okay Mary-Ann you lil tease

[noblesseoblige]

I am still waiting....

I am getting some Italian plums next week. I would love to make Plum Butter. Would you part with the recipe?
I will give you my plum cake recipe in return.
Ja?

[Mary Ann]

n*o, I think you have me mixed up with somebody else. I make dynamite apple butter, but I've never made plum butter. I checked one of my favorite cookbooks called Fancy Pantry, and they had a plum butter recipe that I'd use. It goes like this:

Plum Jam

To prepare plum jam, simmer wild plums or tart cultivated plums with a very little water, just enough to prevent sticking. , until the fruit is soft, 15-30 minutes. Press the plums through a sieve or food mill; discard the seeds. Measure the pulp; add 1 cup to 1 1/4 cups sugar to each cup of pulp. Boil the mixture rapidly in a preserving pan, stirring often, until it passes the jelly test. If you will be eating the jam in the next few weeks, ladle it into sterilized jars, cap them and store them in the refrigerator. For pantry storage, the jam should be sealed with canning lids and processed 15 minutes (for pint or half pint jars)in boiling water bath.

There have been times where, when I want an extra depth of flavor in such a thing, that I'll add a bit of Calvados to my fruit tart, or some sort of fruit brandy. I don't know if there's a plum brandy; do you?

[LeslieLesfire]

But plum jam and plum butter aren't the same thing. Jam is just jelly with pieces of the fruit, instead of just the juice. Butter is...., I don't know what it is but more like sauce with seasonings. While the plum jam recipe sounds delicious I don't think it would be a substitute for plum butter.

[LeslieLesfire]

Here is a Plum Butter recipe I found when I googled it.


PLUM BUTTER

1 1/2 lbs. (about 9 fresh lg.) plums, sliced and pitted
2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg, cloves and allspice

In heavy kettle stir plums and 1/2 cup sugar over lowest heat. When juices flow, bring to boil; cook 5 minutes or until fruit is tender. Pour into blender. Chop on low speed, 2 seconds. Return to kettle; add remaining sugar and spices. Bring to boil.
Reduce heat, yet maintain active bubbling; cook 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Test for doneness -- mixture "sheets" from spoon, or pour teaspoonful on chilled sauce -- if no rim of liquid forms around edge of butter it is done. Ladle at once into hot sterilized screw top jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Seal with clean, dry, metal lids. Makes 3 1/2 pints.

[noblesseoblige]

YEAH Thank you Les, that is so nice of you!
I am making the plum butter for sure. This is a good recepi, the gloves make a big differnce.

Oh Mary-Ann I must have read about your apple butter but since I love plum butter and have not had it in many years I got mixed up.
I am getting about 25 lbs of Italian plums - I will definitely make the plum butter and plum cake - Superman's fav.

Calvados

ahh a woman after my heart!!
I heard rumors that there are actually people that use apple pie filling for pies. I soak fresh apples in Calvados and then simmer them a tad..but not to make them soft.

Same with apple turn over, I cook fresh apples in Calvados until it is very soft and then put it in ice cold rolled out (commercial) puff pastry.......Ohh viva la France!

[Mary Ann]

I heard rumors that there are actually people that use apple pie filling for pies.

LOL! I've heard that rumor too, but I'd like to believe it's not true. That canned stuff tastes like apple glue.

I used to read Julia Child, Jaques Pepin, and Auguste Escoffier the way other people read novels. I've always loved French cooking, especially the cuisine de bonne femme. It sounds like you do similar, and appreciate simple, pure, high quality foods. Your family is very lucky to have you in the kitchen!

[noblesseoblige]

I used to read Julia Child, Jaques Pepin, and Auguste Escoffier the way other people read novels. I've always loved French cooking, especially the cuisine de bonne femme.

WOW, Mary-Ann, I am impressed! I knew from a very reliable source that you make divine pot roast, but this!
WOW, you have to be good!
Ypou read Auguste Escoffier for reacreational reading...

~~~~bowing as I excit - walking backwards~~~~~

Oh and we had Hamburgers last night. In this household it means, meat without hormones, no preformed patties, sea salt, caramelized onions, swiss cheese for Superman and brie for me.....get my drift... ?

[Coyote]

NO, how do you fix your hotdogs?

[Mary Ann]

NO, how do you fix your hotdogs?

LOL! Um Coyote, we don't call those 'hot dogs;' we call them 'tube steaks.'

n*o, I never thought of brie on a burger! I bet it's good. I usually like to have a very sharp cheddar, one aged so long it crumbles when you cut it. Hard to find meat without hormones around here; only Whole Foods has it, and right now I'm not trusting Whole Foods a whole lot. (There was a scandal lately where their supposedly wild salmon was actually farmed, and was very high in PCBs and mercury.) I wish we had a decent source!

It's become such a challenge in this country to find clean, pure, unadulterated food. I find it interesting that so many people are so accustomed to fake food that they object to the flavor of the real thing. My son in law is a perfect example. He was raised out of a microwave, and when the holidays come he passes on my pure whipped cream for the pies and actually brings his own Cool Whip! That stuff tastes like whipped Crisco to me, but it's what he knows. I find so much stuff in the supermarket today to be just inferior. Sometimes I wonder if part of why America has gotten so fat is that we're just looking for flavor, and not finding it.

Have you ever gone through Escoffier's 'Ma Cuisine?' It's a fun way to learn some of how cooking works, and it's really not hard reading at all.

Now, a question. I haven't bought a bottle of Calvados in a loooong time. DD tells me that it's outrageously expensive. I don't remember that being the case; do you know if something happened? Like did all the apple trees in France get the blight or something, driving the cost up?

I would love to visit your kitchen. It sounds like you have a knack for making the simplest things just glorious!

[Coyote]

Mary Ann, I like that - tube steaks:). Actually, I think there should be something close to a hotdog that isn't a hotdog. I've tasted tandoori chicken that tasted like hot dog seasoning. But chicken and kraut? I don't know......

[KarenN]

maryann said:

I wish we had a decent source!

Easy - just raise your own - or have lots of friends so they do it for you. The Mounts raise hogs and 1300 acres of pecans, the Hamiltons ALWAYS have a hormone-free calf or two ready for butcher and the Cooperiders have fresh eggs and free-range chicken when I need it!

I'm getting into the chicken thing myself, finally got hubby talked into building me a coop so I'll be starting in the spring! We usually have a calf or two ourselves until last year, but we're planning on getting three or four this fall. I don't DO hogs, but I am soooo glad my good friends do!