Fruit Sauces

[ghost]

Earlier this week I made a bunch of infused oils. A parsley oil I made based on stuff in the French Laundry book came out really well. So I decided I'd try some stuff on my own...

I decided I'd try to make some fruit sauces to use as garnishes for savory dishes. I just made a mango sauce by poaching some mango pieces, putting them in the blender for a min or two with some of the poaching liquid and I got a very good sauce.

I was looking at other books and sometimes people poach the fruits or vegetables before putting them in a blender, and I was curious if there are general guidelines. Like if I want to make a sauce out of fruit X, should I poach fruit X first to soften it? Or should I just cut it up into small pieces and put it in a blender with some liquid? What type of liquid is a good choice for fruit X?

Any ideas would be appreciated!

[deltadoc]

I like to take fresh raspberries and just put them into a china hat, and use the masher to collect the juice. I then bring the juice to a boil, add some fresh lemon juice, and lots of sugar. Then we can it in small 8 oz canning jars.

It is great for using in vinagrettes, syrup on ice cream, or for making pastry fillings. Heck, i've been known to drink a whole canning jar down at once for a quick pick-me-up!

I imagine the same thing could be done with all kind of berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, etc.) although I haven't got any of those growing in quantity enough to try yet.

doc