Dear Mouse,
Happy Fall.
OK. Enough already.
Yes, Mouse, it is true that I make the same dessert every year at summer's end. No, I had not realized it was every year til you pointed it out to me. Aha ha ha.
Yes, it is the "Purple Plum Crunch" (purple plums, cassis, crunchy oatmeal topping) from Sarah Leah Chase's Nantucket Open House Cookbook,
which is the first cookbook I ever owned and read for fun and relaxation, which is now a habit of mine with all cookbooks, which, yes, is totally dorky. AhHAHAHA.Yes, I have read Ms. Chase's book cover to cover many times and may possibly have committed some of the delightfully evocative descriptions of food and of life 'on the island' and anecdotes about her friends who, yes, I know by name... to memory. NO, not on purpose.
But so what? Without this behavior on my part, you would not be able to enjoy the purple plum crunch, with its excellent use of the late August abundance of Italian prune plums, which I find better cooked than eaten out of hand. The concept of apple crisp soars to new heights in this recipe!
No, no one is laughing as much as you are right now. But I posted it. Happy?
Love,
The Boo.
P.S. A few summers ago I tried to take the then-Boyfriend to Nantucket and you betcha the first thing I did was surreptitiously look up Ms. Chase's restaurant, dreams of O.G. Plum Crunch dancing in my head. No dice - it's been closed for a while.
PPS. OMG. While writing this entry, I found ANOTHER Chase BOOK.
"Cold Weather Cooking", by Sarah Leah Chase. Just in time for Fall! I must hie myself to Barnes & Noble right now.Hungry for More?: Especially if you're just starting to cook, get this cookbook, it is great. Our family has made stuff from it for YEARS, like the blueberry-strawberry galette (she made it with wild blueberries as a child in Maine!) and the Buche de Noel for Christmas, which I'm sure has a story besides our Mother yelling "Girls!! The Buche!" in panic every year before almost forgetting to serve it... but that's sure all I can think of.
Recipe - Purple Plum Crunch. I usually halve the recipe but heres the whole.
3 lb prune plums, pitted/quartered
1.5 C packed brown sugar
6 tbsp cassis
1 C flour
3/4 cup oats
.5 C chopped walnuts
1 tbsp cinnamon
pinch salt
1.5 sticks butter, unsalted, cold, cut into pieces.
1 egg, lightly beaten
Preheat oven 375. Plums, half cup sugar, and cassis in bowl. Mix and then turn into shallow baking dish. Flour, walnuts,oats, cinnamon, salt, remaining sugar in another bowl. Cut butter in (whatever, I use my hands) til mixture is "like coarse meal". Add egg and mix til "moist and crumbly". Sprinkle topping over plums. Bake it til bubbling and browned, 40-45 min.
