Plum & almond chutney

This chutney is low in sugar - and the chilli gives a nice and spicy kick. Try it with a big chunk of farmhouse cheddar.

Ingredients

• 900g firm plums, stones and roughly chopped
• 1 onion , roughly chopped
• 5cm piece of fresh root ginger , grated or finely chopped
• 225ml orange juice
• 100ml red wine vinegar
• 140g raisins (try the nice big Lexia raisins)
• 50g light muscovado sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• ½tsp chilli flakes
• 25g blanched almonds each cut into 3 strips

Method

1. Put everything except the almonds into a large pan - shallow is better as the chutney will thicken faster. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30-40 minutes until the plums are tender, stirring occasionally at first, more frequently in the later stages. The chutney is done when it has thickened but is still slightly liquid (it thickens further as it cools).
2. Stir in the almonds and boil for 5 minutes more, stirring. Pour into warm sterilised jars and cool before sealing. Can be eaten straight away, but keeps for up to 3 months in the fridge.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, October 2003.

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Plum & marzipan tart tatin

Sugar-sweet chunks of molten marzipan harmonise with sharp fruity plums in this autumn tart

Moderately easy
Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

25g butter
25g golden caster sugar
800g firm plums, not too ripe, halved and stoned
100g golden marzipan
40g ground almonds
500g packet puff pastry , thawed if frozen
pouring cream (single or double), to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6/fan 180C. Melt the butter in a 28cm tart tatin tin over a medium heat on the hob. Tip in the sugar and 1 tbsp water and cook for a few minutes, stirring all the time until lightly browned. If it looks slightly crumbly at this stage don't be put off, it will right itself in the oven. Remove from the heat and put in the plums, cut side up.

2. Chop the marzipan into as many chunks as there are plum halves and put a chunk of marzipan in the hole in each plum left by the stone. Sprinkle a small pile of ground almonds over each plum half.

3. Roll out the pastry and trim to 3cm larger than the tin all round. Lift the pastry on to the tin and tuck it down between the plums and the inside of the tin. (You can chill the tart ready for baking for up to 24 hours.) Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the pastry is risen, crisp and golden. Cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then place a large flat plate with a rim over the tin. Holding it over the sink in case of drips, carefully invert the tart on to the plate. Some juice from the plums is likely to escape, which is why you need a rim on the plate, but it's delicious, especially when mingled with pouring cream.

Nutrition per serving

511 kcalories, protein 8g, carbohydrate 58g, fat 29 g, saturated fat 3g, fibre 3g, salt 0.75 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, October 2002.

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Plum & apple cobbler

A plum-filled pudding with a light, fluffy scone-like topping - perfect for after the Sunday roast

Easy
Serves 4
Prep 30 mins
Cook 30 mins
Ready in an hour
Can be frozen

Ingredients

750g cooking apples (Bramley's are best)
350g ripe plums
juice of 1 lemon
100g golden caster sugar

FOR THE COBBLER

100g self-raising flour
1 tsp cinnamon
50g butter
50g golden caster sugar
1 egg , beaten
4 tbsp milk
50g/2oz walnut pieces

Method

1. Preheat the oven to fan 160C/ conventional180C/gas 4. Butter a 1.5 litre ovenproof pie dish.

2. Peel, core and slice the apples. Halve, stone and quarter the plums. Put the apples in a pan with the lemon juice, sugar and 1 tbsp water. Bring to the boil, then cover and cook gently for 5 minutes. Add the plums and cook for a further 5 minutes.

3. Turn the fruit into the prepared dish. Tip the flour and cinnamon into a bowl, add the butter, cut into small pieces and rub in with your fingertips. Stir in the sugar, then add the egg and milk and mix lightly to a soft batter (this can be done in the food processor).

4. Drop tablespoonsful of the batter over the fruit, leaving gaps where the fruit peers through, then scatter over the nuts. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the topping has a crisp brown crust.

Nutrition per serving

556 kcalories, protein 8g, carbohydrate 90g, fat 21 g, saturated fat 8g, fibre 6g, salt 0.3 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, October 2003.

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Plum

The juiciest fruit in the stone fruit family, plums come in many different varieties, some sweet, some slightly more tart. All plums however have certain characteristics in common, with smooth, richly coloured skins and a hard central stone.

Plums vary in hue from deep purple to red, yellow and green. The cloudy bloom on their skin is natural and isn't an indication of poor quality. All sweet dessert plums can be used for cooking, too.

Availibility

All year round, but British varieties are in season from mid August to October .

Choose the best

As there are so many different varieties, colour isn't a useful guide to ripeness. Instead, look for smooth, unbruised skin with a chalky bloom, and firm flesh that gives a little when it's gently squeezed. If they feel soft in the point where the dimple meets the stem, they're overrripe. Avoid split, brown or shrivelled examples.

The sweet and juicy flesh of the following plums make them particularly good to eat raw: the yellowy-red skinned Victoria, the bright red Santa Rosa and Burbank, the green/red Denniston's Superb and the yellow-skinned Black Amber. The drier, tarter flesh of the Mirabelle, Cherry (which are smaller than dessert plums), Quetsch and Czar plums makes them perfect for cooking with.

Prepare it

Using a sharp knife, cut in half following the line of the dimple, then gently grip each half and twist apart. Pull out the stone or ease out with the tip of the knife, then chop or slice the flesh. The skin is edible, but if you want to eat them raw but skinned, drop them into into boiling water for around 15 or so seconds, then plunge them immediately into cold water. The skin should come away easily. Alternatively, if you're cooking them, skin them afterwards.

Store it

Once ripe, plums will keep at room temperature for around three or four days. Or store them in the fridge in a perforated bag for up to five days.

Cook it

Eat sweet dessert plums raw. Halve and roast (15-20 minutes); poach whole (15-25 minutes); stew (10 minutes). Bake in pies and crumbles.

Try

• Plum & apple cobbler
• Plum & marzipan tart tatin
• Plum & almond chutney

Can't find it

Try damson or greengage

Source
BBC Good Food

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