Stone fruits are ripening now, and will continue to do so for the next 2 - 3 months. If you're lucky enough to have a stone fruit tree in your yard, you should be harvesting more than you can eat fresh.
By all means, eat them fresh. Fully ripened fruit straight from the tree needs only a rinse to be delicious.
If you want to gourmandize your fresh fruit, you could pit the fruit, cut it into bite sized portions and toss it with a bit of honey thinned with fruit juice and garnished with chopped fresh mint. One of my mint beds started producing a strawberry flavored mint (I moved it to its own bed so it will hopefully remain strawberry-ish), and it is tasty over honey-glazed apricots.
For a fiesta flavor from south of the border, stone fruits (particularly peaches, plums, and cherries) are excellent pitted, chopped, and tossed with lime juice, chili powder, cayenne, agave nectar, and salt. It can be garnished with thin shavings of jalapeno, and if desired, fresh chopped cilantro. It's like a salsa, if you chop the fruit small enough, or a salad if you leave the fruit chunkier.
For a raw fruit pie, make a crust of finely ground nuts, dates, coconut oil, and spices (2 cups pecans, 8 medjool pitted dates, 1 tablespoon coconut oil, and cinnamon and cardamom to taste), pressed into a pie plate. Thinly slice any combination of pitted stone fruits you want (peaches, cherries, plums, apricots, nectarines, pluots, apriums) and layer them onto the crust. Dissolve 2 tablespoons ground kudzu in 1 1/2 cups fruit juice and 2 tablespoons agave nectar in a saucepan. When the kudzu is dissolved, bring the heat to medium and bring the juice to a simmer, stirring frequently. Let it simmer, stirring frequently, until it is thickened and clear (probably about 10 minutes). Pour it over the fruit, then immediately chill the pie for an hour or two. Garnish with creamy nut butter dollops (cashew butter is delicious), flaked coconut, chopped nuts, or whipped cream (or an artful combination).
Stewed fruit is so simple and so simply gourmet. Pit and slice the fruit (about 1 pound) and place in a saucepan. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/3 cup water. Bring it to a boil over high heat, the reduce the heat and simmer with an occasional stir for 15 minutes. Taste and add more sugar of needed, then a squeeze of lemon juice. Served over toasted pound cake or angel food cake, this makes a lovely dessert. It also goes very well served over sliced roast beef or poultry (I love it with duck and duck is cheap at Asian markets, often cheaper than chicken).
Broiled/grilled stone fruit is amazingly simple. Peel, stone, and halve the fruits. Brush them lavishly with melted butter, sprinkle lightly with spiced sugar and grill over low heat or in the broiler (4" from the heat source) for about 10 minutes, or until tender and glazed.
And to preserve stone fruits throughout the winter, I love making them into fruit butters. I got addicted with plum butter. Then I escalated to peach butter. Cherry butter was my pinnacle of fruit butters, and then, then I started making mixed fruit butters with herbs and spices.
But you don't have to do that. A simple single fruit butter is gourmet enough. Use the butter to glaze other fruits, vegetables, and meats. Stir it into grains or cream soups to sweeten them. Spread on buttered bread or cracker, use it as a dip, dollop it onto nachos or fruit pizzas or ice cream, use it as a filling for cookies and pop pies and swirled breads or Danishes.
Fruit butter is very simple to make. You need 1 1/2 pounds of peeled, pitted, and chopped stone fruit, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 cup water, and a dash of vanilla extract. bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes. Cool and puree the fruit. Return to the saucepan and simmer, stirring often, until the liquid is cooked off and it's a little thicker than you want. Add 1 tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and season to taste with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and/or cardamom. Use immediately or preserve it in half pint canning jars - makes 3 half pint jars.
Honey-Glazed Fruit
1 peach, 1 nectarine, 2 apricots, 2 plums, or a cup of cherries, pitted and sliced
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon fruit juice
3 - 4 mint leaves
Mix the honey and juice, tossed the sliced fruit in it, then garnish with mint.
Makes 1 serving
Fiesta Salsa/Salad
1 1/2 pounds peeled, pitted, and small diced stone fruits (for salsa) or thin sliced fruit (for salad)
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 tablespoon agave nectar
dash of salt
1 tablespoon shaved jalapeno or chopped cilantro
Mix the lime juice, spices, salt, and agave nectar together. Toss the fruit in the sauce. Let it sit in the refrigerator for an hour, then taste and adjust the seasonings. Serve garnished with the shaved jalapeno or cilantro
Makes 3 cups
Raw Fruit Pie
Crust
2 cups pecons
8 medjool pitted dates
1 tablespoon coconut oil
cinnamon and cardamom to taste
Grind all together to a fine grind. Press into a pie plate (preferably a glass one)
Filling
1 - 1 1/2 pounds peeled, pitted, sliced stone fruits
2 tablespoons powdered kudzu
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 1/2 cups fruit juice (apricot is nice)
Layer the fruit onto the crust. Dissolve the kudzu into the juice and agave nectar in a saucepan. Once it's dissolved, set the heat to medium and bring the juice to a simmer, stirring often. Reduce the heat of necessary and keep it simmering for 10 minutes or until it is thickened and clear(ish). Pour it over the sliced fruit and immediately chill the pie for an hour or two.
Garnish: use any or all
1/4 cup cashew cream
1/4 cup chopped nuts
1 cup whipped cream
1/8 cup chopped fresh mint
serves 6
Stewed Fruit
1 pound pitted and sliced fruit
2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup water
squeeze of lemon juice
Place the fruit, sugar, and water in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat and let it simmer about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more sweetener if needed, then finish with a squeeze of lemon juice.
makes 2 cups
Broiled/Grilled Fruit
Fruit
Melted butter
Spiced sugar
Spice sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1 pinch of ground cloves
1 pinch of ground black pepper
Mix the sugar and spices together.
Peel, pit, and halve or slice the fruit. Brush lavishly with melted butter, then sprinkle on the spiced sugar.
On a grill: heat the grill to high (400ºF), then turn off the heat on one side (or move the coals over) and place the fruit on the cool side. Grill 5 minutes, flip and grill another 5 minutes. Small fruits, especially cherries) may require a grilling basket or cage.
Under a broiler: Set the fruit 4" below the heat source and broil for about 10 minutes, or until tender.
amounts vary
Fruit Butter
1 1/2 pounds stone fruit - peeled, pitted, chopped
2/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice
cinnamon cloves, nutmeg, cardamom to taste
Bring the fruit, water, sugar, and vanilla to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until tender. Cool and puree, then return all of it to the saucepan. Bring to a simmer and, stirring often, cook until the liquid is cooked off and the fruit is thickened, maybe just a bit more than you'd like. Remove from the heat and add the butter and lemon juice. Taste and adjust, then add the spices. Taste and as just as needed. Use fresh, or store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. If you'll be keeping it longer than 2 weeks, process it in a water bath.
makes 3 half pint jars.