It's supreme: stoned fruit love

Ah, how many of Annalena's army got the title?  It's tricky, but  those of you who know her adoration of the Supremes, will recognize the allusion to Stoned Love, one of Annalena's favorite songs:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rglxw5cbZWY



And what better way to introduce the theme of STONE fruits (as compared to stoneD fruits), than via the  Supremes?


This time of year is truly THE time for those of us who love these goodies.  "Stone" fruits, for those of you who don't know what we're talking about, are fruits that have a "stone" at their center:  cherries, apricots, peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines.  The cherries are gone, but all the others are still here, even apricots, which should have finished by now. It is an odd year.    And nothing, and  Annalena means NOTHING - is better as a dessert than a piece of a ripe stone fruit:  a nectarine for Annalena, please.  But if you must do something - and sometimes you do - here is a recipe that fits into the healthy category, courtesy of Nadia G, one of Annalena's heroes.  Annalena saw the recipe and modified it.

The hardest thing you will do for this recipe, is shop for spices.  You need a vanilla bean, a cinnamon stick, and a star anise.  Here is a hint:  broken star anises are much cheaper than the whole ones, so buy the broken ones and use half.

Now, mix in a heavy pot, a  half cup of water, a third of a cup of honey, a third of a cup of raw sugar (do get this:  you'll see it as turbinado sugar too), and your spices.  Stir these together and heat them until the sugar dissolves.  Now, put that aside for a minute, while you prep the fruit.

"Prepping the fruit" here means, ragazzi, slicing it off the pit.  You want about six cups of cut fruit, and use whatever you like. Annalena had all of the above around, including some pluots, and used that.  DO know that the softer fruits will dissolve into sauce in this recipe.  Try to combine a mix of firmer and softer ones. Plums can be especially challenging to hold together, so make sure that if you want the whole fruit, you buy firmer ones.

For apricots, Annalena cut them in half or fourths if they were large. Peaches were sliced, as were plums , nectarines and pluots.  When you have the six cups of them, put them into the spice broth, turn the heat to medium, and cook, for about 6-8 minutes.   The fruit will begin to break down, you'll get a thicker sauce, and when it looks soft enough for your taste, stop.

Taste it.  You may find an almond overtone, especially if you used apricots.  If you are not a big fan of licoricy flavors, when you store this,  take out the whole spices.  The anise will continue to release its flavor. Annalena is a fan, but not everyone is.

This is meant to be served in a parfait, with sweetened yogurt.  Honestly, ragazzi, unless you have a ridiculously strong sweet tooth, Annalena suggests that your yogurt be plain, fat free Greek, with no sweetener at all.

This is what Annalena's looked like, put into a glass which the Guyman's brother David and wife Cyndi gave us many years ago.

Ok, ragazzi, TWO healthy recipes in a row from Annalena?  ABBASTANZA.  Next time, we're making ice cream.