I admit it openly.
I was a virgin to plummy goodness until I got the invite to raid the orchard again. Plums. Italian ones. Lots of ‘em. A challenge such as this I could not turn down, and I figgerd, hell- if everyone on the fringes really digs this thing, I gotta get me a piece ‘a that action.
Dude. Suc-freakin-cess.
Its Plum Time, folks…
One dozen or so Italian freestone plums, quartered…a little firmer ones are fine, just up the sweetener
1 tablespoon fresh or 1 teaspoon dried ground ginger
1/4 cup Splenda or white/brown sugar
1-2 tablespoons flour
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup Demerara sugar
Use your own pie crust. Mine sucks but I am working on it. My mom made the best, hands down and I’d kill to get in her kitchen and learn her way of doing it.
Preheat the oven to 375. Cut a sheet of parchment to size of the pan. Rol the crust on the pastry and save yourself some agony in rolling, sticking and transferring. Roll the pie crust as large as you can safely manage, about two to three inches wider than the pan.
Cut the plums, toss in the flour, white sugar or Splenda and ginger. Toss to coat well.
Beginning in the middle of the dough, pinwheel the plum slices into a circle. Tuck the other quarters in between the outermost spaces, making two or three rings if you desire.
Beginning at the pan edge, fold over the free edge of the crust, covering just half of the outer ring of fruit, working around the dough, taking about three inch segments at a time. Gently press down just to hold the shape, but do not mash dough.
Brush the crust with egg wash and sprinkle with Demerara sugar. Bake around 40-45 minutes or until the fruit is bubbly and the crust is a sexy, golden San Tropez tan color.
I recommend you let this cool to almost room temperature or you will get to see if any technical advances have been made in tongue skin grafting at the burn unit. Last I heard, you got pig grafts, so I’d wait if I were you.
Other variations we played with were Elberta peach, Cortland apple, and even a favorite of mine that Ray makes- a savory version with apple, Vidalias and bleu cheese. Totally kick-ass. Note to self- Go bug Ray for a galette…
