Raw Rosemary Plum Crumble
Autumn is coming and there is no stopping of it. We’re excited – in the world of food that means more savouries, comfort food, and deep, earthy flavours. September is here and we’d like to give it a proper welcome. For a smooth seasonal transition, here is a crumble that utilizes fresh plums, yet, with the help of rosemary and oats, makes for a warm and cozy meal.
Paloma and her papa are more than fond of plums. While they sometimes seem too sour to me, those two eat them up no matter how ripe or tart the fruits are.
Essentially, this crumble was for my plum-lovers. But I have to say that I too enjoyed it tremendously, especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a cup of tea.
If you’re opposed to foods that have a sour note, you can make this recipe with apples or peaches.
We grow rosemary at home, Paloma being the chief gardener. It’s much softer and milder than the store-bought equivalent, so if you’re buying the herb, you might want to adjust the amount to taste. Plums and rosemary always become friendly in dishes and work together very well.
This crumble takes some time and love (find a simpler recipe here), but so do most good things in life.
Rosemary Plum Crumble
Crisp
1 cup pecans or walnuts – it’s always better to soak and dehydrate nuts, as it makes them easier to digest
1/2 cup sprouted oat flour (see recipe below)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup vanilla date paste (see recipe below)
zest of 1 lemon
2 or more tablespoons fresh rosemary – chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
Plums
16 ripe medium plums
1/2 cup vanilla date paste
In a food processor, blend the pecans or walnuts until fine. Take care not to over-process the nuts, as they will turn into nut butter. In a mixing bowl, combine the nuts with the rest of the crisp ingredients, mix thoroughly. Spread on Teflex lined dehydrator trays and dehydrate at 115F for 24 hours. Break apart to make a crisp.
Cut a cross on the top of each plum and place them into a colander. Pour some boiling water over them, then quickly transfer the plums into ice water. Peel the skins, which should come off easily after the blanching. Slice the plums and mix them with the vanilla date paste. Spread the plums on Teflex lined dehydrator sheets and dehydrate at 115F for approximately four hours. In a food processor, puree half of the dehydrated plums.
To serve, put the plum slices and plum puree into a bowl, top with the crisp. You can warm up the crumble in a dehydrator or serve cold.
Sprouted Oat Flour
Soak the desired amount of oats overnight or sprout them for two days. Dehydrate at 115F overnight or until completely dry. In a coffee grinder, process the oats until they turn into flour. Keep refrigerated or frozen. There are many uses for this, you can find all kinds of cookie and dessert recipes that call for sprouted oat flour.
Vanilla Date Paste
2 cups dates – pitted
seeds of 1 vanilla pod
This is also great to have in your refrigerator, it keeps well and is a good sweetener. Soak the dates for 1-2 hours. Reserve the water. In a food processor, blend the dates, adding 1 tablespoon of water at a time until the mixture becomes paste-like. Add the vanilla and blend until smooth. Keep refrigerated.
Vanilla Ice Cream
2 cups meat of young Thai coconut
1/2 cup water of young Thai coconut
1/4 cup purified water
1/8 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup raw agave nectar OR pitted dates to taste
1 vanilla bean – both seeds and pod
In a high speed blender, combine all the ingredients until smooth. Chill well and put into an ice cream maker for 25 minutes or however long your brand of ice cream machine suggests.
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