Purple Power: Slow Roasted Plums, Conchord Grapes, and Figs

The other day my friend Adam came over. We have always loved cooking together, but had not done so in a long time because he was living in Europe.  We are fellow Virgos (though he is about 1 year and 9 days older than me!), so you can imagine the fun arguments we have about whether or not butter is going into a dish, or how much of this or that we are going to add. We are both quite particular and exacting about what we want to go into something, so sometimes we each have to make our own version of the same thing side by side. 

I was about to embark on some recipe testing mania when I heard he was coming to the city, so I invited him into the test kitchen for some together time.  I was having big dreams of posting a recipe for Maple Pecan Baklava for Thanksgiving, and since his mother is Greek and makes it from scratch, I thought he would be useful to me in my new challenge.  He was.  He arrived with notes from his mother, and we had her on the phone at some points in time to answer our questions.  And who knew that he was an expert in baklava diamond cutting. The result was divine and we will be sharing it soon on KC.  But more importantly, I laughed so hard while making the dish and will always give credit to Adam for my new skill in Greek pastry making. 

While we were cooking we sat down for a peasant lunch (my specialty!) of Mexican black beans and steamed mustard greens.  I made up for it by presenting him with my Purple Power Fall dish.  I never thought I would need a name for it, because it is something that I just do and don’t quite consider to be an actual recipe.  It is fresh ricotta* topped with slow roasted plums and Conchord grapes**, topped with halved fresh figs (if you are feeling extra indulgent), and raw walnuts.  You can also add honey if you want this to be a bit more sweet and extra Mediterranean.***  When I look at the rich purple hues of the fruits, all I can think is Purple Power.  Adam loved loved loved this dish.  He couldn’t believe that the slow roasted plums and grapes had no added sugar in them, and that they tasted so good.  Slow roasting at a really low temperature concentrates the flavors of the fruits and makes them super soft.  Once you slow roast a plum you can never go back.  I know that Pumpkins and Apples are the most famous foods of the Fall, but I also really associate purple colored foods like plums, grapes, and cabbage with it too.  Purple is a good thing. 

* My favorite Ricotta is that of Dancing Ewe, available at the USQ Greenmarkets on Fridays. 

**Slow roasting a plum usually means cooking it at 300°F for 1 hour.  For grapes you can go a little lower, like 275°F for 30 minutes.

*** I am really into the Mastiha Shop NY’s Mastiha flavored honey.  Mastiha is a therapeutic resin from Greece with healing properties, but I love it also for its camphoric, piney flavor. 

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Maple Pecan Baklava

Dusty Miller Sundae

Not many people are familiar with the Dusty Miller Sundae, also sometimes known as the Chocolate Dusty or Dusty Road. It is my favorite ice cream sundae. Well, that and the Filbert Berry Bliss. There is not much to say about it, besides the fact that it is an old-fashioned soda fountain treat that dates back to when my paternal grandfather was a "soda jerk". I knew I had some genetic predisposition to loving ice cream! Anyway, I have tried to do some research about it, but there is not much information out there about old sundaes. All I know is that it can be made with chocolate or coffee ice cream, and is topped with hot fudge and malted milk powder, hence the "dusty". The one pictured is my all-time favorite Summer treat from the Olympia Tea Room in Watch Hill, Rhode Island.