White nectarine and blueberry sauce..... Iron chef: Russell vs. Jen

Russell, over at A High School Foodie, and I have decided to each create a recipe featuring an ingredient of our choosing. We decided to go for something in season, so we chose stone fruits. In my mind, it was like a scene from Iron Chef (well, very loosely analogous!): secret ingredient is/are a stone fruit(s), we have (roughly) 1 week to think of 1 creation, and... there are no judges. Well, maybe except you! Russell's food is pretty creative and very impressive, and I wondered what on earth I had gotten myself into. So after 4 days racking my mind, I decided to go simple and sweet. I like simple, and definitely sweet! I love this sauce because it can be used as a topping for many things, and when reduced down can become jam without added preservatives..... Wahoo!

Ok, on to the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 white nectarine, diced (or other stone fruit: if the skin is soft, you can leave it on, like most nectarines, but for fuzzy peaches, better to peel skin (you can do this by dunking the entire fruit in hot hot scalding water/boiling water for a few seconds, and the skin will detach more from the flesh))
1/2 pint blueberries
1/2 lemon, juice and zest
5 g ginger, zested (zested? grated? never know if this was the correct term - anyway, ginger has to be mushed as fine as possible so that all the juices are leaking out)
3/4 tsp cinnamon
Water, if needed
Honey or sugar, to your taste

In sauce pan, on medium heat, cook down nectarine and blueberries until they begin to break down. Add in the nectarine stone as well, if there is still flesh clinging on. Add in lemon juice, lemon zest, ginger, water (if needed) and let simmer for 2 to 3 minutes until the fruits are 3/4ths broken down. Stir in cinnamon and if needed, some honey/sugar. The white nectarine was quite sweet on its own, so I only added about 1 tsp of honey. This is ready for spooning over some yogurt or ice cream or just eating it out of the pan, which is what I did. 

At this point, if you prefer a smoother texture, you can blend up everything (make sure to take out the nectarine stone) then return the sauce to the pan and cook for 1 more minute. The skins of the fruit hold a lot of the vitamins and minerals that may not have totally diffused into the sauce so blending it helps incorporate that.

You can continue to cook down this sauce to make a jam. Let it simmer/bubble on low to medium low for 8 - 10 more mins or until thickened to the consistency of your liking. The natural pectins will thicken the jam so usually no additives are needed. The pectins are also a good source of soluble fiber.

Ok, so I believe I may have lost this Iron Chef competition when I took a look at Russell's Peach Gnocchi with Champagne sauce recipe. The first picture alone was jaw-dropping. But this was definitely fun and thanks to Russell's creative recipe, I'll have another use for stone fruit! Make sure to check out his awesome website, Peach gnocchi is only 1 of his many many creative ideas!

Happy eating everyone!

Nectarine berry sauce over french toast