Italian Plum & Port Crostata

I grew up going to the farmers' market most Saturdays. Now this was not the farmers' market we know today, with its hip, young farmers, high dollar artisanal products, and serenading folk musicians (not that I have anything against with those things--in fact I'm quite fond of all of them), but this market was old-school. Housed in a red barn with individual stalls occupied by Indiana old-timers, Amish, and organic farmers alike, with the smell of homemade danishes in the air, and cuts of meat hanging from rafters, the South Bend Farmers' Market first opened at its current site in 1928. Though part of the building was destroyed by a fire in 1971, it was the market where my mother grew up going to with her mother and grandparents. Every time we'd walk the long aisles, our baskets full of produce, I'd be inundated with stories about the old farmers who were still around or used to be, and be retold which stall would give my mom a piece of Claey's candy while she waited for her mother to finish socializing.

Aside from the times when I was working on a farm or was in one place long enough to maintain a weekly CSA, I've maintained that ritual of a Saturday trip to the market for fresh veggies and fruits, and sometimes eggs, bread, and meat (and oh yeah, the occasional Farmers' Daughter sunshine bun) for the week. 

A few weeks ago, Dalila from a new D.C. business From the Farmer, reached out to me and asked if I might be interested in trying out their farmbox delivery service. Never one to turn down fresh & local produce, especially when it's delivered to your doorstep, I thought I'd give it a whirl. Of course, I was immediately hooked.

As the basket arrives in the night, it felt a bit like Christmas to wake up the next morning to a bundle of colorful goods-- honeycrisp apples, bok choy, shitake mushrooms, heirloom tomatoes, fingerling potatoes, fall raspberries, and more. Similar to a CSA, but customizable, week-to-week, and drawing from multiple local farms, farm bundles like From the Farmer can be an advantageous outlet for small, specialty farms that may not be big enough to offer an entire diverse CSA. I also appreciate having my week's selection of produce picked out for me, as I'm not great at conjuring up recipes on the spot at the market. Though I'll always relish my Saturday market trips, I could get pretty use to this.

One of the offerings that was included in my first box were Italian prune plums-- the small oblong variety that are darker and sweeter than the more common round plums. I remembered a recipe for an Italian Plum & Port Crostata in Martha Stewart's New Pies & Tarts, and had some leftover homemade puff pastry in the freezer, so this tart came together quite quickly (even without pre-made crust, it's pretty simple). I LOVE the dark complexity the port reduction adds to the sweet plums, and you can experiment by adding other spices like ginger, cloves, peppercorn, or black cardamom. I brought it to the DC Square Dance and even had a slice left to share with my friend Mike, who was stopping through town on Monday with his band Hiss Golden Messenger. 

Italian Plum & Port Crostata

Adapted from Martha Stewart's New Pies and Tarts

Ingredients

Homemade Puff Pastry or Nothing in the House pie crust, halved (I used puff pastry, as I had some frozen)

1 1/2 cups ruby port

1 c. packed light brown sugar

1/2 Thai chile, seeded and minced (optional, I couldn't find any so opted out)

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 pounds Italian prune plums, halved and pitted

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon heavy cream or beaten egg, for brushing

Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling 

Directions

1. Prepare whichever crust you're using as per the directions (find links to them in the ingredients list above). Chill dough at least 1 hour before rolling out into a 12-inch round and fitting into a greased and floured 9-inch pie pan, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Do not flute edges. Place pie plate in fridge while you prepare the filling and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2.  Simmer port and 1/2 cup brown sugar in a saucepan until reduced to about 1/2 cup, approximately 25 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and add chile, if using. Cover and let cool, 10 minutes.

3. Stir together remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, salt, plums, cornstarch, cinnamon, and port syrup. Pour into the chilled pie shell and fold over overhang to make a rough edge. Brush dough with cream or egg wash, and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar. Bake 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 degrees F and bake 45-60 minutes more (Martha calls for 90 minutes more, but in my case this would have been too long), until crust is golden and filling is bubbling. Let pie cool completely and serve with honey ice cream, if desired.

Related recipes:

Plum-Cherry Crumble

Plum & Orange Flower Custard Galette

Whole Wheat Plum Crumble Tart

Whole Wheat Plum Crumble Tart

The best meals are the communal ones. When friends and family crowd the kitchen, taking turns stirring the pot, sampling the dishes and adding just a touch of pepper or a pinch of salt, singing along to the stereo together (or to a live serenade?) while you roll crusts and whip cream. Though the deliciousness of those crab cakes we made on our "cousins" Carolina beach trip, or that homemade pizza baked in a friends' backyard wood-fired oven, or my dad's Christmas Eve potato-leek soup, help trigger the memory, it's the collective energy-- the communal process, accomplishment and then enjoyment of the whole thing that make for the most memorable eating experiences. They're something I seek out, and for me are an important part of socializing, wooing, and quality family time.

Though there have been so so many special ones, some that come to mind are my friend Joe's birthday party in West Virginia last fall, a cookout 'n' honky-tonk show at the Dollhouse this spring, all of our Portland, Maine Thanksgivings, and almost every NELP dinner. Another one to add to the list, was a very magical communal dinner for which I made this whole what plum crumble tart (and also the tomato-ricotta galette! Which is NOT a pizza).



This communal dinner was hosted by the incredibly wonderful, totally hilarious, creative genius and all-around wonder gal Morgan Hungerford West! Among many other projects that I try but can't totally keep up with, Morgan writes Panda Head blog, and publishes the corresponding magazine. For the upcoming fall issue, she and her Panda Head Mag partners put together a communal dinner for some of the magazine friends and contributors. I can't say TOO much because you'll want to see the full photographic and written treatment in the mag, but I will say that it took place at a rustic local restaurant that we've been wanting to go to (during off-hours) with a long farm table, that there were many many large jars of various types of homemade pickles, homebrew that didn't even taste like homebrew (more like a delicious IPA!), and an incredible spread of GOOD FOOD. And I mean it that way--perfectly prepared homemade food brought by all of the guests and hosts, nothing too fancy or showy, just really really well-done delicious dishes.

There were also lovely place settings--including a communal reading and little buttonhole sewn napkins, good records (the DJing was also communal), and really cool people who were excellent conversationalists! (I think we were sitting amongst a group of  butchers, bakers, and candlestick maker--LITERALLY?). So maybe I said too much. But hopefully that leaves you wanting more, and you can find it in Panda Head Magazine's Issue 7. In the meantime, here's something I can tell you more about--that plum tart.

Whole Wheat Plum Crumble Tart
Adapted from The Kitchn, tart crust from Dorie Greenspan

Makes a 9-inch tart, though an 11-inch tart is pictured

Ingredients
For the crust:
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
9 Tblsp. unsalted butter, cold & cubed
1 egg yolk

For the crumble:
3/4 c. oats
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
1 lb. plums, pitted and sliced into halves or quarters, depending on size
1 Tblsp. sugar
1 tsp. lemon zest

Directions
For the crust:
1. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the cubed butter and pulse to incorporate until the mixture resembles cornmeal and peas. Add the egg yolk and pulse until the dough begins to form together.

2. Roll out the dough and pat it into your greased and floured tart pan. Freeze the tart shell for about 30 minutes while you assemble the rest of the tart. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

3. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit it tightly over the tart shell. Partially bake it (no need for pie weights) until golden in color, approximately 20-25 minutes. Remove the foil, gently pushing down any part of the crust that has puffed, and bake for 3-5 minutes more. Let cool to room temperature while you prepare the tart crumble & filling.

For the crumble & filing:
1. In a large bowl, combine the oats, flours, sugars, cinnamon & salt. Stir in the melted butter and form small clumps with your hands.

2. Toss together the plums, 1 Tblsp. sugar and 1 tsp. lemon zest and arrange over the bottom of the crust. Scatter the crumble on top of the plums, leaving some of the plums visible (you want to see that deep purple color!)

3. Bake about 40-50 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the filling begins to bubble. Let cool and serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream.

Above you can see the plum tart in its natural habitat a.k.a. the Panda Head communal dinner dessert table, though I snapped this pic before an incredible wild blueberry pie appeared out of nowhere! And just so the tart isn't totally overshadowed by its surroundings, you should know that it is a really wonderful dessert for the end of plum season--the whole wheat crumble adds a nice texture and heartiness without being overly heavy (or hippie) and provides a sweet balance to the tart plums. This will definitely be a standby of the season for me, hopefully at many communal dinners to come.

Plum & Orange Flower Custard Galette

I've been out-of-town for a bit, working long hours, living out of a hotel, and unable to bake.  But on the rainy Saturday before I left,  I went on a baking frenzy for an upcoming project. I'll keep you posted when it comes out, but since I'm writing it for someone else and not just for this blog, I had to plan to use fruits that are available both now (so I can bake with them) and into late summer. Here in DC and in more Southern regions at least, plum season lasts into September, I picked up some plums--the tartest variety (though I am now blanking on the name)-- at the Mt. Pleasant Farmers' Market.

I came across this recipe from Dessert First via Pinterest, but didn't really want to do a classic tart, and since I'd already made some standard pies for this upcoming piece, I opted for a galette style where the crust is more roughly cut and folded over the filling. Those edges, where the fruit is encased by crust on two sides, make for the best bites of the whole thing, and the real reason for a galette, in my book. Since the custard is rather sweet, you'll want to chose the tartest plums you can. Though the original recipe calls for 2 tsp. of orange flower water, I would scale it back to 1 tsp. unless you're into very floral flavors. All together this is a rather easy recipe that really showcases the beauty of the plum in both taste and sight, without need for any additional accompaniment (though it did go quite well with an afternoon cup of coffee).

Plum & Orange Flower Custard Galette
Adapted from Dessert First

Ingredients
Nothing-in-the-House pie crust, halved (save extra egg for the crust egg wash)
1/2 c. (4 oz.) crème fraîche
1 egg yolk
2 Tblsp. light brown sugar
1 tsp. orange flower water (the original recipe called for 2 tsp., but I found it a little too floral for my taste. Feel free to adjust according to yours)
2 lbs. (approximately) plums or pluots, pitted and halved
2 Tblsp. Turbinado sugar

Directions
1. Prepare half of the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions. Once chilled, roll out into an 11-inch circle and place in a greased and floured 9-inch pie pan. Do not flute crust. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place pie pan in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

2. In a medium bowl, combine crème fraîche, egg yolk, brown sugar, and orange flower water, using a whisk. Pour into the pie

3. If you haven't done so already, halve and pit plums (leave the skins on). Arrange them in concentric circles over the custard filling. Decoratively fold pie crust over the plums. Brush an egg wash over the crust and sprinkle it and the plums with Turbinado sugar.

4. Bake approximately 40 minutes until crust is golden brown, custard has set and plums are juicy. Let cool. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

We enjoyed our slices at my friend Lars' poultry operation, Green Gate Farm out in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. More about our trip out there via Virginia wine country coming soon, probably in the form of a Green Gate Farm chicken pot pie post...

So Many Plums

Among the treasures Dan and Jane inherited from the previous owners of their 1950s ranch (including a "sausage formula" tacked to the wall in the basement), was a half-dead but very productive Italian plum tree.



Last year, a friend made plum wine with the plums, and the year before someone made prunes. This year, they've been giving a lot away, eating some raw, making pancakes and preserves. Last night, Jane and I decided to do a little baking.

Dan had collected some wild blueberries and huckleberries. We sprinkled them on top of plums tossed with cinnamon for a beautiful crisp. The wild fruit gave it a delicious tartness.


Then we decided to try for a rustic plum tart. The Italian plums are a good choice for tarts because they are naturally drier than regular plums, so they don't create a ton of juice during baking. I had made several rustic apple tarts last fall, but could never get the crust flaky enough, so I was glad to have Jane's expertise. We used a food processor to make the dough (very basic recipe), and Jane rolled it out while I watched, still a little nervous about the crust. Jane had a tart pan, so we first formed the dough up against the fluted edges, then arranged the plum slices that had been tossed with ginger and cinnamon. At the last minute, we decided to fold the edges over the plums, finished it with egg glaze and a little sugar. Thus, I decided to call the tart semi-rustic, as it started as a fancier french-style tart, but ended up a tiny bit more rustic.



After a chili dinner provided by Mike, we decided to eat both the crisp and the tart.

Yummm!!! I was particularly amazed by the tart and its perfect crust. Here is a pic of Dan and Jane in the TEZ (Tart Enjoyment Zone). Mike and I aren't big ice cream eaters, so we had to use our old freezer-burned ice cream, but no one cared.


And this morning we ate the leftovers for breakfast of course!