Sweet & Savory Ways to Eat Stone Fruit
Matt Armendariz, 2014, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved
It may seem impossible to improve on the flavor of a perfectly ripe and juicy peach, plum or nectarine eaten out of hand, but these gorgeous stone fruit recipes — both sweet and savory — prove otherwise.
Our Nectarine-Raspberry Slab Pie (pictured above) is a showstopping dessert you can slice up any way you’d like. And when you combine the sweet taste of stone fruit with tart raspberries and tuck the juicy gems into pie crust, all the ingredients are heightened.
Grilled sweet apricots + salty pancetta + peppery arugula + crunchy hazelnuts = total salad nirvana in Giada De Laurentiis’ Arugula Salad with Grilled Fruit.
The secret to transforming a ho-hum dinner is all in the sauce with Pork with Plums. Just let dry red wine, mint and orange zest come together with fresh plums in a pan over a little heat, swirl in a little butter, and slather the vibrant sauce over seared chops.
If you could sum up summer in a glass, it would be White Stone Fruit Sangria. Simply combine a fresh nectarine, plum and mango with a crisp white wine, and give the flavors time to meld. By the time you’re done with your weekend chores, it will be time to pour the fruity concoction into ice-filled glasses, top them with Prosecco and claim your refreshing reward.
To make her Fresh Peach Bellinis, Ina harnesses the fleeting flavor of our favorite fuzzy fruit by blending it with a touch of lemon juice and sugar in a food processor, then pressing the mixture through a sieve to extract the sweet juice. Add a couple of tablespoons to a flute glass and top with Prosecco for a fizzy brunch cocktail with unbeatable flavor.
For a sweet-savory appetizer or snack, try Bobby Flay’s Grilled Stone Fruit with Farmer’s Cheese and Spiced Honey Almonds. Sear some grill marks on halved peaches, nectarines and plums, give each a dollop of creamy farmer’s cheese, and top them with allspice-and-nutmeg-spiced almonds for crunch.
Ina Garten combines juicy fresh peaches with sour cream, cinnamon and pecans for a simple Fresh Peach Cake that lets the flavors of summer shine.
When it’s too hot to bake, Giada’s Stone-Fruit Shortcakes with Mascarpone Cream provide a delicious dessert cheat. Pick up fresh shortcakes or biscuits at the store, give a mixture of peaches and plums or apricots a quick poach in orange juice and vanilla, and sandwich the fruit between the mini cakes and a tangy mascarpone whipped cream.
Slice into Anne Burrell’s Plum Cornbread and you’ll find chunks of the pretty fruit strewn throughout. Thanks to yellow cornmeal, this dish has the pleasantly grainy texture you’d expect from a cornbread, but it eats like a cake and is best topped with a heaping scoop of vanilla ice cream.