Sauteed Vanilla Scented Apricots

Elise and I recently traded vanilla beans for some fresh apricots. Staring at the perfectly ripe, sun-like globes of sweet juicy goodness, I knew I had to combine them with some of the vanilla beans.

Even as I opened the apricots, their pits falling out effortlessly, their overpowering scent took over the kitchen and began to strongarm the vanilla for aromatic dominance. I realized that a simple saute would be the best way to incorporate the two dueling flavors.

The finished bring orange apricots, flecked with black pinpricks of vanilla, and shimmering with glazed sugar it's quite a dessert to present to your friends. Perfect on it's own or over waffles or ice cream, or maybe even a pie or tart filling, it's a heady and comforting dessert for summer.

Sauteed Vanilla Scented Apricots
What You'll Need...
6 apricots
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 or 2 vanilla beans (I used Madagascar variety beans)
1 1/2 tablespoons of butter

What You'll Do...
1) Wash the apricots. Remove the stones from the apricots, and cut into quarters.

2) Warm a saute or fry pan over medium heat and melt the butter. Split a vanilla bean in half and scrape out the seeds. Throw the apricots, brown sugar, vanilla seeds and pod into the butter and stir. It will create a lot of juice the longer you saute.

3) Warm over medium-low heat for about 8-12 minutes or until you have them at a firmness you prefer. I like mine halfway firm, Rob let his share go a while longer till it was more of a sauce.

Note: These are the vanilla beans I used to make the vanilla sugar, afterward, I washed them off and let them dry overnight. I then chopped them up for some vanilla chips if I want to add vanilla bean flavor to some milk or cream for baking later.