Recipe

Mojito Poached Plums

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This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Recipe for Plums
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drbabs's Notes: After making sorbet, I had a few plums left, and I wanted to do something with rum. (Plum...rum...) With a ton of spearmint in the garden, limes in the refrigerator and a bottle of rum on...
After making sorbet, I had a few plums left, and I wanted to do something with rum. (Plum...rum...) With a ton of spearmint in the garden, limes in the refrigerator and a bottle of rum on the counter, my thoughts turned to...Mojito! For this you need plums that are still firm or the plums will be a little mushy after poaching (not that that is necessarily a bad thing). This recipe makes a lot of liquid which you can use to make plum mojitos, or as the syrup in my Fizzy Fruity Refresher: http://www.food52.com/recipes/4137_fizzy_fruity_refresher. (You can throw some rum in there, too. It's summer, I won't tell.) There has been some discussion as to whether one has to peel plums. Mine came from the grocery store so I definitely did; if you have organic plums, you may opt not to. I left it so you can add rum to your taste. I called for dark rum because I prefer it; you may opt to use light rum, which is traditionally used in Mojitos. I served the plums over vanilla ice cream. They would be equally good over pound cake, some barely sweetened ricotta, or even your morning oatmeal (probably without the rum, but I don't judge). Feel free to take poetic license with this recipe--just have fun!

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Serves 2 with leftover poaching liquid

12-15 large spearmint leaves, plus more for garnish Ask a question about this ingredient

1/3 cup granulated sugar Ask a question about this ingredient

1/2 cup water Ask a question about this ingredient

3 large firm plums, peeled, pitted and each cut into 6-8 slices Ask a question about this ingredient

1 pinch kosher salt Ask a question about this ingredient

1 tablespoon lime zest Ask a question about this ingredient

2 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon lime juice, divided Ask a question about this ingredient

2 tablespoons dark rum, or to taste Ask a question about this ingredient

Muddle mint leaves with sugar. Place mint and sugar in a large saucepan with a pinch of salt and water, and bring to a boil. Stir until sugar dissolves.
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Reduce heat to simmer. Add plums, lime juice and lime zest, and simmer until plum slices are softened, about 3 minutes.
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Remove plums with slotted spoon. Increase heat and reduce syrup by about half. Pour syrup into a pitcher. To serve, put a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a bowl, spoon a few plum slices over it, and add a couple of tablespoons of syrup and about a tablespoon of rum (more or less--your choice).
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Finish with a squeeze of lime juice, and garnish with a mint leaf.
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