Not so "Italian" Plum tart

Remember that 4 lbs of plum? I finally dealt with them. I found a very interesting recipe by Ina Garten. It sounded great and I would be able to use up the last of the 1.5 lb of fruit by making 2 tarts! I love her show and found her very inspiring. I am a fan!!

I also love the flavor combination of almond and plum. I remember making a plum bread a few years ago with almond meal. I decide to replace 1/4 cup of flour with the almond meal and also adding a sprinkle of almond slivered on top, so that people will know there is nut in the tart.

It was not a complicated tart, pretty simple. It is very much a shortbread crust, the sweet and tart is wonderful. As I tasted the tart, something dawn on me - the texture crust is very similar to the crust we use in our Hawaiian mango bar!!! Except it has an almond flavor (well I added that..)

It was a little greasier than our classic bar and ours is less work too! May be I should try to make this again with our crust!

Note: I made 2 tarts here. Recipe is for one.

Italian Plum Tart
3/4 pound Italian prune plums, quartered and pitted

2 tablespoons Minute tapioca
2 tablespoons creme de cassis liqueur
1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup almond meal
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan and place it on a sheet pan.

Place the plums, tapioca, creme de cassis, and 3/4 cup of the sugar in a mixing bowl and stir to combine.

Allow to sit for 15 minutes.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and remaining 1 cup of sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, almond meal, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder.

With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture until it forms small, dry crumbs.

Add 1 tablespoon of cold water and continue to beat for about 30 seconds, until the mixture forms large, moist crumbs.

Set aside 3/4 cup of the crumb mixture

pour the rest into the springform pan. With floured hands, lightly pat the dough evenly in the bottom of the pan and 1 inch up the sides.

Arrange the plums evenly on the crust. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture evenly on top. Sprinkle a handful of almond.

Bake for 1 hour, until the fruit is bubbling and the crust is golden.

Cool for 15 minutes, then remove the sides of the pan and serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy
Aloha!

Indian spiced Plum Chutney

My sis dropped off 4 lbs of Italian plum at the house for me to "deal with". As suggested by dear friend and yoga teacher Momi, I made some plum chutney and I posted the picture on Facebook. I promised my friend Lori that I would post the recipe. It's quiet simple, just a bit of work with the prep and the canning. This is great with any curry dish or grill meat.

Indian spiced Plum Chutney
5 cups of Italian plum, stone removed and halved
1 piece of ginger about 1". Peeled1
1 cup cider vinegar
1 tsp garam masala
1 large tsp minced garlic
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2-3 disk of Thai Palm sugar or 1-1.5 cup sugar
1 cup raisins
Direction:
Grate the piece of ginger with the grater

Add the plums in a large stainless steel or non-aluminium pot

 Add cider vinegar and the ginger

 Add Garam masala

 Then garlic and red pepper flakes

 Bring to a boil, drop in 2 sugar disk or 1 cup of sugar. Stir till the sugar is dissolved.

Add raisin.  Reduce heat to a simmer and let it cook for about 1 hour,  stir constantly. Taste and check on the sweetness, you may need to add the last of the sugar or more. It all depends on the sweetness of the fruit. Cook for additional 10-20 mins till the chutney thicken and coat the back of a spoon.

Store in prepared sterilized jars. Process in a water bath to seal. Store in the fridge.

Make 2- 8oz jars

Enjoy
Aloha

Plum and Ginger with some cream, a birthday wish for Kawailani

I am getting the feeling that I am buried in plum. Mr. Wonderful picked more plums for me this week. It is the end of the season; he didn’t want to waste those precious little fruits that he cared for with TLC.

I made some Chinese Plum sauce for my sister and will make more plum jam tomorrow. I used the jam I made last week in my usual “mango” bars and the office was thrilled with that. They actually liked the sweet tart plum filling better than the classic mango! What a nice surprise!! I think I will have to make simple breakfast pastry for the gang next week. A hard week ahead, food is the best bribery!

My sis’s birthday is next week. I am getting a care package together for her. She is back on the mainland now; I still continue to send her and her hubby a package each month. This is becoming a habit of mine. When she was back in June, she brought me a can of crystallized ginger bits. She loves ginger. I found it in the cupboard today.

She posted the ice cream she made by hand last week on Facebook. She inspired me to try making some ice cream with the plum and ginger. If she would be around, I know she would go crazy over this.

Hau’oli la hanau e Kawailani, ha’o wau ia ‘oe.

Plum and Ginger Ice Cream

1 lb plum, cut in half, stone removed

1 cup heavy cream

1/4-1/3 cup good quality honey

2 table crystallized ginger bits

Directions

Wrap a small roasting pan with tin foil. Place plum halves with cut side up.

Heat oven to 500. Roast the plum for about 10 mins till softened

Remove from oven; let the plum cool for about 10 mins.

Prepare blender, place plum and any juice in the blender.

Add cream

Blend a mixture till smooth

Place a fine strainer over a large bowl. Pour the plum and cream mixture to remove the bits of peels. 

Keep pressing the bits to remove the last of the good flavor. Scrap the bottom of the strainer to make sure you get all the “good stuff”

Return the strained mixture to the blender. Add honey, please make sure you taste the mix. You may need more honey if the plum is a bit tart. I am using a “Home-made” honey from my dear friends Matt and Joe. It is very sweet and it was almost like maple syrup. I didn’t have to use a lot.

Add 1 Tbsp of crystalized ginger bits

Blend the mixture for a few second.

Pour the ice cream mixture in a bowl, add the reminding 1 Tbsp of ginger bit.

If you are using an ice cream maker, following the instruction. If you are not, (like me). Here is how I make ice cream “by hand”:

Cover and place in the freezer for at least an hour.

Check the ice cream after an hour. Stir lightly with a fork to bring down the ice crystal. (Why I do this, mainly is to bring down the ice crystal, the smaller the ice crystal, and the smoother the ice cream)

Return to the freezer for another hour.

You should see a thick texture by now; use a whisk to break up the mixture. 

Whisk the ice cream till you have smooth texture. 

Return the ice cream to the freezer over night or till frozen.

To serve: scoop ice cream in a bowl, Top with plum and a couple pieces of ginger. Garnish with a little mint for color

If you are using a ice cream making, you can easily double the recipe.

Serve 1-4 depends on how much you love ice cream!

Enjoy

Aloha

Plum Time

It was a nice surprise to find 4 plum trees in the back of Mr. Wonderful property. He planned those a few years ago and each year, his sister would come by and pick the plums for canning. With all the rain this year, there were over abundant of plums on the tree. When we got from our trip, the fruits were in need to be picked.

He picked a bagful for me. As usual, he worked this weekend. I am home testing and writing. Plum is a versatile fruit; it can be a great dessert ingredient, as well as a wonderful addition to a savory dish.

I am going to make some plum jam and my version of Chinese plum sauce.

Plum Jam

3 lbs of plums

2.5 cups of sugar

Juice of a lemon

4 ½-pint mason jars

2 1-pint jars

Directions:

Sterilize Jars in dishwasher with sanitized cycle, or you can wash and boil the jars and cap. Drain.

 To remove the skin of the plums:

In a large pot, bring ½ pot of water to a boil. Divide the plum in a few batches, depending on the side of your pot.

Fill a separate bowl with cold water ¾ way up.

Drop the plums in the hot water, let stand for about a min. If the plums are not over ripe, wait for another min of so.

 Remove the plum from hot water 

Drop them in the cold water.

 Peel the skin off.  Cut the flesh of the fruit and remove the stone.

 Making Jam:

 Place 5 cups of plum “meat” in a medium pot. 

Add sugar

 Add lemon juice

 Bring to a boil and let it cook till thicken, about an hour.

You can make the jam to a thicker consistence by adding no-sugar pectin if you like.

Fill the jars. 

 You can process the jam in a hot water bath, or freezer for later used. Store in the fridge.

I also made a variation today by taking ½ cup of the jam and add ½ cup of blueberry.

 Bring to boil and let it cook for about 20 mins. Fill the jars as above

There were a few not too perfect over ripe plums in the batch.

I simply cut off the bad and over ripe pieces to make some Chinese plum sauce

 Chinese Plum sauce

A cup of cut up plums, it’s ok to have skin and stone attached

½ cup of apple cider vinegar

½ cup of sugar

1 tsp grounded ginger

½ tsp grounded clove

1 ½-pint mason jar

Directions:

In a non-corrosive pot, mix plum with apple vinegar and sugar.

 Add grounded ginger

 Add clove

 Bring to a boil and let it cook for about 30 mins. Remove the stone if you preferred.

 Transfer the hot sauce to the mason jar.

 Process in a hot water bath if you prefer or store in the fridge.

Enjoy

Aloha