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August is the month when plums and cobnuts are both ripe and ready to eat.
Plums do not store. They are best kept in the fridge and eaten as soon after picking / buying as possible. Like other tree fruits they are good in dishes both savoury and sweet.
CHICKEN PLUM AND ALMOND SALAD
Cooked chicken breasts
Purple plums, preferably a dessert variety with a good balancing acidity (Purple Gage / Reine Claude Violette, or Sanctus Hubertus are both ideal, if you can get hold of them)
Salad or spring onions
Almonds, blanched
Mint (Apple Mint works well as it is less strident than some other varieties)
Flat-leaf parsley
Little Gem or similar lettuce leaves
Olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Wholegrain mustard
Garlic
Make the dressing first. Place a crushed garlic clove and a little salt and pepper into a screw-top jar. Add a heaped teaspoon of wholegrain mustard. Add about 4 tablespoons of olive oil and about 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar. Shake the jar to combine the ingredients.
Place a ring of Little Gem leaves on a serving plate or in a shallow dish. In a mixing bowl combine the chicken, cut into cubes, with quartered plums, chopped salad onions, almonds and chopped mint and flat-leaf. Add the dressing (shake the jar again, if necessary). The amount of dressing needed will depend on the quantities of other ingredients. You want enough to coat everything but not drench it. Mix carefully but thoroughly. Arrange the chicken salad in the middle of the ring of Little Gem leaves. Garnish with a sprig of mint. Serve with a herby rice or couscous salad.
Cobnuts are traditionally eaten “green” ie fresh and undried. Like plums they do not store (unless dried) and need to be kept in the fridge. I did try freezing them but found this was not successful. Freezing and defrosting them just made them much wetter.
They can be eaten just as they are as a “nibble”. For inclusion in other dishes, however, I think it is a good idea to toast them by dry-frying them in a hot frying pan. Make sure you keep them on the move to stop them burning. Tip them onto a plate to cool. I found they tasted amazingly like sweetcorn!
Here is a recipe to try. Please note that you can also use dried hazelnuts.
COBNUT AND SAGE PESTO
Toasted cobnuts, shelled
Sage leaves
Grated parmesan
Cobnut or hazelnut oil
Ground black pepper, to taste
Rough quantities approx. 100g nuts (shelled weight), 1 bunch sage, 2-3 tbsps oil, 3 tbsps parmesan
This is very quick and easy in a food processor / food mill but rather hard work using a pestle and mortar (though worth it)! Put the nuts, torn sage leaves and oil into the processor and whizz until you have a paste that still retains some texture. Add a little more oil if necessary. Stir in the pepper and parmesan, to taste. The parmesan is quite salty so you should not need to add extra salt.
Serve with pasta (it goes particularly well with wholemeal pasta), or use as a crust for baked fish etc.
Variations: Try any combination of nuts, oil and herbs. Almond and Parsley works well, as does Walnut and Sage. I did try Hazelnut and Thyme but found it had rather a medicinal flavour!
Enjoy!
MONICA ASKAY AUGUST 2018