"cherries" news and stories

Here's what I call gutsy: Take a food you've never eaten before, and instead of making it into something simple and traditional, just to see if you'll like it, make something really out there and weird. Weird in a good way. That's what blogger habeasbrulee has done with this fava bean and cherry salad. Huh? I mean, there's Middle Eastern ful, and there's a soup, or there's a side of favas with a spritz of lemon. But this adventurous soul, who'd never tasted a fava, sautéed the beans in ramp butter (!), added sweet cherries and minced preserved lemon, and claims the salad is delicious. OK, I'm game. See her post for more. For more recipes featuring fava beans (none of which involve ramp butter), see this Slashfood post.

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Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

• Popular American dishes are born from sea to shining sea.
• Take a sweet peek behind Jacques Torres' chocolate curtain.
• Domino's also shares -- shares TV production secrets, that is.
• South-of-the-border sage says not to fear chiles, then makes mole.
• Cook up these dishes before cherry season is kaput.
• You too can grill green.
• Gobble this burger fit for Michelle Obama.

Over the past few years, Japanese chefs have been coming to Paris and taking on several aspects of French cuisine, from hamburger d'escargots au foie gras to macarons. Instead of opening up mere fusion-type food establishments, they are creating innovative approaches to long-established French dishes. For instance, Makoto Aoki brings out the juicy flavors of roast pork by adding soy sauce and miso. At a different Aoki shop (not related to Makoto), Sadaharu Aoki, there's white chocolate with sesame and salted caramel truffles with green tea. Even cheese, a dairy product that does not even exist in traditional Japanese cuisine, is being given a new life thanks to renowned Paris-based Japanese affineur Madame Hisada. She creates a new take on the traditional French Banon, a goat's milk cheese from Provence, by aging it in cherry leaves instead of chestnut leaves.

Cherries are lusciously red, but they also stain devilishly if they explode anywhere but in your mouth.

Photo: The Skinny Chef

Lemonade fits the bill as a refreshing summertime drink while you're cooling at the pool, finishing lawn work, or just need a break. I love the way pink lemonade looks, but I don't want the unnecessary red food coloring or high fructose corn syrup that can be found in most commercial brands.

Blending in cherries makes your lemonade naturally flavorful, pretty and pink. I just bought a huge bag of the Bing variety, recalling the scene from 'The Witches of Eastwick' wherein Cher and friends are gobbling down fresh cherries while Jack Nicholson -- playing the Devil -- has to spit out the pits.

I don't mind them so much; they come out easily with a paring knife or an inexpensive cherry pitter.

Get Jennifer's Cherry Crush Lemonade recipe and learn about cherries' health benefits after the jump.