Fresh Plum Crumble

If I were to ask you to name your favorite fresh summer fruit, my guess is that a plum would be far from the top of the list. Truly, the plum is unappreciated, and I can't for the life of me figure out why. Sweet, juicy, with a tasty and nutritious skin (not to mention the antioxidants), plums make a great snack. When turned into jam, chutney, coffeecake, or dessert, they are downright delicious. If you've never made a summer dessert out of plums before, now is the time.

This recipe is from Taste of Home magazine. I adapted it from the original that called for 7 medium plums. I have no idea what a medium plum is. There are regular plums and baby plums. Is one considered large and the other small, in which case, what is a medium?  No matter, I selected two packages of organic plums from Melissa's Produce and that worked out just right.

Everyone who has tried this crumble absolutely loves it. I included a large piece when I made a dinner drop at my dad's and he deemed it outstanding. I agree. It is easy to assemble, requires no special equipment, and I give you permission to pop a couple of plum pieces into your mouth while baking. Serve this warm or at room temperature, with ice cream or without.  You'll be wishing you'd bought double the amount of plums once you taste this delicious summer dessert.

It's plum season!  Celebrate!

Fresh Plum Crumble

1 pkg. Melissa's Organic Plumcots, pitted and quartered

1 pkg. Melissa's Organic Plum Bites, pitted and quartered

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons plus 1 cup all-purpose flour, divided

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground mace

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine the plums, brown sugar, 3 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Spoon into a greased 2-qt. baking dish.

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, baking powder, salt, mace and remaining flour. Add egg; stir with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over plum mixture. Drizzle with butter.

Bake at 375° for 40-45 minutes or until plums are tender and top is golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature. Yield: 8 servings.

This post is linked to:

Melt In Your Mouth 
Inspire Me Tuesday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

Tasty Tuesdays

Full Plate Thursday

Foodie Friday

Taco Meatloaf

After all of the rich foods that the holiday brings, isn’t it about time for a plate of comfort food?  I always find myself craving meatloaf come year’s end, so this recipe sounded most appealing while paging through my new digital subscription to Taste of Home magazine.  Mr. O-P who is not the fan of meatloaf that I am, really enjoyed this one, and ate two generous slices.  Think of a taco without the shell, and you'll get the idea. It's lightly spicy, enormously flavorful, with the perfect touch of sweetness on the top. My guess is that the kids will love this one.

The original recipe called for the loaf to be baked in a crockpot, but a round loaf just seemed wrong to me, so I cut their recipe in half, and pressed it into a half-size loaf pan (3.5”w x 7.5”l x 2.5”h), filling it completely, and baked it for 1 hour at 350°F.  Perfect!

Taco Meatloaf

Adapted from a recipe in Taste of Home

1 cup crushed tortilla chips

1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 cup salsa (I used Paul Newman’s original)

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 Tablespoons sliced ripe olives

1/2 envelope taco seasoning

1 pound ground chuck

1/4 cup ketchup

2 Tablespoons packed dark brown sugar

1 Tablespoon Louisiana-style hot sauce

In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Place meat mixture in the loaf pan of your choice, and bake at 350°F for 1 hour until juices run clear.  Remove pan to a wire rack and let stand for 5-7 minutes before turning loaf out onto a cutting board and slicing into ½”-thick slices.  Serve with a side of guacamole.

This post is linked to:

On the Menu Monday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

Thai Shrimp for Two

I packed the rice into custard cups and inverted it into the empty bowl then spooned the mixture around it.

I love cooking magazines.  So much so that I tend to subscribe to a lot of them.  Fortunately I also tend to get some great deals.  Fortunately for those who know me, I share.  Almost every magazine that I receive gets passed onto someone else, as I just don't have the space to keep them all, as much as I'd like to. You'd be surprised how grabby some people can get!  Tonight's dinner came from the current issue of Taste of Home magazine (slated to go to my mom upon the completion of this blog post).  I happened to open the issue to this page and knew immediately this was going to be dinner.  It's a simple recipe, serves two, and features the shrimp I've long been craving.  I did all of my chopping early in the day, so it went together in a flash, and it was delicious!

You'll have leftover coconut milk.  I used mine to make coconut rice to serve as a base for tomorrow's Rogan Josh.

Have a great weekend!

This post is linked to:

Weekday Pot Luck