Plum Cornbread Recipes

FRIED CHICKEN WITH PLUM CORNBREAD AND BACON GREEN BEANS

Steps:

• Stir together the buttermilk, Dijon, paprika, cayenne and salt in a large bowl. Add the chicken pieces and submerge them to coat. Allow to sit for at least 30 minutes but ideally as long as possible (up to 2 hours at room temperature or up to 8 hours refrigerated).
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F; set a rack in a rimmed baking sheet.
• Combine the flour, salt, baking soda and mustard powder in a bowl. Remove the chicken from the soak mixture and add to the flour mixture, turning to coat. Remove, dip again in the soak mixture and then again in the flour mixture.
• Heat 1 1/2 inches of oil in a very large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, shallow-fry the chicken, turning once, until golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part (avoid the bone) registers 165 degrees F, around 15 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to the prepared baking sheet and place in the oven to finish cooking through, if necessary.
• Serve fired chicken with plum cornbread and bacon green beans.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch cast-iron skillet or an 8- by 8-inch square baking pan.
• Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Combine the milk, honey, vanilla and eggs in another mixing bowl and whisk to thoroughly combine. Just before combining the wet and dry ingredients, whisk in the melted butter into the wet mixture. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Mix gently to combine. When the mixture has just come together, transfer it to the prepared skillet or baking pan. Sprinkle the plums in an even layer over the top of the batter. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool before cutting.
• Bring a stock pot of salted water to a boil. Add the green beans and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Prepare a bowl of ice water and shock the beans to stop the cooking process. Add the oil and bacon to a saute pan over medium-high heat. Let the bacon cook until its crunchy. Mix in the green beans and toss to coat with the bacon.

PLUM-CORNBREAD COBBLER

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F.
• Toss plums with 1/4 cup sugar; spread onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
• Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, pepper and remaining sugar in large bowl. Whisk eggs, sour cream and butter until blended. Add to flour mixture; stir just until blended. Use small ice cream scoop or large spoon to drop batter evenly over plum mixture.
• Bake 35 to 40 min. or until cornbread topping is golden brown. Cool slightly. Serve topped with COOL WHIP.

CORNMEAL PLUM SCONES

Steps:

• Put honey and bay leaf in a medium skillet over medium heat. Simmer until honey is bubbling and turns a shade darker, about 2 minutes.
• Place plums in honey. Cook, without moving, until undersides are golden brown, about 5 minutes. Stir plums and cook 1 to 2 minutes longer, until tender but not falling completely apart. If the caramel starts to get too brown, stir in a teaspoon or two of water and lower the heat. Scrape plums and syrup into a bowl and chill for at least 1 hour. (Plum compote can be made up to a week ahead.)
• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
• In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix together the cream and egg.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt (or you can do this in a food processor). Using a fork, pastry cutter or your fingertips, cut butter into flour until the mixture forms coarse crumbs (or pulse in a food processor). Drizzle in as much of the cream mixture as you need to make a smooth, moist but not wet dough. Save remaining cream-egg mixture for brushing.
• Turn dough out onto prepared baking sheet. Pat into a 1 1/4-inch thick round. Using a paring knife, cut 8 wedge-shaped scones (as though you were cutting slices of pie) and push them apart on the baking sheet to separate them 1/2 inch apart. Brush dough with remaining cream-egg mixture, or use more cream if you've run out of the mixture.
• Using your fingertips, make a deep indentation about 1 inch in diameter in the center of each scone. Tuck some plum into the hole. Transfer pan to oven and bake until uniformly golden brown, 15 to 17 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve scones with extra plum compote and butter on the side if you like.

CINNAMON PLUMS WITH FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• For the plums: Put the cranberry juice and sugar into a wide saucepan and stir to help start dissolving the sugar. Then put the saucepan over a low heat until the sugar dissolves entirely.
• Halve the plums and remove the pits, then halve them again if they are big brutes.
• Once the sugar's dissolved into the red liquid, add the cinnamon stick, then turn the heat up, bring to the boil and let the pan bubble away for a couple of minutes until the mixture is on the way to becoming syrupy.
• Now turn the syrup down to a simmer and add the plum halves or quarters and cook them gently for about 10 minutes, although note that this is based on starting off with viciously unripe fruits so you might need less time.
• Once the plums are tender but not disintegrating, remove the pan from the heat, cover and leave to keep warm. You can make the plums in advance and either serve them at room temperature with the French toast or warm them up again.
• For the French toast: Whisk together the eggs, milk, ground cinnamon and sugar in a pie dish.
• Sit 2 pieces of bread in the eggy mixture, turning after each side has soaked up enough to color the bread yellow, so that it absorbs the liquid but doesn't fall to pieces.
• Melt half the butter in a frying pan and cook the 2 soaked pieces of bread for a couple of minutes each side. Transfer the yellow, eggy bread, scorched golden in parts, to warm waiting plates. Meanwhile, soak the next 2 slices.
• Melt the remaining butter to cook the last 2 slices in the same way.
• Serve alongside the beautiful scarlet plum compote.
• Make Ahead Note: The compote can be made 1 day ahead. Transfer to bowl to cool, then cover and refrigerate. Warm the compote gently in saucepan before serving.
• Freeze Note: Cooled compote can be frozen in airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat as above.

PLUM CORNBREAD

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the plums and sugar and let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch cast iron skillet or an 8 by 8-inch square baking pan. In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients.
• In another mixing bowl, combine all the wet ingredients and whisk to thoroughly combine. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Mix gently to combine. When the mixture has just come together, transfer it to the prepared skillet or baking pan. Sprinkle the plums in an even layer over the top of the batter. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool before cutting. Serve topped with vanilla ice cream.

PLUM AND RASPBERRY CORNMEAL CRISP

Steps:

• Place a rack in the center of the oven and heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Make the filling: In an 8-inch square baking dish, combine the light brown sugar, flour and salt. Add the plums, raspberries, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Stir gently to combine. (Your hands are a great tool for this step.) Try not to mash the raspberries too much, and set aside.
• Make the topping: In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, light brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the butter and pinch the mixture together with your fingertips until evenly moistened and pebble-sized crumbs form. Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the top of the fruit.
• Bake until the topping is golden brown and fruit juices are bubbling all around the edges, 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool slightly. If you like, serve with ice cream or whipped cream. Store leftovers, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.