Small Batch Dried Apricot Jam

No fresh apricots, no problem! This easy recipe for dried apricot jam is made, of course, with sweet soft dried apricots and it’s delicious! 

A common ingredient in pastry glaze in classic French patisserie and fruit tarts, apricot jam or preserves are readily available in French grocery stores but they aren’t as easy to find in other places. In the Channel Islands, where we spend half the year, it’s just an hour’s boat ride from France. So shops there sell it too. 

In Norfolk, England, where some dear friends live, apricot preserves are hard to come by so I’ve been known to carry jars to them in my suitcase when we visit. 

If you saw my post from yesterday where I shared cheater pain aux raisins using puff pastry, you also read that I couldn’t find apricot jam here in Houston! Well, to be fair, I only went to one store and decided on the spot to buy dried apricots and make my own, rather than traipsing all over town looking. I’m sure elsewhere in Houston I could find it but I was too lazy to try.

If you too find yourself short of apricot jam and shopping motivation, here's the recipe.

Dried Apricot Jam

The recipe makes a not-quite-full jam jar (Bonne Maman, 13 oz or 370g capacity) of jam, perfect for making glaze or spreading on toast. 

Ingredients 

6 oz or 170g dried apricots 

1/2 cup or 100g sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Pinch fine sea salt

Method

In a heatproof bowl, pour boiling water to just cover the apricots and leave to soak overnight or for at least six hours.

I left mine overnight. 

Mince the apricots in a food processor with their soaking water.

Add the apricots to a pan along with the sugar, lemon juice and salt.

Heat gently till sugar has dissolved then boil steadily (it should be bubbling) till it reaches a good jammy thickness. 

Keep an eye on the pot and stir often. 

I used a thermometer and mine never reached the ideal jam set temperature of 222°f or 106°C but it got quite thick and actually started to catch and darken a little so I deemed it done. 

Spoon into a sterilized jar. I put a metal spoon in mine to keep the glass from breaking when the hot jam is added. I don't really understand the thermodynamics but it seems to work. Screw lid on tight and turn the jar over. 

Leave to cool. The lid should form a suction and pop in when it has cooled and you turn it back over. 

If it does not, store it in the refrigerator. 

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 4th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2025, brought to you by the letter D. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the D recipes below:

• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Double Dark Chocolate Waffles
• Blogghetti: Dragon Fruit Smoothie Bowl 
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Dutch Macaroni 
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Date Salad, Ottolenghi Style 
• A Messy Kitchen: Sugarplum Date Balls 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Chicken with Dates
• Palatable Pastime: Balkan Lamb and Rice Casserole (Djuvec) 
• Magical Ingredients: Dill Pickle Dip 
• Food Lust People Love:Small Batch Dried Apricot Jam 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Dal Sultani 
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Sun-Dried Tomato Dip with Italian Seasoning

Here are my posts for the 2025 alphabet challenge, thus far:

A: Roasted Asparagus Soup

B: Blistered Sugar Snap Peas

C. Jersey Royal Chicken Chorizo Traybake 

D. Small Batch Dried Apricot Jam – this post!

Pin this Small Batch Dried Apricot Jam! 

.

Jersey Royal Chicken Chorizo Traybake

Jersey Royals nestled with spicy chorizo, juicy chicken, vine tomatoes and leeks, roasted with garlic and topped with thyme. This Jersey Royal Chicken Chorizo Traybake makes its own lovely sauce!

Sometimes, often in fact, I don’t have a recipe in mind when I go into the kitchen to make a meal. I start opening drawers in the refrigerator and browsing my pantry for inspiration. This meal was one of those. 

I had some spicy chorizo I had been wanting to use and a leek that was getting just a little dried out on top. And the rest just sort of fell together in my big roasting pan. 

I have since made it again because it was so good! The oils that render as the chicken thighs and chorizo roast, along with the tomato juice make the most wonderful basting liquid! 

Jersey Royal Chorizo Chicken Traybake

Traybake in the UK, sheet pan dinner in the US. Whatever we call them, everyone loves just one cooking vessel to wash up! If you don’t have Royals or baby new potatoes, you can use larger waxy potatoes like Yukon Golds (US) or Charlottes (UK). Peel them and cut them into chunks. 

Ingredients

8 oz or 225g Spanish chorizo

1 fat leek, tender green and white parts only, trimmed weight 136g

4 skin-on, bone in chicken thighs, cut in half (approx. weight 1 lb 10 oz or 750g)

3 cloves garlic

6 (ripened on the vine, if possible) cherry tomatoes

1.1 lb or 500g Jersey Royals or baby new potatoes

olive oil for drizzling and greasing the pan

fine sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

3-4 sprigs fresh thyme

Method

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C and prepare your roasting pan by drizzling it with a little olive oil. 

Peel the casing off of the chorizo and discard. Cut the chorizo into chunks.

Trim the hard green part and the root end off of your leek and discard, Cut the rest into chunks. Slice the garlic cloves thinly.

Use a meat cleaver or poultry scissors to cut each chicken thigh in half, through the bone. Put the chicken pieces skin side up in the prepared pan. 

Distribute the leek and potatoes around the chicken. Halve the tomatoes and tuck them in too. Sprinkle the whole thing with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

Now add in the chorizo and scatter the sliced garlic on top. 

Give everything another drizzle of olive oil and bake in your preheated oven for about 40 minutes, basting occasionally.

Add in the sprigs of thyme and bast again. 

Bake for another 5-10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. 

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 3rd edition of Alphabet Challenge 2025, brought to you by the letter C. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the C recipes below:

• Sneha’s Recipe: Chettinad Mushroom Masala
• Food Lust People Love: Chicken Chorizo Traybake
• Blogghetti: Captain Crunch French Toast
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Chickpea Chaat Salad
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Hot Chocolate Cookies
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Cider Glazed Chicken Wings
• Magical Ingredients: Cheesy Corn Dip
• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Chia Seed Protein Bites
• A Messy Kitchen: Cappuccino Mousse
• Culinary Cam: Lemon Lavender Blackberry Cake
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Cheesy Cheddar Taco-Seasoned Corn Chip Dip

Here are my posts for the 2025 alphabet challenge, thus far:

A: Roasted Asparagus Soup

B: Blistered Sugar Snap Peas

C. Jersey Royal Chicken Chorizo Traybake – this post!

Pin this Jersey Royal Chicken Chorizo Traybake! 

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Blistered Sugar Snap Peas

Crunchy blistered sugar snap peas take mere minutes to make but their flavor is outstanding, with garlic, chili peppers, soy sauce and sesame oil.

I love stir-fried vegetables as either a main dish or side because they are so quick to cook. The prep is what takes the time, peeling, chopping and cutting all the vegetables beforehand. I use most vegetable stir-fries as a veg drawer cleaning exercise so there’s lots and lots of prep! 

But that’s why I love this dish even more. Just one item – very little chopping, just the garlic and peppers - and I find the prep - removing the hard strings - therapeutic. I turn a comedy (or cooking show) on tv and well before the half hour show can finish, the snap peas are stringed and ready to cook! 

Lately I’ve been watching Junior Bake Off which is brilliant. The kids are aged nine through 12 and they are amazing bakers already! I can’t even imagine how good they’ll be when they are grown up and can compete in the Great British Bake Off. 

My set up:

This year for the Alphabet Challenge, as an added personal challenge, I decided I would dip into the many, many recipe files I've been saving for years and actually make some of them! I have no idea where I got this one but it's from a Word doc I created in 2018. It's so easy AND tasty, why did I wait?!

My first post for A, the roasted asparagus soup, I saved in 2011! 🙄

Blistered Sugar Snap Peas

Don’t have sugar snap peas? Substitute small broccoli florets or even snow peas. Either one works well in this recipe.

Ingredients

1 lb or 450g fresh sugar snap peas

1-2 small red chili peppers (depending on your tolerance/love of pepper)

2 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

Optional garnish for spice lovers: sliced red chili peppers

Method

Use a sharp knife or a clean fingernail to remove the top of the strings from the snap peas, pulling the whole string free. Discard.

Mince the red chili peppers and garlic. Measure out your soy sauce and sesame oil so you are ready to pour them in quickly. 

Heat a non-stick pan till very hot then add the snap peas. 

Cook till blackened in places, tossing occasionally so they cook on all sides. Add the chopped chili peppers and garlic, stirring quickly. 

Sprinkle on the soy sauce and then sesame oil, tossing to coat. And they are done!

Garnish with a few slices of red chili pepper, if desired. Serve immediately, 

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 2nd edition of Alphabet Challenge 2025, brought to you by the letter B. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the B recipes below:

• Culinary Cam: A Belated Birthday Bûche De Noël (Yule Log) 
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Barley Salad 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Bhune Mutton Paya 
• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Black Bean Sweet Potato Skillet 
• Food Lust People Love: Blistered Snap Peas 
• A Messy Kitchen: Blueberry Basil Cocktail/Mocktail 
• Blogghetti: Boiled Peanuts 
• Magical Ingredients: Buffalo Cauliflower Paneer Dip 
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Chocolate Espresso Rainbow Brownie Cookies
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Coconut Brigadeiros 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: White Bean and Basil Salad

Here are my posts for the 2025 alphabet challenge, thus far:

A: Roasted Asparagus Soup

B: Blistered Sugar Snap Peas – this post!

Pin these Blistered Sugar Snap Peas!

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