Tag Archives: plum recipes

Entertaining: What’s Cooking Labor Day Weekend!

If you are like me, you are finding it very hard to believe that September and Labor Day Weekend are here!  But with that we like to celebrate Labor Day Weekend with friends and family. Here are a few of the recipes I’ll be using to entertaining this weekend!

Part of my holiday weekend will be filling the house with some sunflowers, while I still can. Nothing says late summer more to me than sunflowers! In addition, I’ll be using the best of the produce from the farm stands this weekend and corn is still at it’s peak! I’ll be making some corn hummus with corn leftover from another meal. You need just four extra ears.  This recipe calls for roasting the corn in the oven at 425 for 45 minutes wrapped in foil. I’ve been making my corn like this all summer, it’s easy to prep in advance and really easy to serve a crowd of people. I prep it before anyone arrives, leave it on a tray in the oven and just turn the oven on an hour before I want to serve it warm. Delicious!! so make a few extra and also make Roasted Sweet Corn Hummus

Another favorite meal that is an easy meal for a crowd that is delicious and super simple to make is Brisket with Cola Barbecue Sauce. You’ll love the flavor using your favorite NON-DIET Cola in your sauce!

Wondering what to serve along side this dish , you definitely need some fresh coleslaw. I like to make my Grandma’s Coleslaw with Warm Dressing.  Definitely, a comforting complement to the brisket!

The perfect dessert for a crowd is a crumble and this crumble mixes blueberries and plums for a slightly sweet and spicy dish. You will love my Blueberry Plum Crumble!

If you need a breakfast brunch idea for the weekend, one of my favorite dishes is Vanilla Bourbon Soaked French Toast. I use big thick slices of brioche soaked in vanilla and bourbon. Bourbon? Why not it’s a holiday weekend and the french toast is topped with a  yummy mixed berry and plum compote!

I will definitely try to bake some cookies this weekend to have around the house and in celebration of sunflowers I think I’ll be baking sugar cookies topped with sanding sugar to look like my beautiful sunflowers! Use my Favorite Sugar Cookie recipe!

From by the bay, make great friends and family food memories this weekend!

Maryann

 

Roasted Sweet Corn Hummus

Brisket with Cola Barbecue Sauce

Grandma’s Coleslaw with Warm Dressing

Blueberry Plum Crumble

Vanilla Bourbon Soaked French Toast

Favorite Sugar Cookie

Blueberry Plum Crumble

I love fruit desserts and this one is a real favorite! Using plums and the last blueberries of the summer give this crumble an autumnal feeling. You can make the crumble without blueberries, I happened to have some leftover when I made this dish and just decided to throw them into the mix, as you can with most crumbles you can alter the fruits you use to suit your own tastes. In the same way you can use pecans instead of walnuts. I’ve made many crumbles over the years, but what I like best from the recipe I choose from Huckleberry is the addition of the maple syrup and I used my favorite steel cut oats from Anson Mills that added a great crunchy texture to the crumble topping. Enjoy!

From by the bay, wishing you some autumn crumble food memories!

Maryann

Iblog blueberry plum crumble

Blueberry Plum Crumble

Recipe adapted from Huckleberry by Zoe Nathan

Ingredients

Crumble

1/2 cup steel cut oats

1/4 cup almond flour

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Filling

3 red plums , halved and pitted

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

pinch of fine sea salt

Preheat over to 375 degrees F. To make the crumble add all ingredients in a bowl and blend with your finger tips until butter is incorporated. Place in the refrigerator. In a small baking dish approximately 5″ by 8″ arrange the plums, cut side up, sprinkle blueberries. Drizzle with melted butter and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon light brown sugar. Sprinkle the crumble on top of the fruit, letting a little of the outer edges visible. Bake in the hot oven until the topping starts to brown and plums are tender, approximately 50 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Grandma’s Plum Dumplings

As I was growing up, there was no finer signal that fall was near than when my grandmother make plum dumplings. The recipe was one my grandmother brought to the United States from her homeland of Gottschee, which long ago was a part of Austria. My grandfather would grow small italian plums and when they were ripe my grandmother would make dumplings which were similar to large gnocchi, filled with the plums and sugar. You would cut open the dumpling to a burst of purple sweet almost jam like filling. It was delicious!!!  Yes, making this dumpling dough sounds a bit daunting , but you can press it into shape easily with your hands and as long as you pick any holes with your fingers you’ll have the same results in taste and perhaps the look is slighlty more rustic, but the taste will still deliver. This is traditionally a dessert but by the bay this is a special dinner. The season for these sweet italian plums are short so celebrate Fall this weekend and enjoy!

From by the bay, wishing you plum bursting food memories!

Maryann

 

blog plum dumpling

 Grandma’s Plum Dumplings

Makes 16 dumplings

Ingredients

  • 4 yukon gold potatoes
  • 2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra to roll
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 16 small italian prune plums, or 8 medium size italian prune plums, cut lengthwise, pitted
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

Directions

Peel and chop potatoes. Place in a medium sauce pan with cold water and 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil and cook until tender. Drain and cool. In a bowl mash potatoes. Measure two cups of mash potatoes and place in large mixing bowl. Add flour and salt and mix well. Add the egg and oil and mix dough to form a ball. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky . Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes.  In the meantime, bring a large stock pot of salted water to a boil. On a lightty floured surface roll out the dough to about a 1/3 of an inch . Cut dough into 16 squares or pat into 16 circles, flour your hands to handle the dough.  Sprinkle the inside of the plums with sugar. Place one plum ( or 1/2 plum if the plums are medium size) to the center of each circle of dough.  Gently bring up corners of the dough to center and pinch edges to seal.  Carefully add dumplings to boiling water. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a dumpling comes out clean. In a medium sauce pan melt butter  until it starts to foam and then add breadcrumbs and saute until they start to brown. Remove from heat. Gently roll the dumplings in the bread crumbs and place on a serving platter. Sprinkle with extra sugar and serve immediately.

 

 

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For another great dessert using italian plums try Mitzi’s Plum Cake
https://blog.entertainingbythebay.com/2014/05/mitzis-plum-cake/

Vanilla Bourbon Soaked French Toast

It’s my first Sunday home after an inspiring vacation in Nashville, Tennessee! The food was so delicious and clearly many people are living the farm to table lifestyle, especially with the close proximity of farms to downtown Nashville. My weekend back home started with the trip to my local farm, where I found the ingredients to make a delicious late summer fruit compote of blackberries, raspberries and dark plums. This autumnal colored compote is a sweet complement to use at breakfast on top of french toast , pancakes or waffles, or at dinner on top of a pork chop or even for dessert on top of ice cream or a slice of pound cake. I decided today to recreate my Nashville experience with bourbon soaked french toast along with the mixed berry and plum compote. It’s a perfect brunch dish for s slow, relaxing Sunday in New York.
From by the bay, wishing you bourbon soaked food memories!
Maryann
blog bourbon
Vanilla Bourbon Soaked French Toast
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup bourbon ( up to 1/3 cup depending on preference)
4 whole eggs
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
8 slices bread, ciabatta or brioche ( thick slices)
2-4 tablespoons unsalted butter as needed
Directions
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Set aside baking sheet with rack to hold french toast warm in oven. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the milk, sugar, bourbon, vanilla, eggs and cinnamon.  Pour into a shallow dish, I use a glass pie plate. Dip the bread into the batter and let sit a minute or two to soak. Add butter to a hot griddle or non stick saute pan. Once the butter is melted place the battered bread on the pan and cook until the bread becomes golden brown. Flip the bread slice over and cook until the other side also becomes golden brown. Place toast on rack in warmed oven and continue to make your french toast using butter as needed. Once done place onto a platter and shift confectionary sugar on top. Serve with butter and maple syrup or fruit compote.
blog fruit comp
Mixed Berry and Plum Compote

Ingredients
1 cup mixed berries such as raspberries and blackberries
1 cup chopped plum, pitted
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
Directions
Place all the ingredients into a non reactive medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for about 15 minutes or when the plums are softened. Serve at room temperature. Can to stored in the refrigerator for about a week.

Lemon Poppyseed Plum Muffins

blog plum muf 1

My grandparents would grow italian plums on their small weekend farm. We always looked forward to early fall when we would have a short but sweet time to enjoy these little purple treats. When I found them at the local farm stand, I bought a big basket of plums and tasked myself with the best way to enjoy them. This weekend, the plums were worked into a delicious lemon and poppyseed muffin. It was a delicious combination and one I’m sure you would enjoy too! Hurry and buy some italian plums before they are gone for the year.
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Lemon Poppyseed Plum Muffins
12 standard size muffins
Ingredients for batter
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
3/4 cup fine granulated sugar
2 eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons poppyseed
2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups plums, pitted and chopped, preferably italian plums

Preheat oven to 350 Degree F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin or use paper liner. Sift together in a bowl the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in poppy seeds and set aside. Using an electric mixer cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add one egg at a time, beating to combine.  Using a wooden spoon to mix, alternate adding the flour mixture with the milk, buttermilk, and lemon zest. Add plums and combine, try not to over mix. Pour the batter evenly, into each muffin tin, filling the cup almost to the top. Bake muffins in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Let cool slightly, and remove muffins from the tin. Serve warm or cooled at room temperature.

Marinated Pork Chops with Fresh Plum Sauce

On my grandparents farm on Long Island, they had a full orchard of fruits trees. I would help my grandfather with tending the orchard from pruning to netting the trees to hanging little wooden snakes to scare off the birds. One of our favorite crops were the italian plums. We would gather the plums and my grandmother would made her close friend Mitzi’s plum cake. This recipe is a wonderful yellow cake that envelopes the plums. It’s easy to make and delicious to eat. We would just feast on those tiny jewel like fruit! I’m also including one of my favorite barbecued pork chops recipes served with a wonderful plum sauce. Hope you enjoy this food as much as we all do here by the bay!
From by the bay wishing you the plummiest of food memories!
Maryann

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blog plum pork

Marinated Pork Chops with Fresh Plum Sauce

Serves 4

4 boneless ¾ inch think center cut pork chops

Marinade

¼ cup honey

¼ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 garlic cloves

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

Directions

Place pork chops and all marinade ingredients into a sealed plastic bag and mix well. Place in refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours up to overnight. Remove from marinade and grill pork chops on a hot grill for approximately 8 minutes per side to be well done.

Fresh Plum and Merlot Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons shallots, chopped

6 Italian plums, stoned and chopped

2 tablespoons honey

½ cup merlot wine

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

½ teaspoon ground ginger

Directions

In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil and add shallots, sauté for 2 minutes until soft. Add the plums and simmer for 15 minutes, add honey, wine,  balsamic vinegar and ground ginger and continue to simmer until the liquid is reduced in ½ and thickened. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Serve warm fresh plum sauce on top of the grilled pork chops.

Mitzi’s Plum Cake

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Mitzi’s Plum Cake

¼ pound unsalted butter softened plus 1 tablespoon

½ cup fine sugar, plus 1 teaspoon for topping the cake

1 egg

1 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

6 italian plums

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Split plums and remove pits. Place plums in bowl, cover with lemon juice, mix and set aside. Using electric mixer combine  ¼ lb butter and sugar until fluffy, then add egg and combine. Next add  the flour and  baking powder and combine. This makes a soft dough.  Take an 8” non stick cake pan line with parchment and butter and flour the pan. Press the dough into the pan covering the bottom of the cake pan. Use a spatula to spread evenly on the bottom of the pan. Press plums into dough with the cut side facing up in a concentric circle. Combine 1 teaspoon sugar with ½ teaspoon cinnamon, mix and sprinkle on top of the plums. Dot with extra butter. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, until  cake tester is clean.

Variations: replace plums with apricots or peaches