You see a lot of chefs on TV garnishing their dishes with a confit or relish made of chopped fruits and veggies. It's not something I've tried very often but the few times I have, it's been pretty good. I made my first one last Fourth of July to serve over grilled shrimp and all I remember is that it had champagne mango and one or two other things chopped up.

Today, I was searing a boneless pork chop and was going to be having a big salad with it because I hadn't done well on veggies today. Since I also hadn't done well on fruits today (uncharacteristic for me), I had the thought of using a very ripe Red Bartlett pear for a confit to serve over the chop.

I started out with chopping the pear very fine and then added chopped plum tomato and, as an afterthought, added chopped cucumber. I stirred it all together, added black pepper and just a touch of salt, and let it set while I was finishing the chop and preparing the salad.

It was GREAT! The textures were really good as well as the taste, because the pear was very soft, the tomato was just a little firmer, and the cuke was firmer yet. I had a bite of confit with almost every bite of chop and it was a great marriage of flavors.

Do you guys use confits and relishes to garnish and/or up the veggie/fruit content of your meals? If so, can you share some great combos you've discovered?

One of my favorites is to take a star fruit and thinly slice it into "stars". Marinade them with lemon juice, lime juice, fresh minced ginger, and a smidge of curry paste. It is WONDERFUL over fish. You can use mango as a variation which also works very well.

I've also used a sweet onion and rosemary confit for pork tenderloin that works really well too.

Oops! I just realized I used the wrong word. When I said confit, I meant chutney. I just went to look it up because I wasn't sure, and it says confit is a COOKED mixture and I was talking about a mixture of raw fruits and vegetables.

But hey, if you use confits, share those too.