Potpourri: More Summer Crop Recipes

Though my time was tight this weekend, I had to find time to process some of the bounty that is flowing from my garden, for fear it would soon go bad. The heat brought out a new surge of green beans; the zucchini is growing by inches each day; and the strawberries are out of control. And, I still had two overflowing cookie sheets of the plums we picked before our vacation.

Some recipes are good no matter how old they are. Often they're the best. So I decided to reach back to some simple tried-and-true recipes for both the green beans and the plums.



Stewed Green Beans
My mom has been making this recipe as long as I can remember. No tender-crisp beans here. They are soft and delicate, stewed in a simple tomato sauce that fills the house with a lovely home-cooked aroma.

2 Tbsp olive oil
2-4 Tbsp chopped onion
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 lbs. green beans, snapped and stringed
1 8oz. can tomato sauce or 5-6 fresh tomatoes, chopped
Chicken broth
1 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add green beans and tomato sauce. Stir. Add enough chicken broth to just about cover the beans. Add basil and season to taste. Bring to a boil, then simmer until beans are very tender, about 45 minutes. Add more broth if needed. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Plum Jam
This recipe comes from an old Homes and Gardens cookbook. Plums have enough pectin in them that there is no need to add more. I don't do formal canning. I wash jars and lids in the dishwasher right before using them so they are still steaming hot. Then I keep jars of jam in the freezer until I use them. Once I open them, I refrigerate them.

5 cups processed plums (pitted and coarsely chopped in food processor)
4 cups sugar

Combine plums and sugar in a large, heavy pot. Allow mixture to sit for 1 hour. Boil hard, stirring often, until jam sheets off of the spoon, 12-15 minutes. Immediately fill hot jars. Makes 5-6 half-pints. *I used 6 cups plums and 4.25 cups sugar, and got almost 5 pints of jam. Secure lids tightly once jam has cooled.