If you’re like us, by August, we’ve grilled just about anything we can get our hands on; poultry, fish, vegetables, chops, steak, burgers, kebabs, and more.  So by this point in the summer, we look for ways that we can grill the same foods while making them brand new.  One of our favorite ways to do this is with fruit.  In my humble opinion, fruit was made for grilling.  Fruit caramelizes beautifully over the heat of coals or a gas grill, adding its natural sweetness to whatever you choose to grill.

Salmon w/Blackberry Sauce

You can use almost any fruit to accompany , mop or glaze over grilled meat, poultry, fish or vegetables.  We’re going to talk about three great ways to sweeten summer grilling; fruit BBQ sauces, fruit salsas and chutneys.  All three of these methods combine similar ingredients; fruit, onions, garlic, vinegar, sweetener, seasonings and a little heat.

Fruit BBQ Sauces

Fruit sauces are made in a similar way, regardless of the fruit.  An assortment of the ingredients mentioned above are added together and cooked for 30 minutes which allows the flavors to blend, and the fruit and vegetables to soften.

Because of the high sugar content of most BBQ sauces, they should not be added to whatever you are grilling until the final 30 minutes, otherwise they will burn.

Left over sauce can be frozen for future use.  The following is a collection of great fruit based BBQ sauces:

Black and Blue BBQ Sauce
Peach BBQ Sauce
Guava BBQ Sauce
Blackberry BBQ Sauce

Fruit Salsas

Grilled Chicken Breasts w/Cherry Salsa

Fruit salsas are made from similar ingredients as a BBQ sauce or chutney except they are not cooked and are served after the food has been grilled as an accompaniment.  Fruit salsas are particularly great served with fish and pork.

Cantaloupe & Roma Salsa
Cherry Salsa
Citrus Salsa
Mango Salsa
Peach Salsa
Pineapple Salsa

Fruit Chutneys

Grilled Pork Burgers w/Mango Chutney

Chutney is a cooked fruit sauce that originated in India.  It is generally a combination of fruit, garlic, cloves, vinegar, sugar, onion and spices that blend together to create a delicious sweet and savory flavor explosion.  Chutney is added as an accompaniment to grilled foods and is great on steak, chops, fish, poultry and vegetables.

Apple Cranberry Chutney
Apple-Ginger Chutney
Blueberry Chutney
Mango Chutney
Pear Chutney
Pineapple Chutney
Rhubarb Chutney

Grilled Pork w/Pineapple Salsa

Here are a few of our favorite recipes using some of these wonderful fruit sauces, salsas and chutneys:

Black and Blue Ribs
Salmon w/Blackberry Sauce
Grilled Chicken with Blackberry-Thyme Sauce
Chicken w/Blueberry Chutney
Jerk Chicken w/Pineapple Chutney
Grilled Pork Burgers w/Mango Chutney
Grilled Chicken with Guava BBQ Sauce
Grilled Chops w/Peach BBQ Sauce
Cedar Planked Halibut with Chili-Mango Salsa
Grilled Chicken Breasts w/Cherry Salsa
Grilled Pork w/Pineapple Salsa

- Chef Yvonne

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