Plum Good Loaf

This month's word is PLUMS which are in season and in abundance from our plum tree (well, actually our neighbor's tree but they don't mind). With so many plums I decided to make a plum good & healthy cake that I could share with others. I'm waiting to hear what my parents and my sister & her husband think, but my husband said give me seconds which I take as a good sign. And you could not tell I used healthier substitutes.

(Makes 1 loaf)

Ingredients:
1 cup butter (I used Smart Balance "light" butter spread)
1 cup Splenda
3 eggs (I used an egg substitute)
2 cups all-purpose flout
1/2 tsp each baking soda and powder
sprinkle cinnamon
about 1/2 cup plum puree (I used our "Magic Bullet")
plum slices
Glaze (steps at the end)

Steps:
1. Preheat oven 300 degrees and grease & flour loaf pan.
2. Mix softened butter & sugar.
3. Add beaten eggs.
4. In new bowl, mix flour, baking soda & powder and cinnamon.
5. Slowly combine the dry mix to the creamed mix. (I recommend using a wooden spoon.)
6. When nicely mixed, add in the plum puree.
7. Spread 1/2 the batter in pan, single layer plum slices skin side down, then rest of batter.
8. Bake 70 min (or until toothpick comes away clean).
9. Transfer to cooling rack for about 15'ish minutes.
10. Use a knife to loosen loaf from pan and glaze the finished loaf.

For Glaze: Heat on the stove over med-high heat 1-2 sliced plums, 2 tbsp water & 1/4 Splenda. Take off stove when glaze has only a few small plum pieces and let cool for a few minutes. Drizzle on top while loaf is still warm.

Here I am pouring the remaining batter into the loaf pans.

The finished plum cakes.

Maple Planked Citris Salmon

This is so simple I don't know why we haven't done this before. We bought a maple cedar plank at Whole Foods and tried it out on the barbie with salmon that had been marinating in a citrus sauce. The obvious advantage to grilling with a plank is easy clean up and a taste to die for. The salmon was buttery moist with a slightly nutty flavor that complimented the citrus marinade divinely.

Ingredients:
1 cedar plank and spray bottle
1 salmon (a cut that covered the plank served about 6 people)
crushed garlic
olive oil
a few lemons
(Or you can do what I did and use a citrus garlic dressing - I used Paula's Roasted Garlic fat-free dressing - and add a couple of lemons from your backyard or the store to look like it was made from scratch.)

Steps:
Soak the plank in water for a minimum of one hour.
Combine crushed garlic, oil and lemon juice including the pulp in a deep dish.
Rinse salmon and marinate - I like to let it soak a couple of hours in the fridge.
Slice salmon in sections without cutting all the way through to make serving easy.
Place lemon slices on top of the salmon for presentation.
Pre-heat the bbq on high 350-400 degrees.
Put the plank on the hot grill, close the lid and heat 3 min.
Turn plank with tongs, close lid and heat another 3 min.
Place food on plank, close lid and grill to your liking (about 15-20 min).
Spritz water while grilling to keep the plank from flaring up.
If plank is not too charred it may be used again.

Here we are enjoying a cool evening in our backyard with our friends Matt & Sandi and my sister Rachelle and her husband Andrew while the salmon is grilling. Marc our "griller" is standing in the back with a homemade brew Matt & Sandi brought over.

The salmon was sereved with a simple salad tossed with walnuts, jack cheese and dried fruit, along with fresh-squeezed lemonade from the extra lemons.