Those of you who are as in love with Joanna Newsom’s music as I am get it. It was that time of year that straddles summer and fall, when my CSA gives us the last of summer’s peaches and plums along with early fall pear varieties like Red Clapp, Bartlett, and Seckel. And the opportunity to allude to a good song while handling food is one I can rarely pass up (it happens in my mind when the Simon & Garfunkel herbs go into something, out loud when John sees summer or winter savory and iTunes is within reach, and don’t even get me started on the teaches of peaches).
After a long day of work, the thought of chilling and rolling out pie dough or even making biscuit batter to scoop on top of this fruit combo seemed like too much in terms of time and how big of a production I wanted it to be. Mark Bittman to the rescue: fruit gratin (with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and amaretto instead of vanilla extract). I couldn’t get the top to brown because my baking dish explicitly says “No Broiler” on the bottom. And to be really honest, this would’ve been better with some kind of crust or crumble or batter surrounding it. Oh well, you really can’t have it all sometimes.
Next up: clam, crab, cockle, cowrie risotto?
Like cake salé, yogurt cake is a homey baked good from France that comes in a loaf pan. No waiting for butter to soften, no need to plug in any mixers, and all you need to start are everyday ingredients (which you can then add to, according to whatever else is spilling out of your fridge and pantry).
I used this recipe from Bon Appétit, minus the glaze and with half as much sugar (it was still sweet enough for me), plus about a cup of chopped fresh plums and a few sprigs’ worth of fresh thyme folded into the batter at the very end.
Check out my new favorite summer dessert. Granita is basically shaved ice, and you can make it with fruit, booze, and even coffee. I used squishy-ripe, beautifully colored plums this time around, but any kind of pureed fruit will do. And you can of course use plain water or some other liquid instead of tea. My David Lebovitz ice cream book also says that in Sicily, they scoop coffee granita into brioche buns for breakfast, which sounds heavenly for warm, groggy mornings.
(makes 2 servings)
3/4 cup hot water (I turn the kettle off right before it starts actually boiling)
1 heaping teaspoon jasmine tea (or one teabag)
2 tablespoons sugar
8 small (about 1 1/2 inches in diameter) plums
Steep tea in hot water for 3 minutes. Add sugar and stir until it dissolves. Let cool.
Meanwhile, puree pitted, unpeeled plums in a blender or food processor. Add tea.
Pour mixture into a small dish that is about 2 inches deep (I used a plastic tupperware type container that is about 8 by 5 inches). Place in the freezer for about 45 minutes, then check on it. The top and edges should be starting to freeze. Scrape with a fork and make it all slushy. Put it back in the freezer and repeat the scraping-with-fork part every 30 minutes or so, until the whole thing is mostly frozen. I got impatient (and it was getting late), so mine looks a little softer/more watery than the way this sort of thing usually goes.
It’s been a mad dash to finish up all this summer fruit before it’s gone from the farmers’ markets (or more importantly, before it starts rotting in my kitchen). Originally, I wanted to bring out the new KitchenAid mixer again and bake a buckle with some Santa Rosa plums that were sitting around. Then I had a peach roll (a sticky cinnamon roll with peach chunks nestled in its crevices) at Locanda Verde and considered plum rolls for about five seconds. Then a bounty of desserts showed up for John’s birthday (um, hello Zabar’s cinnamon rugelach), convincing me to use those plums for something else. Like a sauce that will go on a simple roasted pork tenderloin this weekend. Washed down with another good recommendation from our new neighborhood wine shop.
(adapted from Chow, without all the fussy canning stuff)
5 medium (2 inches in diameter? is that medium?) plums, pitted and chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2-inch segment of ginger, grated
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon black mustard seed
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
pinch of cayenne pepper
Put all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Cook until reduced and thick, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn’t burn.
