Friday, September 21, 2012

Spicy Plum Sauce

After several years of anticipation, our Italian plum tree finally yielded one pound of fruit this year_ not enough to do much cooking, but happy to see it producing. Quite fortunate for us was that our neighbor's trees were overloaded with plums, and we were invited to help ourselves.

Italian plums
Dry them, freeze some, but thoughts were mainly of creating a plum sauce that might lend itself well with a roasted pork tenderloin. Holidays will soon be approaching and I envision this in the center of the dinner table. Chicken or fish would also be a good companion. 

Spicy Plum Sauce from Diana's kitchen

4 pounds plums, washed, halved, pitted (and chopped)
1 medium onion, chopped (1 cup)
1 cup cider vinegar
1 ½ cups brown sugar
1 TB fresh ginger, minced
1 ½ teaspoon salt
2-3 TB finely chopped jalapeno or similar hot chili pepper
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
2 TB soy sauce

Chop plums in a food processor and transfer to a large heavy-bottomed pot. Chop onions in processor and add them to the plums, along with all remaining ingredients. Bring it to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 ½ to 2 hours until reduced by about one-third and/or reaches the desired thickness. Stir the mixture often to avoid it sticking to the bottom.

Ladle the sauce into hot, sterilized jars, leaving ½ inch head space. Adjust lids and rings and process 20 minutes in a hot water bath. Remove the jars of plum sauce from the water and place away from any draft; cover them gently with a clean towel until completely cool. Check to make sure all jars are sealed. Yield: 8 (8 ounce) jelly jars

Note: Since it takes time to cook this down, I suggest doubling the recipe for your effort. I am pleased I did.