Low-Hanging Fruit --- Backyard Plums, Over-The-Fence Loquats and a Plum Clafoutis Recipe

Our neighbor's loquats

I cook, I don't garden.  I know with some bloggers you get a kind of two for one.  Not here, you don't.  To be honest, this column is about our accidental fruit.

We don't really do anything for the plums, they just grow and drop. The plums are about the size and color of a cherry tomato and they are sweet-tart. They are too small to do too much with so we occasionally snack on them, but usually they feed the birds. What I really love about them is the early Spring blooms, pale pink and white and just lovely.

The loquat branches drop over our side fence. The loquats taste like an apricot crossed with a lychee with a firmer texture and a slightly astringent skin. There is not a lot of flesh on each fruit.  Inside are two large seeds.  We don't get too many of these, since after all the tree is on the other side of the fence.

Unlike the plums, they are freestones so they are easier to eat or use in recipes.  The fruit bruises easily and you rarely see it commercially available.  I've had a great loquat vinegar (by Lulu, I think), other than that I don't know of any processed foods using them.

I have a soft spot for loquats because my sons attended a preschool with a loquat tree in the yard and they would come home splattered with loquat juice thrilled by the experience of picking and eating them.

Backyard plums swaying in breeze

If you are not fussy about pitting them, the plums would work well in a clafoutis,  just warn folks to watch for pits. Try this recipe, which is egg and dairy free, and which first appeared in the j weekly.  If you have small,  hard to pit plums like the ones at left, leave them whole and warn eaters to be aware.

The clafoutis (pronounced without the final s) recipe is very adaptable and can be made with any other fruit.  I frequently use cherries (easiest if you skip the pitting) or berries.

It's a nice brunch dish or dessert on it's own or try serving it with ice cream and or whipped cream (vegan or not).

Plum Clafoutis

Serves 6

2 Tbs. oil, plus extra for greasing pan

1 lb. fresh Italian prune plums or other small, sweet plums (about 20)

1 cup flour

3 Tbs. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup unflavored, unsweetened almond milk

1/4 tsp. almond extract

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 8” x 12” baking pan. Halve and pit the prunes and place evenly, cut side up, on bottom of prepared baking pan.

Stir together flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon in small bowl. In large bowl mix eggs, almond milk, almond extract and vanilla extract until well combined. Slowly add the flour mixture to the egg one, whisking well until very smooth. Pour over plums. Bake for 50-60 minutes until firm and golden.  Let cool slightly before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Wok Me Up -- Meal for One

Another in my continuing series of meals for one, this dinner was based on a House product, a packaged combo for tofu and sauce that you add veggies to called Wok Me Up Spicy Orange. 

Pretty simple and not complicated to do yourself, but still it made my meal for one easier to just get started. (Sometimes just getting started can be hard for me when I'm only feeding myself.) I was pretty ashamed that I needed my tofu cut into little pieces for me, however it still took a crisis of will to get me to chop some veggies to throw into the stir fry.  (The directions specify 6 oz., I tossed in about double that.)

I served it over Trader Joe's frozen brown rice nuked for 3 minutes, I used about half the mix for my serving only to find that the package claims it contains 3.5 servings. I snorted out loud. Even with the extra veggies and rice it would barely feed two.

The One That Didn't Get Away --- A Tuna Salad Story with Recipe (andHot Lime Pickle)

Often I get an idea for a recipe that seems perfect until I actually get to the kitchen, make it and have my first bite.  This tuna salad, filled with the flavor of Indian hot lime pickle, was almost one of those near misses but I tinkered with proportions and condiments and was able to reel in a tasty winner.

Two Indian ingredients are used in the recipe. In the tuna salad itself you'll need achar -- pickled, spiced lime rinds.  Different companies make it in different degrees of hotness and chunkiness. Since it will be chopped it doesn't matter if you get the relish style (somewhat smaller pieces of lime rind) or regular hot lime pickle.  The pickle adds a little heat, spices, acid and astringency to the the salad.  Serving the mango chutney mayo with the tuna salad smoothes and adds a bit of sweetness to the combo.  Serve as small tea sandwiches as in the recipe below or use fresh or moistened lavash (or large flour tortillas) and roll and slice for party appetizers.

I first envisioned this recipe for my friend Mona's grand baby's "welcome party" when I made the lavash version.  I adapted to this easier tea sandwich version when her Indian auntie came to tea recently.  I've also made it with mashed tofu instead of tuna and with vegan mayonnaise for a vegan version. I haven't tried it yet but I think it would be delicious with smashed chickpeas instead of the tuna. 

A word about the ingredients. I used Patak's hot lime relish, which is fairly widely available on line and in specialty, Indian and Middle Eastern grocery stores. This is the first time I've used tuna in several years and I used Sea Fare Pacific wild caught albacore packed in salt-free natural juices. The chutney was from Trader Joe's, but any Major Grey's style or sweet mango chutney will work fine. I also used 1 oz.-sized King's Hawaiian sweet rolls. (Note I'm writing this on my ipad and will update to include the links later)

Hot Lime Pickle Tuna Salad with Mango Chutney Mayo

Makes 8 tea sandwiches or about 4 regular sandwiches

1-6 oz. container of tuna, drained well and flaked

1-2 Tbs. hot lime pickle or relish, finely chopped

3 Tbs. mayonnaise 

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

1/8 tsp. salt (optional)

1 1/2 Tbs. mayonnaise 

1 1/2 Tbs.mango chutney, finely chopped

8 small sweet Hawaiian or Portuguese style rolls

16 very thin slices of cucumber

8 very thin slices of tomato, drained on paper towel

Mix together tuna, 1 Tbs. lime pickle and pepper.  Stir well.  Taste.  Gradually add in second tablespoon of pickle by teaspoonfuls and mixing and tasting as you go until you get the right level of heat, spice and astringency for you. I like it with the full 2 Tbs. You can probably go a bit hotter than normal for yourself since the bread and mayo will be sweet. Taste again and decide if you want to add salt.. Both the pickle and tuna probably have enough salt you won,t need to add more.)

Mix mayo with chutney.  Spread inside top and bottom of each roll with mayo mixture. Arrange 2 cucumber slices on bottom of roll, top with 1/8th of tuna salad and then with tomato slice. Close roll.  Repeat with remaining rolls and adjust if using larger rolls. (I also like this mounded on top of a tomato half with dollops of mango chutney mayo on top.)

My Day at Sunset

A week ago Sunday I had a blast visiting Sunset Magazine’s Menlo Park campus and participating in the Time-Life publication’s celebration weekend.

Angela Brassinga

Elaine Johnson

A highlight for me was the opportunity to meet test kitchen head Angela Brassinga. The space she and her team of “home cook” recipe testers works out of looks like a home kitchen on steroids with multiple electric and gas cook tops and ovens and one very big refrigerator. (Plus Sunset also uses a commercial walk in fridge.) The pantry was huge. Everything is labeled and organized so testers can find what they need quickly. The testers shop for ingredients at local stores and make every recipe multiple times. I've always found Sunset’s recipes work well and it is this attention to detail that makes the difference.

It was also special meeting Food Editor Margo True and Associate Food Editor Elaine Johnson. I look forward to checking out Sunset’s latest cookbook, The Great Outdoors Cookbook. (Get a peek of two of the recipes here.)   Other highlights included touring the food, wine, travel and merchandise exhibits. (I especially liked the cute turquoise trailer and got very excited about the Alaska marine ferry information.)

There was an array of food vendors offering everything from paella to corn dogs, but I ate and drank so many free samples that I wasn't hungry. Among my favorite noshes were lamb pastrami (Wente brothers), grilled cheese with chutney (San Luis Sourdough Bread), and Torani syrups.  Below is one of my favorite attendees. Check out the Sunset website for living in the West travel tips, recipes, gardening advice and more.