Plum Soup With Honeydew Tarragon Ice Recipes

CHILLED JEWISH PLUM SOUP

Steps:

• Put the water, sugar, salt, and pepper in a large, heavy, nonreactive saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the plums, bring back to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Skim off any foam that rises to the top, then simmer, stirring occasionally, until the fruit is very soft and falling apart, about 20 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the 4-inch lemon verbena sprig or strip of lemon zest. Let cool for about 20 minutes, tasting occasionally and removing the lemon verbena (or zest) when its flavor has perfumed the soup to your liking. It should be a delicate background note, not a predominant flavor.
• Purée the soup until smooth using an immersion blender, standard blender, or food processor. Stir in the liqueur if using it, and the lemon zest and juice. Cover and refrigerate until very cold, about 4 hours or up to four days.
• Ladle the chilled soup into shallow bowls. Top each serving with a dollop of sour cream and a mint sprig. Source: Jennie Schacht's Fork & Swoon blog , and Food 52 , used with permission.

PLUM SOUP WITH HONEYDEW TARRAGON ICE

Steps:

• Make honeydew ice:
• Bring water and sugar to a simmer, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Transfer 1/2 cup hot syrup to a bowl and stir in tarragon, then cool. Chill remaining syrup.
• Pour tarragon syrup through a very fine sieve into a metal bowl, discarding solids. Purée honeydew in a blender and stir into strained tarragon syrup. Freeze in ice cream maker, then transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden.
• Make plum soup:
• Dice enough of plums to measure 1/2 cup and reserve. Coarsely chop remaining plums and purée in 2 batches with 1 cup chilled syrup (total) in a blender. Pour purée through very fine sieve into a bowl, pressing on and discarding solids.
• Stir in diced plums, lime juice, and chilled syrup to taste.
• Serve soup immediately, topped with scoops of honeydew ice.

COLD PLUM SOUP

Steps:

• Drain plums, reserving juice. Pit plums; puree in a blender with juice. Transfer to a Dutch oven. Stir in the water, 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon stick, pepper and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes., In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and remaining sugar; stir in cream and wine or grape juice until smooth. Gradually add to plum mixture until blended. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; discard cinnamon stick. Stir in the sour cream, creme de cassis or cranberry-raspberry juice and lemon juice. , Strain half of the soup through a fine mesh strainer over a 1-1/2-qt. bowl. Repeat. Stir in lemon zest. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Garnish with sour cream if desired.

HONEYDEW-LEMON-TARRAGON COOLER

Steps:

• In a small heatproof bowl, pour 1/2 cup boiling water over sugar and tarragon; stir until sugar has dissolved. Let cool completely, about 20 minutes. Strain syrup into a blender; discard tarragon.
• Add honeydew, lemon juice, and 1 3/4 cups cold water; blend until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve.
• Serve over ice, garnished with a tarragon sprig, or refrigerate in an airtight container up to 3 days. If using gin, stir a shot (1-ounce) into each glass before serving.

PLUM, RASPBERRY, AND TARRAGON SOUP

Steps:

• Fill a large bowl with ice and water; set aside. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add plums; blanch until skin begins to peel, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove plums from water; place in the ice bath until cool. Remove plums from ice bath, reserving ice bath.
• Peel plums, remove pits, cut into chunks, and place in a medium saucepan. Add the raspberries, wine, sugar, tarragon, triple sec (if using), and the water to the saucepan; cover, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium low, and allow to simmer until plums are falling apart, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer to a clean bowl, and place in the reserved ice bath, stirring occasionally, until cold.
• Remove tarragon sprigs from cold mixture, and transfer mixture to a blender. Puree, working in batches if necessary. Serve garnished with diced plum, raspberries, and tarragon.