Okay, okay, plums are no longer in season — at least, in the northern hemisphere. But when I happened upon some beautiful blue plums (imported from Spain) at the market last Sunday, I couldn’t resist … because I’d seen a dessert listed on the menu of a neighborhood bistro and wanted to try it out. The chef’s helper told me how to make it: sauté the plums in butter and sugar, add some brandy and spoon the warm fruit over vanilla ice cream.
Prunes poêlées à l’eau de vie / Plums sautéed in brandy
How did it turn out? I’ll just say it was consumed with delight at my table. The recipe hails from Le Repaire de Cartouche, which I’ve mentioned before on this site. (I even interviewed the chef, Rodolphe Paquin, a while back.) The trick is to go light on the brandy, whichever type you use. I happened to have some slivovitz on hand — East European plum brandy, which was perfect. But cognac or a local brandy or another fruit alcohol would also work very well. The ice cream gives a bit of a bite to the warm fruit: winter and summer combined, which is about where we are now in the calendar.
Happy cooking!
