PLUM DUMPLINGS - ZWETSCHGENKNOEDEL

[gaberlunzie]

Rindy said in another thread she has a lot of plums this year I thought I'd start a thread for recipes using plums.

Let me start with a German Traditional I know from my childhood and again it was my granny who made them brillianty!

PLUM DUMPLINGS - ZWETSCHGENKNOEDEL

Ingredients:

3 medium potatoes (about 1 pound), pared and cut into pieces
12 cubes sugar
12 purple plums, pitted
Almond extract (optional)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
8 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoon ground cinnamon


Method:

Heat 1 inch salted water (1/2 teaspoon salt to 1 cup water) to boiling. Add potatoes. Heat to boiling; reduce heat.
Cover and cook until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
Put potatoes through ricer. Cover and refrigerate until cold.
Place sugar cube in each plum; sprinkle each cube with 1 drop almond extract.
Mix 2 cups of the potatoes, the eggs and 1 teaspoon salt; stir in 1/3 cup margarine and the flour.
Shape into flattened rectangle on lightly floured cloth-covered board.
Roll pastry into rectangle, 16 x 12 inches. Cut into 4-inch squares. Place plum on each square. Moisten edges of squares with water. Bring corners up and together; pinch to seal. Shape into smooth ball.
Heat water and 1 teaspoon salt to boiling in Dutch oven.
Place 6 dumplings, 1 at a time, in boiling water. Cover and simmer until done, 8 to 10 minutes. (To test for doneness, cut 1 dumpling into halves; dumplings should be firm but not gummy.) Remove dumplings with slotted spoon. Repeat with remaining dumplings.
Cook and stir bread crumbs in 2 tablespoons margarine until light brown. Roll dumplings in crumbs. Mix sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over dumplings.

Serves 6 (2 dumplings each)

Tip: You might like to spread a bit of sugar/cinnamon mixture over the dumplings before you serve them; tastes very well that way!

[Emmet]

While this calls for cooked prunes, I think it'd be great with fresh plums. I bet the only reason it calls for prunes is that's the only way to preserve them all year long.


Plum Duff

2 eggs
1/2 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
2 c. prunes
1 c. flour
1/8 t. salt
1 t. soda
1 T. milk

Cook and mash prunes. Beat eggs. Melt butter.
Mix eggs, butter and brown sugar together.
Stir in prunes. Sift flour with salt.
Dissolve soda in milk.
Add flour and milk mixtures to prune mixture stir this in by hand.
bake this in a buttered ring mold covered with foil
(it is a steamed pudding).
Set mold in pan of hot water and steam in oven for 1 1/4 hours at 350 degrees.

Serve with:

Sauce

1 egg.
5 T. melted butter
1 1/2 c. confectioners sugar
1 c. whipping cream

Beat egg till foamy. Add butter and beat.
Add confectioners sugar and blend.
Beat in whipping cream.
Refrigerate.

Personally, I think a few tablespoons of whisky or rum whipped in ("hard sauce") wouldn't be amiss.

[stoirmeil]

I found this variation on the web. Its like a cold Ukrainian fruit soup I used to make. Something like it can be done with either cherries or blueberries, too. This can get very tart, despite the amount of sugar or honey. If you eat one of the plums and the skin is tart enough to make your teeth cringe, peel most of the plums first and only leave in a few with skins.

Hot or cold plum soup

2 pounds ripe purple plums, washed, cut in half, and pitted
1 6-inch thin strip of orange zest
1½ cups orange juice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup plain yoghurt
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
thick yogurt or soured cream

Stir the plums, orange zest, orange juice, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and honey together in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes, till the fruit is very soft.

Purée the entire contents in a blender, skins and all. Stir in the yoghurt. If you plan to serve it cold, chill in the refrigerator for several hours.

When ready to serve, stir in the balsamic vinegar, then ladle into small bowls. Swirl a spoonful of yogurt into each portion as a garnish.


Gabby -- there's a close Ukrainian version of your dumplings called knydli, too. Must be from a German origin, because the word is germanic, related to Knoedel, not slavic. Dumplings travled east!

[gaberlunzie]

It's the right time of the year again - plums are ripe and ready to be harvested! This is a quick and easy recipe for a delicious

PLUM CAKE

IMGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar plus 1 tablespoon for topping
2 large eggs
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 lbs. plums, quartered
1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice
pinch of cinnamon

METHOD:

Cream together butter and 1 cup sugar until well blended; beat in eggs, then flour and baking powder. Beat to mix well; turn into buttered 9-inch springform pan.
Place plum quarters on top of batter, close together in circles starting at the outside, in a flower or petal pattern. Sprinkle with lemon juice.
Mix remaining sugar with cinnamon; sprinkle over top.

Bake in center of 350F oven for 1 hour or until cake tester in center comes out clean and top is golden brown.
Serve warm or cold with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

[gaberlunzie]

CHICKEN WITH PLUM SAUCE

INGREDIENCES:

4 chicken breasts.
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper.
1 tablespoon of olive oil.
1 tablespoon of onion, chopped.
1 can of red plums.
Small amount of stock or water.
1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
½ lemon rind, zested.
¼ teaspoon of ground allspice.
Pinch of parsley, to garnish.

DIRECTIONS:

Trim the chicken breasts and season them with the salt and black pepper.

Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the chicken until browned all over. Transfer to a casserole.

Add the chopped onions to the olive oil in the pan and fry gently until soft; then drain off any excess oil from the pan.

Drain the plums and make up the juices to 1 ¼ cups of with stock or water. Add to the pan and bring to a boil. Add the lemon rind, juice and allspice to the sauce.

Adjust seasoning and pour over the chicken.

Arrange the plums over and around the chicken.

Cover the casserole and cook in a 350°F (180°C) oven for 50 minutes.