we've got different combinations of the same ingredients (rollover for details).

Step 4: Flavour Theory

This recipe is very easy and fully customizable. In fact, if you don't have or just purely hate apricots, you substitute the fruit. I've made this with dried pears and dried mango. I've put the whole thing on a cracker when I don't have any nuts to go inside. You can even use fresh fruit, cereal, and chocolate for a more desert-y flavour!

How can this be? How can they be so delicious and so modular at the SAME TIME?! Well...

Fruit and cheese go notoriously well together. And so do many of the permutations of salty and sweet. And couple these principles with your own amazing Kitchen Mojo, and you've got a quick, easy, economical, and even healthy way to make your guests' mouths water.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Eating!

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