The past couple of weeks have finally been giving hints of Fall. San Diego can have it's moments of "I can't believe it's so nice outside today!" weather, but lately, that has not been a trend. Summer seems to be lasting far too long, thrusting us into jealousy as the rest of the country embraces it's pumpkin everything boot-wearing sweater weather. In an effort to do some kind of rain dance esque plea to the God of Seasons to let us keep Fall, I've created a nice recipe using fall flavors and spices. Enjoy, and pray for us.

Chai Roasted Plums

9 plums
1 cup water
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp minced ginger (fresh, dried, or crystallized are fine)
1/2 tsp cardamom seeds
1/2 tsp black peppercorns, slightly crushed
1/2 tsp whole cloves
1/2 vanilla bean pod (I suggest scraping the inside and reserving for the vanilla cream)
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp black tea leaves or 1 tea bag
1 recipe of Vanilla Cream (below)
1/4 cup pistachios, chopped

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Halve and pit plums and place cut-side down on a rimmed baking sheet. To make chai, place water in a small sauce pan over medium heat and add ingredients from brown sugar to cinnamon. Heat until the brown sugar is dissolved and the mixture just begins to simmer. Turn off heat and add tea. Steep for 5 minutes. If you are using loose leaf tea, be sure to add them to an infuser or bag first.

Once your tea has steeped, remove the tea and pour the chai (all spices included) into the pan with the plums. Move the pan around to evenly distribute the liquid if needed. Place in the oven and roast for 25 minutes. You'll know they are done when the liquid is mostly evaporated and there is a thin layer of syrup left around the plums.

If adapting this recipe to serve a smaller portion, roast in a smaller pan and use half of the chai liquid; otherwise, it won't caramelize by the time the plums are cooked. I used a 12" x 17" pan in my recipe.

Cool for a few minutes. Serve warm with a loving heap of vanilla cream and sprinkled with pistachios.