Food of the Week - Cherries
When you see cherries at the Market, if you want some, you want to move fast. Their season is very short: given the difference in growing zones serving the local markets, cherries might be available for a month.Cherries fall into two groups - sweet ones, to be eaten raw (or possibly dried) and sour ones for cooking.
Raw uses include just popping the things into your mouth, of course, but a lot of sweet cherries are used in making juice. This has medicinal uses, in relieving gout, for example, as well as simply being nice to drink. Cherry juice straight isn't a bad substitute for red wine, the color works, but also the acidity and the fairly complex aroma and flavor. With the sweetness it's like mixing some Zinfandel with a bit of Port. Cherry juice is also a good mixer: dilute it with soda for a Spritzer or mix it with other juices - pretty much anything except cranberry juice - apple juice, lemonade, orange juice ...
When we think of cooking with cherries, baking and jam making are the first things that come to mind. A good cherry pie is hard to beat. Here again, cherries can be mixed with other fruit, but one of my favorites is a graham cracker pie shell half filled with chocolate pudding (stabilized with flour to stand the heat of baking) and filled to the top with cherry pie filling. The sweet/sour fruitiness of a cooking cherry has much of the quality of a chutney, and cherries do have a place the preparation of savory dishes. They would work well in stuffings as well as in the vegetable component of stews or meat pies. If meat's not your cup of tea, consider putting fine chopped cherries in a dessert omelet or a grilled cheese sandwich, perhaps along with some slivered almonds.
When you see cherries at the Market, if you want some, you want to move fast. Their season is very short: given the difference in growing zones serving the local markets, cherries might be available for a month.Cherries fall into two groups - sweet ones, to be eaten raw (or possibly dried) and sour ones for cooking.
Raw uses include just popping the things into your mouth, of course, but a lot of sweet cherries are used in making juice. This has medicinal uses, in relieving gout, for example, as well as simply being nice to drink. Cherry juice straight isn't a bad substitute for red wine, the color works, but also the acidity and the fairly complex aroma and flavor. With the sweetness it's like mixing some Zinfandel with a bit of Port. Cherry juice is also a good mixer: dilute it with soda for a Spritzer or mix it with other juices - pretty much anything except cranberry juice - apple juice, lemonade, orange juice ...
When we think of cooking with cherries, baking and jam making are the first things that come to mind. A good cherry pie is hard to beat. Here again, cherries can be mixed with other fruit, but one of my favorites is a graham cracker pie shell half filled with chocolate pudding (stabilized with flour to stand the heat of baking) and filled to the top with cherry pie filling. The sweet/sour fruitiness of a cooking cherry has much of the quality of a chutney, and cherries do have a place the preparation of savory dishes. They would work well in stuffings as well as in the vegetable component of stews or meat pies. If meat's not your cup of tea, consider putting fine chopped cherries in a dessert omelet or a grilled cheese sandwich, perhaps along with some slivered almonds.
