Peach Gastrique

Motivation
I enjoy working fruits in to savory dishes, so when I read about making gatriques at the Serious Eats food blog I decided to try it out as an additional option for a finishing sauce.

Ingredients
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Red Wine Vinegar
2 Tbsp Broth (or water)
3 Sprigs Thyme
2 Peaches cut into bite-sized sections.

Mise en Place
I decided to build my gastrique in the pan I just finished searing steaks in, so I knew I needed to be ready to build it in a smoking hot pan.  I measured all the ingredients out first and had them standing by.  The peaches were cored and cut into sections.  I decided to leave the peach skin on and I didn't seem to effect the outcome of the sauce.

Method
De-glaze the pan, I used the magic elixir that is the reserved broth from a sous vide bag.  With a couple of tablespoons of liquid in the pan add sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved and starts bubbling.  You want to let the sugar caramelize.  If you're working in a clean pan you can watch for a golden brown color.  If you're working in a pan you de-glazed the chances are the sugar is already brown so you'll have to rely on the smell of carmelization to due the trick.  Don't let it cook too long or the sugar will burn.

Once sugar starts to caramelize add vinegar to pan.   You might not want to inhale for a second.   The sugar will momentary solidify then start to dissolve again.  Once dissolved add fruit and thyme to pan.  Reduce until gastrique reaches desired thickness.  This is a reduction step so you might want to have a plan for keeping the rest of your food warm while you wait for reduction to occur.

Verdict
Sweet, sour, and awesome.  I thought the sauce turned out really well.  Next time I might try to add some cayenne to the sauce to make sweet, spicy, and sour.  Should work will with other fruits as well.