Nectarine Chutney

I was planning to grill some chicken breasts but wanted to try a new recipe. Wandered through some of my cookbooks, I found something special: peach-pecan chutney! And since it´s summer that means an overload on peaches and nectarines! At the moment I only had nectarines, so I decided to use those. Next time I´ll use white peaches, those are really delicious!

For the chicken, I wanted to try something that would give the chicken a little more action (at least that´s what was mentioned on the jar), so I marinated the chicken breasts a few hours in olive oil and 2 tablespoons of Cajun Foreplay rub from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. 

In the meantime, it was time to make the chutney. I found this recipe in the book `Sauces, Rubs and Marinades` written by Steven Raichlen. Then I found out I didn´t had all the ingredients, so I had to twist it a little.

The ingredients:

5 ripe nectarines

1 cinnamon stick

half a teaspoon of ground allspice

4 cloves

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 dried red pepper (I used a dried and smoked one), finely chopped

fresh ginger, a slice, about half an inch, finely chopped

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup pecans, chopped

1/4 cup vinegar or cider vinegar  (I used rice vinegar)

1/4 cup dark brown sugar (not packed)

First you have to transfer the nectarines to a pan of boiling water, for about half a minute. That makes it easier to remove the skins. Then cut them into pieces.

Now all the ingredients go in a pan and you bring it to a simmer. Reduce the heat and let it boil softly for 10 minutes. After that it´s time to taste the chutney (be careful! HOT!) and maybe you have to add extra sugar of vinegar to get the right taste, the chutney should have a sweet-sour taste.

Transfer to a bowl and let it cool to room temperature.

To give the chicken breasts an extra smokey flavour, I decided to add some peach wood chunks, from Baxters Original. I grilled them indirect until the internal temp was 170F / 73C.  Also had some some potatoes and zucchini with italian herbs on the grill. 

When everything is ready, serve it with the Nectarine Chutney, and it could look like this:

And it was yummylicious!!!  I will make this definitely more often. The chicken was really tasty and juicy, the chutney delicious, the side dishes matched perfect. What more can you ask for....

Oh some wine maybe? I would say a dry and mild white wine will certainly match great!

Enjoy!