Half Moon Bay Poached Plums Recipes

Steps:

• To prepare the plums: wash and cut them into quarters, then remove the stones.
• Tip the sugar into a pan with 225ml water, the cinnamon and vanilla. Gently heat until the sugar dissolves.
• Slide the fruit into the syrup. Bring the pan to the boil, then let it simmer for 5-10 mins - depending on the ripeness - until the plums are soft. Leave to cool slightly and serve as they are with something creamy.

Steps:

• Place the vin santo, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla bean, and zests in a large, shallow saucepan with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Peel the pears, leaving the stems intact, and scoop out the seeds from the bottom with an apple corer or melon baller. Lay half the pears on their sides in the poaching liquid and simmer for 20 minutes, carefully turning the pears once with a spoon. Remove with a slotted spoon. Poach the remaining pears in the same liquid. Snip off the hard stems from the figs with scissors. Add the figs, apricots, prunes, and the first batch of poached pears and simmer 5 to 10 more minutes, until the pears and the dried fruit are all tender.
• Chill the pears, dried fruit, zests, and poaching liquid. Remove the cinnamon, cloves, and vanilla bean before serving if you like.

Steps:

• Peel plums, slice in half, remove stone and place in lemon water.
• Combine wine, bay leaf, sugar, cinnamon stick, cloves, orange zest and lemon zest in a shallow braising pan. Bring liquid to a full boil and whisk liquid well.
• Reduce to a simmer, add plums and cover with Baker's Paper. Turn and baste plums several times. Keep pan covered and poach plums 15-20 minutes or until plums are tender. Remove plums with a slotted spoon and hold warm for service.
• Strain poaching liquid and return to braising pan. Bring liquid to a full boil and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes or about a 1/2 cup remains.
• Combine 2 teaspoons arrowroot with 2 teaspoons cold water water in a small bowl and whisk until combined. Wisk into sauce and stir until sauce has thickened. Season with a pinch salt and ground cinnamon. Hold sauce warm for service.
• Service.
• Drizzle warm wine sauce over the bottom of plate. Fan each plum, place in center and drizzle sauce over the plum.
• Garnish with Fresh Strawberries, Fresh Red Raspberries and Whipped Cream.

Steps:

• For Plums:
• Combine first 5 ingredients and 1/4 cup sugar in heavy large saucepan; bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat; simmer until plums are tender, about 20 minutes. Transfer plums to platter. Strain wine mixture.
• Return strained liquid to same saucepan. Add broth, thyme sprigs, and shallot. Boil until mixture is reduced to 1 cup, about 25 minutes. Strain sauce; stir in 1 1/4 teaspoons sugar and chopped thyme. Season with salt and pepper.
• DO AHEAD:Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover plums and sauce separately; chill. Bring plums to room temperature; rewarm sauce over medium heat.
• For Pork:
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Brush pork with 1 tablespoon oil; sprinkle with thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and cook until brown on all sides, turning often, about 5 minutes. Transfer skillet to oven, and roast pork until thermometer inserted into center registers 140F, about 20 minutes. Remove skillet from oven and let pork stand 10 minutes. Cut pork crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Serve with poached plums and sauce. Sprinkle with chopped chives.
• *Available in the spice section of some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores and Asian markets.

Steps:

• Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large nonreactive saucepan. Add tea bags, remove from heat, cover, and steep for about 10 minutes. Remove tea bags and bring back to a boil. Add sugar and lemon juice and stir until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes.
• Reduce heat to medium low so that liquid is barely simmering. Add plums and poach until tender, 30 seconds to 1 minute. (If plums are not very ripe, this will take longer.) Remove plums from liquid and let cool. Reduce poaching liquid to the consistency of light syrup. For an elegant presentation, pull plum skin back from fruit, leaving it attached at the stem end (this doesn't work on all plum varieties). Serve plums with some of the poaching liquid.

Steps:

• Peel plums, cut in half, remove pits and place in a bowl of lemon water.
• Combine wine, sugar, cinnamon stick, cloves, anise, bay leaves, orange juice, lime juice, orange zest and lime zest into a shallow braising pan. Bring to a full boil and reduce to a slow simmer. Place plums in and cover with a sheet of bakers paper.
• Poach plums 15-20 minutes or until they are tender. Remove plums with a slotted spoon and hold warm for service.
• Strain wine sauce with a chinoise or fine sive. Bring to a full boil and reduce to a slow simmer. Reduce sauce by half or about 10 minutes.
• In a small bowl wisk together arrowroot and cold water. Slowly wisk arrowroot into the wine sauce. Wisk sauce for 3-4 minutes or until thickened. Remove wine sauce from heat and hold warm for service.
• Add heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon fine sugar to a chilled steel bowl and whip heavy cream until firm.
• Dizzle wine sauce over the bottom of a warm plates. Place one plum pit side down and drizzle warm wine sauce over the plum.
• Garnish plates with Fresh Red Raspberries, Fresh Strawberries and Whipped Cream.

Steps:

• Put the plums in a pan with just enough water to cover them, then pour over the honey, orange blossom water and juice. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook for 15 mins until the plums are tender through to the stone, but not mushy.
• Using a slotted spoon, lift out the plums to a serving dish. Bring the liquid back to the boil and simmer to a thin syrup. Pour over the plums and leave to cool. (You can peel the plums to serve, if you like a posher finish.)
• Serve with crunchy biscuits like our Honey-bread biscuits (see 'Goes well with'), and Greek or frozen yogurt.