Westcoast Cooking - Welcome September 10, 2008

Welcome September 10, 2008

Tuesday, 09 September 2008

This summer, we've been celebrating stone fruits, and as the season winds down, we're gathering in the last of the peaches and enjoying the late backyard plums known as Italian prunes.

This Is Just to Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

William Carlos Williams

Though he was born in the 1880s, WCW had a profoundly modern voice. Few writers have captured the tone of American English or the simplicity of poetic observation the Williams did. What is more, his precise, almost zen-like note of a poem says more about plums and what it's like to eat them than we ever could. There is the implied assertion that the plums were stolen, or at least taken out of turn, and so they have the added savor of forbidden fruit. And yet there is some innocence in enjoying them too.

Plums have long been synonymous with the elusive prize, the proverbial carrot on a stick that motivates us to move forward; think of little Jack Horner. Perhaps it's because they are a little bit harder to gather than other stone fruits. Our backyard plums grow high on the tree, and far out on the limbs where we must reach and reach to pluck them. But the plum's reputation as an ultimate prize may derive from the fact that plums are so perfectly delicious.

This week's recipes:

Plum Jam
The late Laurie Colwin provided a sketchy but compelling recipe for plum jam in her book, Home Cooking. That recipe led me to try making plum jam following my own instincts instead of a prescribed formula. But as these processes tend to go, I have developed a formula, and now I suppose I have come full circle. I slice the plums lengthwise into wedges before measuring and pack them, almost crushed into the measuring cup.If you have a home scale, use 18 ounces of prepared fruit. Cook the mixture at a lively clip so that it reaches the jelling point before the fruit loses too much of its character.

Cinnamon Plum Tart
When summer fruits are abundant, several of these tarts can be assembled, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil, and frozen, unbaked, to be pulled out and baked in the winter. A thin single layer of plums melts into a smooth filling with no need for a thickener. The crisp and crumbly cinnamon topping brings it all together.

Chicken Baked with Plums and Olives
Chicken Mirabella exploded onto the American scene in the 1980s when Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso gave us The New basics Cookbook. Like everyone else, we loved the chicken with prunes and olives. But over the years, I have toned down the sugar and vinegar called for in the original recipe until they are gone and the natural sweet tart flavor of fresh plums has taken over for the dried plums or prunes. Together, the plums and the olives create a playful exchange of flavors around baked chicken pieces. The recipe can be easily doubled for a crowd, but do be sure to use a pan large enough to accommodate all the chicken pieces in a single layer.