Skip to content
84 Shares

Welcome To Prune Blogging Thursday!

I was, frankly, a bit surprised that anyone but me participated…but most of the prune-skeptics out there seem to have been won over. Participants were from all over the world: Italy, Estonia, France, Scotland, Spain, Germany, Canada, and the United States. Thanks to everyone for sending me your entries and I encourage readers out there to visit their web sites to read about their prune-alicious adventures.

pruneblogdayparis!.jpg

In spite what I now see as a highly-organized, internationally-recognized conspiracy against prunes, here are entries from all over the world.
Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

The divine Judy of Over a Tuscan Stove has a savory and amazing recipe for Cinghiale in Dolce Forte, adapted from an ancient recipe. Her wild boar stew has nice plump prunes…along with a suspicion of chocolate!

The zesty red-headed Laura of Cucina Testa Rossa began a torrid love affair with, what she writes, “the most expensive prunes in the world”, the famed Stuffed Prunes from Agen. Then she went on to make a creamy Glace de Pruneaux d’Agen et Armagnac, Prune & Armagnac ice cream, making full use of her new ice cream freezer.

Fellow Parisian Christine who resides at Chez Christine presents a stunning Terrine de Canard aux Pruneaux et a l’Armagnac (Duck Terrine with Prunes and Armagnac) along with the recipe, which sounds worth tackling for the holidays.
Or perhaps she’s taking orders?

Zorra, from Andalucia, Spain, made some fabulous tapas of Sherry-Soaked Prunes in Bacon, a variation of the delicious bacon-wrapped dates which I’ve had grilled and served in many tapas bars. I can’t wait to try it with prunes and it’s simple enough for anyone to make…no matter where you live.

My gal Alicat slinks in with two original tarts; Apricot & Prune Tart, and Dark Chocolate, Pecan, & Prune Tart. Both tarts look terrific and she and I did a mind-meld and were the only ones who combined chocolate with prunes in our desserts.

Peter at Tea Leaves found his own translation for pruneaux d’Agen. And even if a scholar of the French language might take exception to his method, his entry How To Eat Prunes had me eying my prized bottle of Armagnac in anticipation of making his boozy infusion.

I was almost afraid to open Lindy’s post at Toast since it was titled “Nightingale with Prunes”. But instead of something ‘fowl’, I found a delicate and delicious prune-presentation inspired by a recipe from pastry hero Pierre Hermé.

Pille, an Estonian living in Scotland, who’s captivating blog presents an I Am So Good For You Prune Cake called hapukoorekook kuivatatud ploomidega, (although she slipped once and called it ‘plum juice’ when she meant ‘prune juice’). In spite of the, er, high-fiber benefits of prunes, her recipe packs in some extra wheat bran!

My Amateur Gourmet Survivor, Melissa, survived her search for two prune recipes and discovered an Iranian Prune Stew and a ‘Plumb’ Cake that I could almost smell just looking at the pictures.
Merci Melissa!

Marc gave prunes, what he calls, “some X-appeal”, and he re-created my pal and baking guru Nick Malgieri’s X-Cookies, using a gift from his ex. Hmmm…he looks like he’s become an X-pert in cookie-making.

Ulrike made a stunning Couscous Tabbouleh with Glazed Prunes, a trans-Atlantic combination of organic California Prunes cooked up in Germany. (Check out the swirly Apfelrezepte carving off to the side of the blog too!) Ulrike wasn’t the only one who looked to the Middle East for inspiration…

Another Scottish import (seems like a trend, Scottish food bloggers!), Iain, presents a Beef in Beer with Guiness-Soaked Prunes that looks like just the thing for that blustery winter coming soon to Scotland.

Over in LA, Rachel makes one of my favorite snacks, Dried Plum Financiers and offers an explanation of their mysterious journey from ‘prunes’ to ‘dried plums’.

Sarah Lou from Canada made a flaky Moroccan Basteeya Pie, which is one of my all-time favorite dishes; layers of filo dough brushed with butter then filled with shredded chicken, cinnamon, and a touch of sweetness.

Michele said I gave her the courage to tackle prunes in a Lamb Tagine with Prunes. While I appreciate her kinds words, I think comparing me to her grandmother in her post means I deserve some delicious gift, don’t you?
Perhaps some salted-butter caramels Michele?

And Melissa said , “Okay, David, you’ve won. Then she came out with a lovely Whiskied Prune and Custard Tart that features a juicy prune filling spilling out from a flaky tart filling. She did mention she still felt unease when cooking with prunes (wait ’til tomorrow if you want to feel uneasy, Melissa…)

When I’m not using his blog for my socio-political rants, fish-headed Brett stewed up a lovely melagne of Masala Chai Poached Prunes which combines sublime Indian spices with smoky Assam tea, creating a nice warm bath for his prunes from Casa Gispert in Barcelona, one of my favorite food places in the world.

I will forgive Fatemeh for calling me neurotic (after all, Woody Allen’s made a career out of it…why can’t I?) Especially since she’s driving me across the Bay Area soon in our pursuit of the best Chinese dim sum soon. So I was afraid she might make Prune dim sum, but instead found inspiration in a recipe from her childhood, which Prune Blogging Thursday happily rekindled: Toss Kabak, a savory Meat and Prune Stew with the addition of quince.

Molly of Orangette, I thought, would dip her prunes in delicious dark chocolate, but instead stewed up a storm with Stewed Prunes with Cinnamon and Citrus, which she’s going to “stew us into submission” with. Glad she overcame her friend’s giggling fits when she told them about prunes. I mean, when her friend gets old and wrinkly, I hope no one’s giggling at her!

And a few late entries…

Cathy sent in her recipe and photos for Prune Bread from her blog at My Little Kitchen.

Spicy Prune Mole from Jocelyn at Brownie Points using Dagoba organic chocolate, which is one of my favorite chocolates.

Alanna from A Veggie Venture has a Prune Tsimmes.

And from Barrett at Too Many Chefs, Bleu Cheese, Prune, and Onion Tart, and from Meg, who actually loves prunes and is under 60 years old (it was our visit to the farm expo here in Paris that prompted prune-madness) and posted her idea of The Best Thing To Do With Prunes. Find out for yourself at Too Many Chefs.

And from Elizabeth, there an Icelandic Prune Layer Cake and a savory Chicken (or Lamb) Couscous with Prunes and Apricots from another part of the world. Prune lovers unite!

Ok…and finally…
Prune Blogging Thursday gave me the courage to perfect my recipe for making chocolate French-style Macarons with your choice of a creamy chocolate ganache filling, or an Armagnac-scented prune filling.

Whew!
Thanks again to everyone for participating in the first, the original, (and the only) Prune Blogging Thursday.

(PS: All my chocolate macarons are gone! They were quickly wiped out at my friend Heather’s 30th birthday party this weekend. Thanks for asking.)

84 Shares

23 comments

    • judy witts

    David, what a pleasure to meet all your friends .. rather like coming to a potluck isn’t it!

    I’ve been inspired!

    But think I will take a break from prunes!
    I was going to do a chocolate prune jam.. but then I would have to eat it too!

    Another time!
    Thanks again!

    • judy witts

    Reading through these blogs I see a high ratio of Bay Area people!!!
    What is that all about?

    I moved to Florence from SF in 1984..what about everyone else?

    • Michele

    David, wonderful and superbly punctual round up. I’m also impressed with the participation, it was great fun. And my grandmother is a lovely and fiesty little thing and Im sure its all because of the prunes, so the comparison is by no means negative. But of course I would be happy to provide you with a delicious and prune-less gift nonetheless.

    • laura @ cucina testa rossa

    hi judy. i came to france to cook for 6 months. that was a year and a half ago. the baguettes (and cheese and wine and markets and and and…) are just too darn good here, not to mention the prunes!

    • Lil

    so sorry to hear about the hitch with internet but hey, look at you, superb job i’d say in rounding up all the entries!!

    • Melissa (:

    Wow, those recipes look really tasty!

    (Was there a problem with the link I sent you? I see you have folks aimed at Adam’s site, but not mine. Unless… you were keeping my recipes all to yourself… bwahahahaha- er *cough* (; )

    • Gail

    I’ll be eating my french prunes on my Thursday flight to West Palm Beach, land of no electricity, no hot coffee, no hot showers, while I read David’s great article in Hemisphere. For the 2nd time, I might add.

    • Mariann Vandenberg, CTC

    David, I’ll be in Paris next month. Where’s the best place to buy some good French prunes. Also, that wine tasting review about O’Chateau looks like a great fun experience. I think we’ll try it!
    Mariann

    • Luisa

    I’m so sad I wasn’t organized enough to participate… I love prunes and for some reason grew up in a household with no, em, negative associations with them. Can’t wait to try some of these recipes.

    • Melissa (:

    Woops, I’m just blind. Haha!

    Wow, folks, I’ve been perusing your entries (while trying to distract myself from spreadsheets… shhhhh!) and I’m getting hungry.

    • Iain

    There’s a real feast here! Well done prune fans. Together we can defeat the conspiracy!

    By the way David – that blustery winter coming soon to Scotland…. it’s already here! (But the beef in beer helped ;-)

    • Melissa

    David, you’re clairvoyant! After posting late last night, I came into work today thinking “must mail my link to David”, but first I checked your site only to find out you’d already included me in the roundup. Those whiskied prunes must have been calling out to you subliminally. Fantastic roundup, and a fantastic batch of prune recipes!

    • Rachael

    ACK! Late as always. Oh well, it was fun. My dried plum financiers were sinfully delicious. Thanks for inspiring me to dust off that recipe!

    Here!

    • Fatemeh

    Nicely done.

    BTW, I didn’t call YOU neurotic; only the quest.

    • Brett

    Great round-up and lots of international participation1 Glad to see I’m not the only fan of the little prune. I’m sorry (yet also relieved) to see that nobody made Fergus Henderson’s Eel, Bacon and Prune Stew.

    • McAuliflower

    Arriving late, looks like the party’s in full swing! I just posted my prune entry.

    Thanks David, as you were the inspiration for me to get up and tackle mole (sweetened with prunes). I think your Chocolate Macarons are next!

    here.

    • Alanna

    Another late entry but hey! it’s still THIS Thursday in the middle of the US. This was fun – thanks for hosting. Alanna OH the post is here.l

    • Shelli

    So…ummm…if Fatemeh needs a relief driver, can I go dim sum tasting too?

    • savorybaker

    Here’s one more prune recipe:

    Slit sausage lengthwise, insert 3 or 4 prunes, wrap entire sausage in bacon…and grill it until
    it’s done.

    Easy and tasty too.

    • Elise

    How in the world did I miss this event? I LOVE prunes! (Self flagellation commences…)

    Great round up, lots of ideas here. Thanks!

    • shauna

    Damn, these all look so good.

    And damn, I was so eager to participate with my own gluten-free prune recipe, but I sprained my ankle badly on Thursday, which a) hurts like the devil, b) ruined my trip to New York on Friday, and c) prevented me from cooking with prunes.

    Sigh.

    Next time.

    Thanks for all the recipes, David.

    • susan campbell

    I am confused. In all of the prune recipes it doesn’t designate if the prunes are dried or fresh. I have a tree full of fresh prunes and don’t know what to do with them. Should I dry them first and then make them into something. It sounds like the chutneys are made from dried prunes. I think these are French prunes. The match the description.

    • David

    Susan: The recipes all use dried prunes, as shown in the photo.

    Italian Prune Plums are a variety of fresh plums. The plums used for drying are called Prune Ente.

    (You can read more about how they make dried prunes in France here.)

A

Get David's newsletter sent right to your Inbox!

15987

Sign up for my newsletter and get my FREE guidebook to the best bakeries and pastry shops in Paris...