so many plums, so little imagination

[phoebe]

David and I participated in a local gleaning project today (you harvest produce from private homes and farms which gets distributed to local food banks: Small Potatoes Gleaning Project). For your work, you get to take home a box of what you've been picking, and we ended up with loads of plums! However, we've never done more with them than eat the fresh fruit. I know I could comb through my many cookbooks, but
A: They're all still in boxes (until we get the house painted).
And B: Getting ideas from you guys is a lot more fun
Also, what's the best way--if there is any--to store surplus plums?

[oldschool1982]

Dehydrate them for prunes (if the correct variety), Can them in simple syrup, make Mead or wine, stuff them with coconut and chocolate and bake, make pudding, eat'em as they are, make a plum/current sauce for desserts, cake......

[shroomgirl]

I've got a party in two weeks with plum crustade as the dessert......cardomon and lemon, topped with coarse sugar.

plum jam with orange zest.....yum.......

[cheflayne]

Chutney, vinaigrette, BBQ sauce, chilled soup.

[Marge Gunaw]

Originally Posted by phoebe

David and I participated in a local gleaning project today (you harvest produce from private homes and farms which gets distributed to local food banks: Small Potatoes Gleaning Project). For your work, you get to take home a box of what you've been picking, and we ended up with loads of plums! However, we've never done more with them than eat the fresh fruit. I know I could comb through my many cookbooks, but
A: They're all still in boxes (until we get the house painted).
And B: Getting ideas from you guys is a lot more fun
Also, what's the best way--if there is any--to store surplus plums?

In Indonesia, we have a method to make this fresh flesh plums ready to use at any time. (depends on the plums variety)

If this plums have the firm flesh and still fresh, you can use only rock salt and granulated sugar. Boil Water as much as you need to preserve the plums, add salt and sugar (same amount), let it boil until all ingredients turns into liquid, remove from heat. Let them cool but covered (to prevent from contamination) up to room temperature point. It is better to put this liquid in a sterilized metal free can/ bowl/ pan.

Clean plums under flowing/ running cold water, dry with damp cloth until really dry. Put it in the sugar salt water. Marinate and covered as long as you like. Put the preserved plums bowl in cool dry place. Use only dry wood spoon if you need to take any of them out from can to be used.

In Indonesia we use Kapur Sirih/ Food Calcium Powder to marinate the plums to make the fruit flesh stay firm. (Alkaline water will probably help) We use to marinate it for about overnight. Remove from marinate, clean with flowing water and then dry it under the sun until the skin wrinkled, ready to be preserved.

Hope this will help you preserve the plums. Good luck.