plums to prunes

A large box arrived at our house last week, sent by my mother. It contained a large spaceship-resembling appliance: a food dehydrator. The American Harvest Snackmaster 2400, to be exact.

The impetus for the ownership transition of the Snackmaster is the fruit tree in my backyard, which is currently producing more plums than anyone can eat or give away in a few short weeks.

A Recipes & Instructions booklet was included with the Snackmaster. It was written by "dehydration expert" Deanna DeLong (author of How to Dry Foods, published in 1979). The booklet is full of gem phrases, such as: Fruit roll-ups, also known as fruit leathers, are a favorite snack for young and old alike, as well as interesting advice, like: After fruits have been prepared for drying, garnish with spices, Jell-O powders or coconut to give fruits a snappy flavor. Jell-O powder? Hmmm.

From the notes in the fruit drying guidelines section, it appears the Snackmaster got a lot of use in the early 90's. That was when I was growing up and we had two Italian Prune trees and a gigantic Macintosh Apple tree. There are notes on drying times for plums dated September 1994.

Sixteen years later and a couple of states down the coast, the Snackmaster is drying plums again. I've started experimenting with some other fruits as well: grapefruit (left the peel on and sliced it very thin; next time I'll try sprinkling some salt and sugar on it before it dries for some flavorful fruit chips) and I learned that dried cantaloupe is as sweet as candy. I have a feeling that I'll be having some fun with this new toy!

Here is the pictorial progression from plums to prunes:

One year ago: polenta stacks

plum cobbler

We are officially overrun with plums. Not only are they packed (and ripening hastily) on the tree in our backyard, but the CSA delivery has included a bag of plums the past two weeks in a row. When I was assigned dessert-duty for the BBQ we attended this evening, I knew that I would need to make something plumy.

The cobbler was a hit. It came together quickly and incorporated a lot of ripe plums. I used a mix of damask plums from our tree and Santa Rosa plums from the weekly box. Here's what I did:

Plum Cobbler

From epicurious.com

Fruit:

20 plums, pitted and sliced 1/2" thick

1 c. sugar

2 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. vanilla

Biscuit:

2 c. flour

5 Tbsp. sugar, divided

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon, divided

1/2 c. butter, chilled and cut into 1/2" cubes

3/4 c. + 2 Tbsp. whipping cream

1 large egg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss plums with sugar, cornstarch and vanilla in a large bowl. Bake 30 minutes in a 13x9x2 glass baking dish.

Meanwhile, mix flour, 3 Tbsp. sugar, baking powder, salt, and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon in a large bowl. Add butter and work into coarse meal with a fork or pastry cutter. Whisk 3/4 c. whipping cream and egg in a small bowl. Stir cream mix into flour mix until just blended. Gently knead dough in the bowl until it comes together.

Remove plums from oven and stir. Break off golf ball-sized pieces of dough and arrange over plums. Brush dough with cream. Mix remaining 2 Tbsp. sugar and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon. Sprinkle sugar mixture over dough. Bake about 30 minutes, until biscuits are browned.

We enjoyed our plum cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream.

One year ago: broiled heirloom tomatoes

plumtopia

We have successfully identified the mystery tree in the backyard: it is a plum tree.

The first year at the new house is an adventure in plants. Things are blooming or appearing that weren't expected as we slowly learn what lives in the ground and soaks up the sun around our yard. My first surprise was when the vine trellised up the side of the garage, which I had assumed was an evergreen, suddenly turned bright pink (bougainvillea). Last week, JR discovered a small bush in the front yard that is bearing small citrus fruit. Neither of us remember ever seeing it before (I would swear that a neighbor came and planted it in the night, except that would make me crazy). JR's bet is on lemons, but I think (read: hope) the fruit will be limes (with the new kumquat tree and the Meyer lemon, we'd have a trifecta of citrus!). Not all of the surprises have been so great: the wisteria is messy (and more country-garden than tropical-jungle), the rose on the side of the house bloomed a dusty pink (which most definitely does not go with my tropical theme, either in type or color).

But one great surprise has been the plum tree.

When we first looked at the house in early spring, it was covered in puffy white blossoms. I had thought it might be an ornamental pear, like the one we had planted in front of our prior house. But then it started fruiting. It became quickly apparent that this fruit would be bigger than ornamental, possibly even... edible? Then came the puzzle of figuring out what kind of fruit it would be. It grew to the size where I could identify a pit - so had it nailed down as some sort of stone fruit. Which meant it could be a cherry, apricot, peach, nectarine, pluot, plum...

It was only relatively recently that the fruit turned purple, enabling positive plum identification. My internet queries suggest it is a damson or damask plum. What I know for certain is that they are very tasty and we are currently overrun with them.

Here's how I used a few this evening:

Roasted Plum Salad

Serves 2

6 plums, halved & pitted

1 Tbsp. champagne vinegar

1 tsp. honey

1 tsp. walnut oil (optional)

a pinch white pepper

1 small head butter lettuce, chopped

a handful of walnuts or pecans, toasted

feta or goat cheese

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place plums, cut side up, in a shallow baking dish. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until plums have begun to render their juice. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Pour 1 Tbsp. of plum juice into a small bowl. Whisk the plum juice together with champagne vinegar, honey, oil, and white pepper.

Place lettuce in a large bowl. Toss with vinaigrette. Divide into individual bowls. Top each with roasted plums, pecans, and sprinkle with cheese.

If you have any favorite plum recipes (or any plum recipes at all), please send them my way - I'm going to need them!