poached apricots with anchovies & olive jam

Directions

Poached Apricots

1. Cut each apricot in half and remove the stone. Set aside while you prepare your poaching liquor. 

2. Crush the cardamom pods, then gently toast them in a frying pan until aromatic. 

3. Combine all poaching ingredients (except the apricots and lemon thyme) in a heavy bottomed saucepan.

4. Bring this poaching liquor up to a boil then reduce the heat. Hold at this level and add your apricot halves. 

5. The apricots should take about 45 minutes to poach. They're ready when they are tender but not falling apart. 

To Serve

1. Roughly an hour prior to plating the dish, remove all ingredients from the fridge. It's best served at room temperature. 

2. Remove the outside of the cheese (or just scoop into the middle) – your goal is to only serve the gooey centre. 

3. Build the dish as follows: per apricot half, use roughly 5g of olive jam, 10g Torta del Casar, 1 anchovy fillet and a couple leaves of lemon thyme.