Dear Readers, are you plagued with an excess of friends and admirers? Do people constantly hang around your house in order to bask in the light of your reflected glory? Are your parties too entertaining and now you regret setting the bar so high? What you need are some less-appetizing appetizers! Luckily, I’ve got just the solution for you.
In order to get rid of all of those pesky party guests, why not try serving steamed prunes stuffed with wildly incongruous fillings? Yes, nothing quite says “get the hell out” like a prune filled with mashed sardines.
I tried out four of the suggested prune fillings from this recipe: sardine, anchovy, Roquefort and mayo, and cream cheese with chili sauce. Except (as those who take a look at the recipe below will note), cream cheese and chili sauce isn’t actually on there. My brain saw the words “cottage cheese seasoned with chili sauce” and a little animated paper clip popped up in my head and said, “Hi! It looks like you’re trying to make something edible! Did you mean cream cheese with chili sauce?”
It’s unfortunate that cream cheese with chili sauce wasn’t one of the recipe suggestions, because that was actually the best one. I think most of the other fillings would be really quite nice on a cracker or some kind of crunchy bread thing, but eating them stuffed inside of prunes just made my mouth sad.
Incidentally, this was my very first time eating anchovies. And since I know anchovies are a divisive issue with many people, I’ll just let everyone know where I stand with regards to that issue right now: I loved ’em. Those salty little bastards were delicious and I won’t listen to anyone speaking ill of them. So there.
Stuffed Prunes
Stuff steamed or soaked plump prunes with a mixture of highly seasoned cream cheese or other suggested fillings.
1. Cottage cheese seasoned with chili sauce.
2. Very crisp chopped celery
3. Anchovy, shrimp, salmon, tuna, smoked whitefish, or sardine canapé filling.
4. Roquefort cheese softened with cream.
5. Roquefort moistened with mayonnaise.
6. Aged Cheddar cheese softened with cream.
7. Cream cheese and chopped chive.
8. Finely chopped ham, seasoned with prepared mustard, finely chopped pickle, moistened with mayonnaise.
9. Cream cheese and chopped nuts, moistened with pineapple juice.
The recipe featured in this post is from the Mary Margaret McBride Encyclopedia of Cooking, published by the Homemakers Research Institute in 1959.
14 replies on “Morbid Curiosity: Stuffed Prunes”
Holy shoot!
This was my favorite: 8. Finely chopped ham, seasoned with prepared mustard, finely chopped pickle, moistened with mayonnaise.
And by “favorite” I mean the scariest combination of dried fruit, meat, seasoning, and relish, that I have ever come across. Don’t forget to moisten with mayonnaise!
I think in the picture at the bottom of the post these sort of look like sushi. Too bad they probably don’t taste like sushi.
I love these posts. Â I love sardines. Â I enjoy prunes. Â But this. Â This? Â It’s an abomination.
That said, in my own family cookbook which dates back to the early 20th century there is a recipe for cherries stuffed similarly and then put in aspic. Â I haven’t quite gotten myself to make them yet, but this is pushing me that direction. Â I mean, how can I say no to aspic if you can eat sardine stuffed prunes?
If I ever need to clean out the ol’ colon I might try these. Prunes + excessive cheese + lactose intolerance = empty colon in no time at all.
Also I apologize if this is TMI, but it’s the first place my mind went to.
I am also a lactose intolerant person and that was also the first place my mind went.
Trying to soften cheeses with cream? What is this tomcat foolery?
The only reason I know these aren’t too horrible to exist and people ate them is because I’m pretty sure they were at my first birthday party. Which I remember none of, but there’s a picture of me about to do something awful to the cake and a platter of what looks like those next to them.
The fillings sound good, but not with prunes. Â Ew.
I might try prunes with cream cheese and chili. The rest look kinda disgusting.
oh my.
I would probably eat some of the options, but probably would leave the prune part. prunes are not delicious.
OK, I will say I think prunes with cream cheese and nuts sounds pretty yum. But I do like prunes. I never have them. I should get some.
I always feel like I’m betraying my youth when I declare my love for prunes. However, I don’t believe I would like them stuffed. I’ll just take them straight up, with my Jeopardy and my canasta.
I will just take the Jeopardy I think. my Grandpa and I used to watch it every night and keep score for ourselves, it was pretty wonderful.
also I definitely have Alex Trebek’s signature.
Oh my goodness. Sometimes old cookbooks make me think that the reason people were slimming back then was because all the food was horrendous.
Then I remember that the real reason was everyone smoked.