Reply to: Plums

[norrahe]

My big apple tree (cookers) has about a dozen apples on it.

The little one (eater) is so full of apples the branches are nearly touching the ground - first time in 18 years! I've picked the best of them today.

The plum tree has a few dozen on it but they are not ripe yet - plum coloured but still hard. Half of the tree died last year so I'm surprised it's cropped. Should be ready next weekend.

So what can I do with them beyond apple & plum crumble?
Bear in mind it's a blokes kitchen so skills and ingredients are likely to be lacking

Well baked apple with custard is nice (easy one to start), apple sorbet (water, sugar, puréed apples) also quite nice.

Unusually can be used thinly sliced on a pork chop. (sear the chop either side, add the sliced apples, small bit of sugar on top and grill

You can make apple sauce (apples, sugar, some butter) stick it in a jar and et voila.

Tarte tatin, easy, puff pastry (straight from the shop, hey I'm not proud and it's also 8 hours less work ), melt some sugar till it starts to brown in a small frying pan, add a smidgin (technical term here) of butter, quarter and hull the apple and place in the sugary mix. Roll out the puff pastry and then cut to the size of the covering and then place on top, stick in the oven for about 20 mins, till the pastry browns.

Try this site the apple baked in beer looks good, best to check that the apples are ready to harvest as the seeds will be brown otherwise they're not quiet ready.

Apples are good if you want to add then to a stuffing for a pork loin, sausage meat, chopped apples, chopped onion, some breadcrumbs (handful) and salt and pepper, bind with 1 egg and give it to an obliging butcher who will stuff your boned and rolled pork loin (if he's not obliging, then you'll have to do it yourself).

[ctdctd]

My big apple tree (cookers) has about a dozen apples on it.

The little one (eater) is so full of apples the branches are nearly touching the ground - first time in 18 years! I've picked the best of them today.

The plum tree has a few dozen on it but they are not ripe yet - plum coloured but still hard. Half of the tree died last year so I'm surprised it's cropped. Should be ready next weekend.

So what can I do with them beyond apple & plum crumble?
Bear in mind it's a blokes kitchen so skills and ingredients are likely to be lacking

[Boudica]

If you were a chav you could throw them at passing cars or peoples' windows...

i'm only a chav on wednesdays

[norrahe]

If you were a chav you could throw them at passing cars or peoples' windows...

Well I didn't want to state the most obvious use for them

[RSoles]

After such a good year, the plums will probably break the branches
allowing silver leaf fungus in which will kill the tree.
That's what happened to mine.

Need to go down there straight away and reduce the load.
Oh, and look up a recipe for pflumliwasser.

[d000hg]

Any ideas for chestnuts Norrahe? There is a massive tree near us and I collected some last year but didn't do anything with them

If you were a chav you could throw them at passing cars or peoples' windows...

[norrahe]

Most of the recipes I've got in my cookery section (aka the bookshelf in my office) seem to suggest, boiling (in milk or cream with sugar) and then roughly mashing or the "old" chestnut (sorry couldn't resist) of roasting or using as part of a stuffing.
Some of them are boiling then in milk, mashing or chopping them and adding them to various cake mixtures (could use a carrot cake recipe, omit carrots, and cinnamon) add the chestnuts at the end to the mix.

I did have a drink called nocino in Italy which was pretty nice.

This site is good for seasonal suggestions

[Boudica]

Any ideas for chestnuts Norrahe? There is a massive tree near us and I collected some last year but didn't do anything with them

[norrahe]

Yep, and thats what suprised me. You hear about wild animals struggling for food, etc, then there is this massive bonanza with nothing (apparant) taking advantage of it

You reminded me there was a plum tree just down the road, ripe for the picking, I was too late, the recent high winds knocked all the ripe ones off and there's nowt left.

Bumper crop of pears this year, my two trees are bent double. Lots of pear sorbet, pear crumble, pear tartin, pickled pears, poached pears with blue cheese

Must say norr, some of your recipes sound top notch. Plan B if ever there was one.

Why thank you kind sir, I do have a culinary plan B, but that's on hold till Mr N finishes his masters (which doesn't start till next month and ends in precisely a year) So more power to teh warchest.

Used to run my own private catering company till my business partner upped sticks and left me unable to find anyone else

[Clippy]

Yep, and thats what suprised me. You hear about wild animals struggling for food, etc, then there is this massive bonanza with nothing (apparant) taking advantage of it

You must be in an area with a low number of Polish immigrants - they are not shy about helping themselves to natures bounty.

[EternalOptimist]

I have a pear tree bursting with pears.

There are only so many you can eat.

Yep, and thats what suprised me. You hear about wild animals struggling for food, etc, then there is this massive bonanza with nothing (apparant) taking advantage of it

[Clippy]

I have a pear tree bursting with pears.

There are only so many you can eat.

As an aside, years ago, it was more common to find such fruit trees in peoples back gardens - not so much nowadays, I suspect - bloody shame.

[shaunbhoy]

8 figs, 12 plums, 1 red onion, 500ml balsamic vinegar, 200g brown sugar, 150 ml Madeira (malmsey) or port.
Chop figs, plums (take stone out) and onion, bung in pan with sugar and vinegar and port, cook for 2 hours until reduced and pour into sterilised pots.

For red onion marmalade, omitting the plums and figs and upping the red onion quota to 12 and only 200ml balsamic and 75ml port, and 100g of sugar

goes well with duck, game terrine, liver pate and goats cheese.

Must say norr, some of your recipes sound top notch. Plan B if ever there was one.

[norrahe]

8 figs, 12 plums, 1 red onion, 500ml balsamic vinegar, 200g brown sugar, 150 ml Madeira (malmsey) or port.
Chop figs, plums (take stone out) and onion, bung in pan with sugar and vinegar and port, cook for 2 hours until reduced and pour into sterilised pots.

For red onion marmalade, omitting the plums and figs and upping the red onion quota to 12 and only 200ml balsamic and 75ml port, and 100g of sugar

goes well with duck, game terrine, liver pate and goats cheese.

[Mich the Tester]

chutney

Cooks.com - Recipes - Plum Chutney

You'll need a spoon with that.