Plum Tart

For most people, a trip to the grocery store isn’t even worth mentioning.  For me, it’s an adventure.

I had gone a little plum crazy and bought a ton of plums among other things.  Since the self-checkouts were all busy, I opted to stand in the only register line that was open.  Not a bad idea, I thought, since there were only two people ahead of me, both with only a few items, and the first one was almost done checking out.

The second my first bag of plums hit the belt, all hell broke loose.

Brrrrrt. Brrrrrt. Brrrrt. Blared every alarm in the store.  I looked around expecting to see fire, flood or at least a flock of locusts.  Maybe an airborne shark, intent on devouring the guy stocking the shelves.  Nothing.  No mass panic, no stampede to the exit, no crowding into lifeboats.  Just an unintelligible mumbling over the loudspeaker.

Attention: Blah, blah, wah wah wah, blahbetty blah blah blah.

Okay, that was a tremendous help.  I looked to the woman checking out for some guidance as to whether I should duck and cover or run around waving my hands in the air, screaming, “The sky is falling, the sky is falling!”

“I’m going to try to check you out before they turn off all the registers, but I don’t know if I can. We need to hurry,” she snapped at me.

“Why? What’s happening,?” I asked.

“Didn’t you hear the manager?,” she demanded, “A storm is coming.”

“Is it a tornado? Hurricane? Monsoon? Tsunami?” I scrambled for my phone, wondering why it hadn’t alerted me the end of the world was coming.

“A storm,” she repeated, clearly believing that was enough of a description to scare the heck out of me.

I looked outside and didn’t see any houses flying past, or bicycles with someone peddling furiously, screaming, “I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!”

“Done!” she proclaimed, jamming the last of my items in a bag and thrusting it at me before scuttling away.

I walked cautiously towards the doors.  Would they be locked? Would I be sucked out if they weren’t? Should I even try?

The doors slid open, I stepped gingerly outside, only to find that it was….sprinkling. Just sprinkling.

No acid rain, no tidal wave, no frogs falling from the sky.  Just the tiniest bit of good, old fashioned rain. Which kind of left me wondering what they would do if it had actually thundered.

The things I go through for my produce.

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 2 lbs. mixed plums (about 2 black, 3 red, 3 pluots)
  

  The ice cube tray has the frozen aquafaba

• 2 heaping Tablespoons arrowroot
• 1/4 cup monkfruit
• juice of 1/2 lemon

Crust:

• 1 cup  Bob’s Red Mill Paleo flour
• 3 Tablespoons monkfruit
• 4 Tablespoons vegan butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons aquafaba (liquid from a can of either chickpeas or cannellini beans)
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients  for the crust in a bowl and press into a tart pan with removable bottom.  Put in fridge to chill while you make the filling.
2. Slice the plums into 1/4 inch slices.  I started on the bottom and sliced till I hit the pit, then sliced halfway through, cut off the half slices, turned it over and repeated the slicing on the other side of the pit.                                                          
3. Put the slices in a bowl with the arrowroot, monk fruit, and lemon juice.  Stir well to combine.  Let it sit at room temperature, stirring occasionally, while the oven preheats.
4. Preheat the oven to 350.
5. Remove the crust from the fridge and pour the plums into it, distributing the plums and juice evenly.                                              
6. Place the tart pan on a baking sheet and put it in the oven on middle rack .  Bake 40 minutes or till the crust is golden and the filling is bubbly and the the plums are soft.  Check after 30 minutes and cover with foil if the crust is getting too brown.
7. Remove from oven and let cool for 2 hours while filling firms up.  Serve warm or room temperature.

Enjoy!