Prunes need to revamp their image. Most people associate them with the elderly and the infirm, making them possibly the least sexy fruit ever, when in reality they are soft, sweet, deeply flavored — and dare we say sexy? Not only that, prunes are adaptable; they are as good served with duck as they are stewed with sweet port wine and spooned over cake. Prune lover or merely prune-curious? Check out the 10 recipes below!
We have to give a quick shout-out to David Lebovitz for spreading the love of prunes far and wide. Three of the recipes below were either written by him (the prune-Armagnac ice cream and duck with prunes in red wine) or adapted from a recipe written by him (prunes stewed in port wine). And there are even more prune recipes to be found on his website. He's a man after our own prune-loving hearts!
SWEET PRUNE RECIPES
• Prunes Stewed in Port Wine
• Brandied Prune and Chocolate Chunk Cookies
• Prune, Cherry, and Apricot Frangipane Tart at Gourmet
• Far Breton at Bon Appétit
• Prune-Armagnac Ice Cream at the LA Times
SAVORY PRUNE RECIPES
• Braised Goat Shanks with Prune, Shallot, and Brandy Reduction
• Duck with Prunes in Red Wine at David Lebovitz
• Sweet Potato Gratin with Prunes at Food & Wine
• Roasted Chicken with Prunes and Armagnac at Food52
• Oven-Roasted Prunes Wrapped With Pancetta at the San Francisco Chronicle
Are you a fellow prune fan?
Related: Looking for Savory Recipes with Prunes
(Image: Faith Durand)
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Count me amongst the devoted. I keep a large Costco-sized bag of the Sunsweet variety that I dip into almost daily. It's a perfect way to get my sweet tooth fix after meals. Not to mention the, ahem...side effects.
To name a couple, there's prune danish and prune hamantaschen ( http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/09/the-perfect-hamantaschen/)
I didn't like prunes until I tried them. Now I can't understand how I ever fell for the idea that a dried plum would be anything less than delicious.
Yay! I love prunes. The sweet potato gratin is going on next week's cooking list.
Prunes are the greatest! And indeed, so often misunderstood and overlooked. :-) Thanks for this post...
As much as I love prunes (the Trader Joe's version being my favorite), there really is nothing sexy about the gastrointestinal pyrotechnics that follow a handful of dried prunes. My boyfriend laughed at my lurching, gurgling, growling stomach all night!
I love prunes! I eat a few dried for a snack or I love them in Norwegian frukt suppe. At a party thrown by the fancy pastry shop I used to work at, the owner made this amazing stewed chicken that had garlic and prunes and possibly artichokes or something. It was fantastic.
@vixxs - the thing to remember about dried fruit is that it once was whole fruit! So if you wouldn't sit down to a meal of 10 fresh plums, you probably shouldn't do the same thing with dried ones. Lol.
Lol, vintagejenta, that's a really good point.
my 2 yr old Loooooves them. He literally thinks of them as candy. I'm a little worried that one day he'll be teased for loving them.
I love prunes too, despite their bad PR! And yes, vintagejenta, that's a really good point! :) I have to remind myself of that with dried apricots too...
Sunsweet now packages prunes in individual wrappings. The environmentalist in me cringes. The mom in me is thrilled to have a neat and clean way to put a sweet fruit treat in my daughter's lunch box. And here's a surprise: turns out a prune is highly tradeable! The little one scored a cookie in exchange for the prune and 2 almonds.
My mum always HATED them. So, of course, I inherited that. But, all my prejudices fell when I tried them out in a arabic restaurant. Now, one of my favorite meals consists in wild rice, carrot, scallion, prunes for that sweet kick, toasted almonds a bit of soy sauce. Delicious!!!
Translation problem!! I meant brown rice