Plum Gorgeous by Romney Steele

Title:  Plum Gorgeous

Author:  Romney Steele

Publisher:  Andrews McMeel Publishing

Publication Date:  19 July 2011

Pages:  193

Source:  NetGalley

ISBN:  9781449402402

My Review

In Romney Steele's own words, she describes this book as, "Plum Gorgeous is surely a book about the sensuous and enchanting nature of fruit and what to do with it in the kitchen.  But, more than that, it's about the pleasures and joys of the table..."

This Beautiful book has so many mouth watering recipes.  Not only are there great recipes using plums, but there are numerous other fruit recipes included.  Some of the fruits included are Plums(of course), Apples, Apricots, Oranges, Lemons, Quince, Cherries, Peaches, Figs, Pears, Rhubarb, etc.

The recipes that I want to try are :  1.  Rasberry, Rhubarb Jam, 2.  Spiced Plums, 3. Cherry Clafoutis, 4.  Fresh Peach Gelato, 5.  Rustic Fruit Gallette, 6.  Plum Gorgeous Tart, 7.  Slow cooked Apple Butter, 8.  French Apple Tart, 9.  Honey lime Peaches with Creme Fraiche, 10.  Fig Relish and Ham Sandwiches, and last but certainly not least, 11.  Blenheim Apricot Jam(part of the inspiration behind the book)  Actually those are just a few of the wonderful treats inside this book.  There are many more recipes that sound equally delicious.

It was important to Romney Steele to write a Beautiful book about food, and she certainly has achieved that with this cookbook.  She encourages the cooks to play with the recipes and make them their own.  Part of her inspiration came from her Uncle Kaffe Fassett.  He is famous for his beautiful books and works of art in the knitting and Quilting world.  In Plum gorgeous, I believe Romney Steele has managed to give us the same beauty with fruit that Kaffe Fassett gives us with textiles.  I highly recommend this book especially for the upcoming fall season and the bounty of fruit that comes with it.

Plum Blackberry Sorbet

1# plums, pitted and chopped

1 cup blackberries or black currants

1/2 cup sugar

1TBS Cassis

1 tsp lemon juice

Simmer plums with blackberries, sugar and about 1/4 cup water in small saucepan over low heat until soft and pulpy, about 5-10 minutes.  Let cool slightly, then puree and press through a seive to remove seeds and skin.  You should have about 2 cups puree.  Stir in the Cassis and lemon juice to taste.  Chill thouroughly, then churn in an ice cream freezer.  Freeze until hardened, about 1 hour.

Well Preserved by Mary Anne Dragan/ Blueberry Jam & Apple Butter Recipes

 It  is time to start thinking about all the fresh fruit and vegetables for the season. Oh, how I love this time of year and always want to make these wonderful treats last longer.  My all time favorite food for the summer is a fresh, vine riped tomatoe sandwich.  But, it has too be made with white bread and really good mayonaise and salt and pepper.  The only thing that can make this better is a thinly sliced fresh picked cucumber added to the sandwhich.  I guess this is a dead giveaway that I am a true southerner.  But, seriously if you have never tried one of these sandwhiches, you really need to because they are awesome!

Anyway, I also like to turn some of the berries and fruit that are availabe into jams and jellies.  I recently picked 5 gallons of blueberries.  I really enjoy picking berries.  I get up very early and start picking before the sun gets really hot.  It is a good time for reflecting on life.  It is usually just me, the berries and the birdies.  The birds usually are not too glad to see me.  This time I had a mockingbird that followed the entire time I was picking.  She would land in  the tree right at head level and just fuss and fuss.  I guess she was afraid that I wasn't going to leave her any berries.

This book has a recipe for just about any type of jam, jelly, preserves or chutney that you can imagine.  I made blueberry jam and plan to make blueberry jelly soon.  Here is the recipe for blueberry jam.

True Blueberry Jam
Makes about 4-5 8oz (250ml) jars
Ingredients
6 cups or 1.5L blueberries
4 cups or 950ml sugar
1/4 cup or 60ml lemon juice
Prepare the preserving jars. ( I use my dishwasher to wash the jars and lids on the hottest setting)
In the preserving pot, crush the blueberries thourghly with a potato masher.  Add the sugar and lemon juice.  Bring to a boil over medium high heat and boil rapidly, stirring often, for 15-20 minutes.

Remove from the heat.  Stir and skim off foam from top.  pour the jam into hot, sterilized jars, leaving a 1/4"  head space.  Wipe the rims clean.  Seal according to manufacturesm directions.  Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Here is a photo of my jam made using this recipe. (i doubled the recipe)

Here is a recipe for Apple butter from this book.  I didn't pick the apples fom (unless you count picking them up from the grocery)  This is so easy and delicious that I will never buy it again.

Apple Butter

Makes 6-7 8oz. (250ml) jars

In the past, people cooked apple butter outside in massive kettles slung over an open fire.  Luky you!

Ingredients

5lb or 2.25 kg tart apples(I used a combo of granny smith and fuji)

2 cups or 4.75ml apple juice or cider

2 TBS or 30ml lemon juice

1 TBS or 15 ml cinnamon

1/2 or 2.5 ml each ground cloves, allspice and nutmeg

 1 1/2-2 cups of brown sugar(I have used white sugar before, but the best apple butter has brown sugar in it)

Core apples and chop them coarsley.  Combine the apples and apple juice or cider in your preserving pot.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce the heat to low, cover loosely and simmer for 20 minutes or until the apples are tender.  stir occasionally.  Remove heat.  Pass the mixture through a sieve or food mill.

Measure the puree back into your pot.  Add 1/2 to 2/3 cup of sugar for each cup of puree, depending on the tartness of the apples.  Add the lemon juice and mix well.  Cook over low heat, stirring almost constantly for 35-45 minutes, or until thickened.  Stir in the spices during the last 10-15 minutes of cooking time.  Test for doneness if desired.  ( put a TBS of the apple butter in the center of a plate and if it doesnt separate after a few minutes, it is ready)

Remove from heat.  Spoon butter into sterilized jars, leaving a 1/4" head space.  Wipe the rims clean.  Seal according to manufactures directions.  Process jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

I think that anyone interested in preserving food would benefit from this book!Copyright

Copyright 1998 by Mary Ann Dragon

3rd edition 2009

Whitecap books

282 pages

Paula Dean's Strawberry Shortcake

Oops! Did I do that? Sorry Cooper!

Now, I admit that mine doesn't look as good as Paula's does, but I betcha it tastes just as good.  This stuff was YuuuuuuMMMMyyyyy! You can find Paula's version here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/  and it is  so easy.

Ingredients

-1 large angel food cake

For the Custard:

-1 (8ounce) package cream cheese, softened

-1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

-1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

For the glaze:

-1cup sugar

-3 Tbs cornstarch

-3 TBS strawberry gelatin (recommended Jell-o)

-1 cup water

-2 cups fresh strawberries, cut in half or quarters depending on the size

-Whole fresh strawberries and mint leaves, for garnish

Directions

Slice cake, using a serrated knife, horizontally into 3 equal layers.

For the Custard:

Mix together cream cheese, condensed milk, and whipped topping in a bowl; set aside.

For the glaze:

In a medium saucepan, stir together sugar, cornstarch, and gelatin; add water.  Cook stirring over medium heat until thick.  Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.  Fold in strawberries.

For Assembly:

Place 1 layer of cake in a large clear bowl.  Top with a layer of glaze, following by a layer of custard mixture.  Repeat layering in this manner for remaining cake, glaze and custard.  Top with 3 strawberries and fresh mint leaves.

Cracker Barrel Apple Crisp

This is the Perfect Cool Weather Dessert!

It is easy and delicious!

The ingredients include a jar of Fried Apples, and a 16 oz. bag of Kari Lee's Apple Crisp mix purchased at Cracker Barrel Restaurant. www.crackerbarrel.com/ you will also need 1 stick of butter.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, place one jar of Fried Apples in a buttered 8"-9" pan.  Combine dry ingredients with cool butter. Mix with a pastry blender or fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Sprinkle mixture over apples. Bake 50-60 minutes or until it is golden brown and bubbly.  Serve Warm with ice cream or whipped topping.

This tastes like ooey gooey  caramel apples and is so very good with vanilla ice cream.