Ham Sandwich Indicted!

What you are seeing above, my friends, is a quince turnover that I made this weekend. Quince! How exciting! I've never used/bought/tried a quince before! For the unitiated, a whole quince is pictured below: They're a strange little fruit that's described as a cross between a pear and an apple. This might be true, with the exception that they are hard as rocks and must be cooked down before you can do anything with them. Taste wise, they're a little more tart than a pear or an apple--really delicious and really interesting. I was able to enjoy this quince thanks to Jaime at Wayward Seed Farm . When I picked up my share this past weekend, we got to talking about the end of the season (sob!) and what to expect for our last week. One thing led to another and she offered me one of the quince (quinces?) that she had recieved from a friend. (Thanks again, Jaime!!!) After taking the quince home and contemplating it for a few days, I decided what I would do--one quince isn'...

My fruit CSA from Wayward Seed Farm has been just prolific over the past few weeks--pears, apples, plums, and melons have been piling up on my dining room table. To cope, I dug out two of my favorite recipes and refitted them for use with my current bounty. First, a plum tart that I modified from a New York Times pear tart recipe: Upside Down Plum Tart 1/4 cup honey 5-6 plums, peeled, quartered lengthwise and cored 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon allspice 2 large eggs 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a 9-inch ovenproof skillet (not nonstick), simmer honey until it begins to reduce, caramelize and darken in color, 6 to 10 minutes. Don't let it burn! 2. Arrange plums, close together and cut-side down, in a circular pattern in skillet. 3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together sugar and spices. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. Fold in flour and salt...