Oddbox Team

24 March 2021

How to make the most of your plums

DID YOU KNOW?

Plums contain many vitamins and minerals, in addition to fiber and antioxidants. Plums are a medium-sized stone fruit. All varieties have a stone in the centre of the fruit that is not edible. When cooking or eating plums, compost the stones.

A bowl of plums. There are a couple scattered on the countertop below it.

STORE THEM BY:

Store your unripe plums at room temperature to ripen. Once ripe, keep your plums in the fridge for up to 3 days.

PREPARE THEM BY:

To slice a plum: With a knife cut the flesh away from the pit in two pieces and set them aside. Trim the remaining flesh from each side of the pit. Slice the two larger pieces into four wedges each.

Pit a whole plum: Take a ripe plum in hand. Make sure the stem end is facing upward. Push the end of your wooden spoon into the stem’s indent, forcing it through the length of your plum.

6 SCRUMMY RECIPE IDEAS

  1. JAM: Plums are quite high in pectin so they are great jam fruits. Chop, place in a saucepan and bring the fruit to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally. Cook with the lid on until the fruit is soft. Then, add sweetener of choice and a little lemon juice. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring the fruit to a gentle boil, stirring frequently to ensure that it does not catch on the bottom of the pan and burn. Cook until you are happy with the consistency, transfer to sterilised jam jars and seal.
  2. PANCAKES: Cut the kiwis with their skin on in small cubes. Make a pancake batter from 150g self raising flour, 1tsp chia seeds, 1tsp baking powder, 190ml plant based milk, 20g porridge oats, 15ml olive oil and 1tbsp honey. Mix in the cubed kiwis. Het up 1 tsp of coconut oil in a frying pan. Spoon over the pancake batter and cook for 3 minutes on each side. Repeat until all your pancakes are cooked.
  3. POACHED: Cut the plums in quarters and compost the stones. Make a syrup from water, sugar, and vanilla. Bring the syrup to a boil, then turn off the heat and add the plums. Set aside until the plums are soft and the syrup has cooled slightly. Serve with rice pudding, pancakes, porridge, yoghurt or as a dessert.
  4. CRUMBLE: Cut the plums in quarters and compost the stones. Season the plums with orange zest and a little sugar. Toss well to coat and pop onto a baking dish. Make a crumble from flour, ground almonds, butter, vanilla and sugar. Sprinkle all over the plums without pressing down and bake at 180C, until golden brown.
  5. ROASTED: Cut the plums in half and compost the stones. Spread them out on a non-stick baking tray along with apple cider vinegar, sugar, and spices of choice. Great pairing spices are cinnamon, ginger, coriander, or mustard seeds. Toss well to coat and roast at 170C, for 40 minutes. Halfway cooking, check the plums, give them a gentle stir and return to the oven to roast, until caramelised and sticky. Once they have reached the desired consistency, transfer to sterilised jam jars and seal.
  6. SAUCE: Cut the plums in quarters and compost the stones. Mix the plums in a saucepan with garlic, onion, ginger, soy sauce, and chili sauce. Heat on low/medium heat, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Blend well and add water to thin if desired. Store in the freezer up to six months or the fridge up to two weeks.