My Slashfoodie friends, I am at a loss.
I have about a bazillion (yeah, so I exaggerated when I said "gazillion") cherries sitting on my countertop, and I have no idea what to do with them besides wash them and just eat them straight out of the bowl. I have used dried cherries in baking and during the autumn, and lately, I have been throwing frozen cherries into my morning smoothies. However, I have never used fresh cherries in cooking.
The reason I have yet to cook with fresh cherries, I think, is that the idea of standing in my kitchen squirting cherry red juice all over my kitchen floor and my clothes, possibly knicking my fingers on a fruit knife, and basically staining my fingers a lovely shade of red for days to come -- pitting fresh cherries -- does not appeal to me. If I'm going to go to all that effort to take out the stones, I'd just as soon pop that cherry into my mouth standing right there.
So Slashfoodies, I am asking for your help. Share with me, your favorite recipe using fresh cherries that will most definitely make my time and sanity pitting cherries in the kitchen worthwhile, will you? Breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert -- anything!
Second Helping of Slashfood - June 19
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
7-23-2007 @ 4:33PM
Red said...
Breakfast - muesli with cherries - soak natural muesli in yogurt with cherries in fridge overnight. In the morning top with you
Lunch - shredded pork and cherry wrap, brown rice, apple and cherry salad
Dinner - Grilled chicken stuffed with cherries
Dessert - Cherry jelly, torte, top a pavlova with it, trifle or muffins
Other ideas - make cherry jam or cherry sauces, blend with honey and ricotta, parfaits! make rocky road presents
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7-23-2007 @ 4:40PM
v said...
1. Watch Witches of Eastwick.
2. Dispose of cherries into garbage.
alternate option:
make cherry pie. omg I'm supercreative
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7-23-2007 @ 4:42PM
katrina said...
Deb over at Smitten Kitchen made a simple clafoutis with her abundance of cherries - and the bonus is that the traditional clafoutis uses cherries with the pits left inside. No squirting juices. http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/07/a-big-bowl-of-cliche-come-true
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7-23-2007 @ 4:43PM
anita said...
Soak them in booze put them up in cute glass jars to give as holiday gifts?
We just made homemade maraschino cherries and they are... yummmy. I don't know how many will actually make it to December. :D
http://marriedwithdinner.com/2007/07/20/dotw-marasca-fizz/
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7-23-2007 @ 4:46PM
John Carver said...
I hope that you have a cherry stoner... I use one and it makes things go a lot faster.
cherry ice cream
cherry cobbler
cherry pie
cherry coffee cake
cherry compote
cherry tart
sweet focaccia with cherries
cherry chutney
cherry bbq sauce
port cherry sauce for pork or venison
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7-23-2007 @ 4:47PM
John Carver said...
Oh - here's the stoner I use -
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005EBH0/shinythings-20
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7-23-2007 @ 4:57PM
James said...
Chop them up and mix them with 97% lean ground beef. Make burger patties with the mixture. Keeps the burger juicy without all of the fat of regular ground beef.
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7-23-2007 @ 5:06PM
Barry said...
Smoke 'em on a grill then have a brilliant Manhattan! Hey, I learned that here at Slashfood!
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7-23-2007 @ 6:19PM
wynk said...
I dunno, I could just eat a bazillion cherries raw. :P
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7-23-2007 @ 6:37PM
Graeme said...
The only choice would be Cherries Jubilee: http://intofreshair.com/cg/?p=33
It is cheap, easy, and possibly the best dessert EVER!
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7-23-2007 @ 6:40PM
Jill said...
Get them drunk in a jar of cherry brandy and drop them into a whiskey sour...Yum!
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7-23-2007 @ 7:09PM
Mary said...
I'm with the person above who suggested a clafouti. I don't even like cherries that much, but I'm tempted to buy some and make a clafouti of my own. :)
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7-23-2007 @ 7:12PM
dragonet2 said...
Make Cherry Crisp (same as apple crisp, with equal amount of cherries). it works wonderfully. My family loves it and we're not necessarily dessert eaters. (but it also makes a great breakfast)
A cherry pitter will make that job far easier.
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7-23-2007 @ 7:17PM
dpr said...
Use a paperclip (large, unbend it into an 'S' shape) instead of a fruit knife to avoid cutting yourself. You'll still get the blood red fingers though. And the first couple of cherries will inevitably squirt until you get the hang of it. But it's not too bad, I've had about 1 jumping cherry pit for every 1.5 lbs of cherries pitted so far.
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7-23-2007 @ 7:48PM
Buckley said...
Make a cold cherry soup with a yogurt garnish. Umm... I don't know how to do this, but I've seen it in a cookbook before and I ate it last night at a Mediterranean restaurant and it was refreshing and just really darn good (not sweet either).
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7-23-2007 @ 8:18PM
cait said...
i agree with the clafoutis recommendations - i just made one this morning (from a silver spoon recipe i found on this blog http://katnsatoshiinjapan.blogspot.com/2007/06/cherry-clafoutis.html ) it was so simple - it took about 10 mins to assemble, 40 to bake. the best part if you dont have to pit the cherries! and its not too sweet so its perfect for breakfast or a snack.
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7-23-2007 @ 8:46PM
lsicks said...
definitely get a cherry pitter.
then make some real maraschino cherries and some good ol' down home cherry pie from scratch.
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7-23-2007 @ 9:05PM
sairuh said...
How about cherry soup? It might seem a bit unusual, but it's quite refreshing!
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7-23-2007 @ 9:06PM
sairuh said...
Hm, the link for the cherry soup recipe didn't appear in my previous comment: http://iwaruna.com/2007/06/24/cherry-soup/
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7-23-2007 @ 10:02PM
tzurriz said...
Go buy yourself a cherry pitter. They cost less than $10.00, last forever, and work just as well on olives so they aren't a "unitasker".
Seriously. A whole new world will open up for you.
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