Lots of yellow plums !!

My friend, Susan B, came by the other day with two grocery bags half full of these cute little yellow plums. She rescued them from a tree that was being cut down in her neighborhood. She knew I would find something to do with them. And she was hoping to get mentioned in this blog ;-)

After sampling a half dozen, Bob and I determined that while sweet and juicy, their flavor was not complex. I needed to add something to the jam I was planning to make with some of them. Strawberries or raspberries would be too strong, apricots might have been OK but instead I decided to go with a lemon theme.

First I needed to get out the pits, this often stops folks from dealing with these smaller stone fruits. The pits are not easy to remove without making a mushy mess. I use what I call the mango method of pitting.
When I lived on Maui for a year, we had a mango tree in our back yard. A local showed me the best way to remove the seed.

First you need to find the seam.

Then cut on either side, slicing to make two clean sections.

Yes, I know there is all that flesh around the pit. With a mango you can just gnaw around the seed and cover your face in mango juice. With the plums, you are just plum out of luck, sorry.

We fed the pits to our hens, you can compost them too. Trust me this is the easiest and quickest way to pit these little plums.

Now back to the lemon theme...I decided to use lemon peel, lemon juice and a sprig of lemon verbena.

I was originally going to make this into a jam. As I cooked it the plum skins didn't look very appetizing and I was concerned they would be tough or stringy. I ended up straining the jam and making it into jelly instead.

I did save the skins and found they were fine on toast. 

Laurie's Lemon Plum Jelly

Ingredients

8 cups pitted yellow plums

8 cups cane sugar

juice and peel of one lemon

one sprig lemon verbena

1) Mix all the ingredients into a large pot. Leave to infuse overnight if possible.

2) Bring to a boil over medium heat. 

3) Stir frequently as it gets very foamy.

4) Remove the lemon verbena and continue to cook until the foaming slows down, about 5 to 8 minutes.

5) Strain the mixture, return to the pot and bring back up to a boil.

6) Pour into sterilized canning jars, seal and process in a hot water bath for 5 minutes.

I ended up with seven half pint jars of jelly.

I was going to make a batch of chutney with rest of my plums but Bob is lobbying for more of the jelly instead. I may be swayed that way since I am not sure how the skins would be in a chutney. We shall see.

I do plan to make a plum clafouti.

Thanks again, Susan, for all those plums, I have a jar of jelly waiting for you !!