Gorgonzola Grilled Plums with Maple Syrup & Chilies

Gorgonzola Grilled Plums with Maple Syrup & Chilies | the pig & quillSometimes there are those evenings when all you want to do is rip open a bag of chips, pour them into a bowl and grab a spoon. Sometimes the spoon is totally optional. (Duh, who eats chips with a spoon?) Sometimes you find yourself with crumbies all up in the micro-knit of the corporate polo you’re wearing. Always you fear what will happen if hubby learns just how many of those crumbies ended up on the couch. Maybe you got down real close and carefully removed each little piece of evidence with the tip of your tongue. Maybe you didn’t. No one will ever know.

In other news, it’s Tuesday. Did you get the memo? I did, but just barely. Because somehow it feels like Monday. And also a little like Thursday since Thursday is a holiday, which makes Wednesday Friday. It’s a conflicting time for Tuesday, poor little guy. Good thing there are plenty of fun Pig & Quill announcements to perk little T-Man right up.

Like…

…the winner of our Saucy Mama mustard giveaway, Carolsue!

Yay for free mustard, Carolsue! I hope you’ll use it to make stuff like this and this…or maybe you’ll use it to make a savory-hip mustard dessert, because I heard those are all the rage. In fact, I’ll be experimenting with dessertstards all weekend since I made it to the final round of Saucy Mama’s Sliced competition, hey-o! Hey-0 2.0, the secret ingredient for this round is BOOZE. BOOOOOOOOOOZE! Things are either gonna get fancy or funky real quick in the kitchen, lemmetellyoo.

Gorgonzola Grilled Plums with Maple Syrup & Chilies | the pig & quill

Speaking of fancy, we should probably have a lit-oh chat ’bout fis ‘mayzin sahh-led, yeah? And also about how I occasionally slide into an Essex-inspired British accent ehrey naw an ‘gain.

Done. I’m done.

But salad. Or rather, July 4th salad. It’s really quite spectacular and darn near star-spangled, if I do say so myself. I mean, check out that red-white-and-blue action!  Scarlet-skinned plums cradling just-melted hunks of streaky gorgonzola is, if you ask me, freedom fruitsonified. It’s sweet. And savory. And sticky and drippy and tender and carmelly, crazy good-looking and just a bit daring.

It’s downright delicious. Marvelously simple. And begging (it told me) to play a starring role in your summer shindigs, so just help a brother out, willya?

Yeah, you will. I just know it.

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!

Gorgonzola Grilled Plums with Maple Syrup & Chilies | the pig & quill

Gorgonzola Grilled Plums with Maple Syrup & Chilies
By Emily Stoffel
Cook time: 10 mins | Serves: as many as you’d like!

Note: Talk about a no-recipe recipe. This is all method. Play around with the ratios as you see fit. It’s going to be really, really difficult to end up with a plum that tastes anything less than fantastic.

Ingredients:

  • 5 plums, halved and pitted
  • a good glug olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red chile flakes, plus additional for serving
  • plenty of salt and pepper
  • 4 oz wedge Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled or in small hunks
  • real maple syrup
  • toasted walnuts, chopped
  • lightly dressed baby kale, or other greens, for serving

Instructions

Preheat indoor or outdoor grill. Arrange baby kale or greens (tossed with your favorite lightly flavored vinaigrette or a little balsamic and olive oil) on serving plates.

Toss plum halves with olive oil, thyme, crushed red chilies and salt and pepper, to taste. Grill, cut-side-down, until well-marked, about 3-5 minutes. Flip plums and nestle gorgonzola into the center of each half. Cover and allow cheese to just melt, about a minute or two.

Remove plums to salad greens and drizzle with maple syrup, crushed walnuts and additional chile flakes, if you’re feelin’ the heat. Serve warm.

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4 Comments on “Gorgonzola Grilled Plums with Maple Syrup & Chilies”

  1. This looks great Em! Maybe many people don’t eat chips with spoons, but this Asian learned quite some time ago that eating Flaming Hot Cheetos with chopsticks is a sure way to not get Flaming Hot Cheetos dust in your eyes when you scratch them by accident later after a Cheeto feeding frenzy. I’ve since expanded eating all varieties of Cheetos with chopsticks.

    1. Such an obvious yet overlooked solution! I’ll have to check it out, in part because I’m a fellow Asian, yeah — but more because I luuuuuv Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. 😉

  2. Oh my gosh. Wow… what a gorgeous combination of ingredients! My husband adores blue cheese so he’d probably devour the entire portion of ingredients on its own. Weirdly, I’m imagining the same flavours with mushroom cups, with pear… even smeared onto a gorgeous piece of hot grainy toast. Thanks for this versatile recipe Em! Love your blog (this is my first visit and I’m infatuated with your gorgeous food photography!) xx

    1. Hope you guys get the opportunity to try these out while plums are still going strong at the market! And yes — pears? Please do. Love it.

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