Stewed Plums

Whenever I buy plums, they're usually not ripe to start with, but as soon as my back is turned, they go mouldy. And unlike apples or pears, they don't go mouldy on the outside, but turn weird and brown on the inside, while maintaining the illusion of being perfectly delicious taut-skinned fruit on the outside. I love a perfectly-ripe plum but sometimes I feel like I waste two or three other plums in order to actually get that perfect ripeness. In a totally unrelated story, I love having fruit on my breakfast, but once strawberries go out of season I always feel bad buying them - plus they're really expensive.

Cooking plums this way solves both problems. I love it when that happens.

Home-made lemon yoghurt and stewed plums. A sprinkling
of granola and my breakfast is ready!

Get yourself a big bag of plums, when they're in season. If they're already perfectly ripe, don't bother with this - just eat and enjoy! But if they're hard and you're not sure whether you're going to have time to watch them like a hawk all week, get yourself a big saucepan and halve and de-stone them into it. Put a tablespoon of water in and give the saucepan a gentle shake, so that the bottom has a tiny about of liquid in it. Cover and bring to a simmer, turning every minute until the plums start to break down - then cook, turning every two minutes, until they are bright purple and tender, but not completely mashed. It's nice to still have big pieces of cooked plum in the mix. Decant into a pyrex bowl or tupperware (that you don't mind getting stained purple...) and keep in the fridge for up to two weeks.