The Rest of the Nectarines

We're still eating those nectarines from the farmers’ market this week. So my challenge was to come up with multiple ways to use them in recipes. Not that I mind just eating them. The white ones are my favorites. That is, until the nectaplums arrive. Have you ever tried a nectaplum? None have shown up yet. I don't think they arrive until August. Cooking the nectarines was a challenge I set for myself.

I’ve been experimenting with crostini recipes lately, so I decided to try a nectarine crostini. I already had a La Brea Bakery garlic loaf on hand, so I didn’t buy a new baguette, I just cut the garlic loaf into small pieces. I was pretty satisfied with the outcome of the experiment.

Nectarine and Tomato Crostini

1 white nectarine, diced
1 tomato, diced

1 small red spring onion, finely diced

1 Tbsp chives, diced

Handful of arugula, chopped

1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

1 Tbsp high quality peppery extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp chili garlic paste
Redwood Hill Farm goat cheese feta, grated
Salt and pepper to taste


1Tbsp olive oil for toasting baguette
Baguette

Slice baguette thinly and brush both sides with olive oil. Toast both sides lightly under broiler. Mix all other ingredients except feta cheese in small bowl. Top each toasted baguette slice with nectarine mixture. Broil until warm. Top with feta cheese to serve.

We also grilled some of the white nectarines. Larry strongly objected to cooking them, but he finally created a mixture of chopped adobo chili, apricot preserves, red wine vinegar, olive oil, cilantro, salt and pepper to brush on the sliced nectarines. Just grill 2-3 minutes on each side. This was a perfect accompaniment with grilled chicken. I liked our experiments this week, but maybe next week I’ll just enjoy eating them in their natural perfection.