This little piece of heaven comes from Gascony. Invited for a visit at someone's place in the region often means an invitation for pruneaux. The prunes are often served after dinner as a digestif - nothing less than prunes soaked in Armagnac for a lengthy period of time.
A friend of mine who owns a gourmet store promised me a treat during one of my visits - some kind of a special prune. Didn't expect anything that amazing! Needless to say - I bought a jar of pruneaux. And although I was savouring it for more special occasions - as much as all good things - it was gone over some time.
So trying to reinvent pruneaux, I decided to try and combine it with Porto instead of Armagnac and see how that works.
Ingredients:
* 300 g prunes
* 1 lemon
* 4 tablespoons of brown sugarcane sugar (or regular)
* 1 vanilla pod
* 1 cup water
* 500 ml Porto
In a small pot heat the water with sugar. Using a vegetable peeler, peel strips of lemon skin and add to water. Divide the vanilla pod in half and add to water. When it starts boiling, give it another 2 minutes and pour the liquid over the prunes in a bowl.
Let it rest for 12-24 hours. Remove the lemon peel, vanilla pod and spoon the prunes into a glass jar. Pour the Porto into the liquid and mix well. Pour it over the prunes through a fine sieve. Close the jar and let it stand for a minimum of two weeks. The longer it rests, the better it should be.
I poured the liquid over the prunes and am on a countdown for a month.
A month later (today) I opened the jar with an impatience of a kid on Christmas morning :). And what I can tell you - it was definitely worth the wait!
Bon appetit! Once you get there :)
