everything's better with chocolate
with the bullpen in constant flux and a lack of solid play-on-name puns, last friday's delivery was A's-centric. and by that, i mean chocolate covered A's-pricots. i started making these a year or so ago, when i found the base recipe in a magazine (at my physical therapy place, no less). since then, i've tweaked it, adding hawaiian black sea salt and using guittard dark chocolate chips, which have an unbelievable consistancy compared with other chips, and this time i even switched out the pistachio pieces for glazed pecans (i prefer the pistachios, though, so that's what i've included in the simple, even-a-guy-could-make-them-while-watching-the-NBA-finals recipe). the handoff to brad ziegler came quickly; his response, "hey, chocolate covered apricots! yeah!" and while the A's added another L to the column, my bullpen still has a 0.00 ERA. hip hip, hoor-A's!chocolate-covered apricots with pistachios and sea salt
ingredients
1/2 cup finely chopped pistachios
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips (Guittard is preferred; whole foods sells them in the bulk section and by the 12 oz. package)
24 dried large apricots (not the Turkish ones; use the very orange, squishy ones)
sea salt (black, pink, red, lavender, whatever floats your boat)
directions
1. line a baking sheet with waxed paper.
2. put pistachios and salt into separate shallow bowls.
3. melt chocolate via double-boiler (preferred method) or microwave. remove from heat.
4. holding apricots from one end, dip them 1 at a time into the chocolate, turning to coat about 3/4 of the apricot. place apricot on baking sheet and repeat with remaining apricots.
5. sprinkle nuts and salt over the chocolate.
6. chill in refrigerator until chocolate is set, about 1 hour. store in an airtight container between sheets of waxed paper in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks..
