Deborah Madison is the author of numerous best-selling cookbooks, including Seasonal Fruit Desserts: From Orchard, Farm, and Market (Clarkson Potter, 2010).
Prep tips: You can make the soup chunky or purée it. If you’ve got turnip greens, chop off the stems, cook the greens separately in salted water until tender, and then chop and add at the end of cooking the soup. If the potatoes are organic, leave the skins on. If not, peel them.
By itself, this compote makes a refreshing summer dessert (or breakfast fruit, for that matter), but you can also use these plums in a kuchen or a free-form tart with a yeasted crust. Pour off the juice, reduce it until it’s really syrupy, and then spoon it over the cooked fruit. Cardamom is another wonderful spice to add, and so are orange and clove. A Thai basil leaf wouldn’t be out of place, either.
