Dhillon Farms had a crate set apart from the rest of the table, apricots that had split down one side where the pit sits. Heat does this. The fruit swells faster than the skin can manage and something has to give. Nobody was buying from that crate at the regular price, so it went for less, and then it went to me.
Split is not the same as spoiled. These were still good, better than good in places, just short on time. I was not going to turn the oven on for anything that day. A hot pan on the stove for two minutes does most of what an oven does and heats the kitchen a great deal less.
Serves 2
6 ripe apricots, halved and pitted 1/3 cup almonds, roughly chopped 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar Flaky salt
Set a dry skillet over medium-high heat. Toast the almonds until they color and smell like themselves, three to four minutes, shaking the pan so they don’t catch. Tip them out onto a plate.
Return the pan to the heat and add the olive oil. When it shimmers, lay the apricots in cut side down. Leave them alone for two minutes. They should take on real color at the edges before you touch them.
Turn the apricots and give the skin side thirty seconds, no more. Pull the pan from the heat and add the vinegar right away. It will hiss and pull the browned bits up off the bottom.
Arrange the apricots on a plate, cut side up. Spoon whatever is left in the pan over them. Scatter the almonds on top. Salt.
Eat while the apricots are still warm from the pan. The vinegar will have settled into the plate by the time you’re done, and that’s worth getting with the last piece.