A jammy, sweet-tart plum sauce steals the show in this skillet chicken

By happenstance, I seem to be on a mission to encourage you to use more fruit in savory applications. There was the strawberry sauce with pan seared p...

By happenstance, I seem to be on a mission to encourage you to use more fruit in savory applications. There was the strawberry sauce with pan-seared pork chops. The time I turned cantaloupe into a cold soup with olive oil whipped cream and crispy prosciutto. 

And just the other week, when I added peaches to a summer succotash along with andouille sausage. My latest recipe is all about embracing the tart side of sweet plums and pairing them with red onion to accompany warm and fragrant chicken thighs.

Peaches are the golden child of summer stone fruit season, literally and figuratively. Meanwhile, plums arelike the oft-overlooked middle child - rarely in the spotlight but no less deserving of love and attention.

Depending on the variety, plums exist all along the sweet-tart spectrum. The fruit’s skin is high in tannins, which impart the astringent, bitter taste it can be known for - making a plum’s overall flavor more complex and challenging to some. 

"A ripe plum is rich and seductive, but also ornery,” food writer Max Falkowitz wrote in Taste. "Sweet, to be sure, but with an acidic spark and an astringent bite. Peaches are puppy dogs - sugary and desperate for your love. By contrast, plums are goats that won’t stop chewing on your clothes.”