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Cherries Are In Season

4K views 45 replies 16 participants last post by  cerise 
#1 ·
I went to the organic green grocer today and fresh cherries are in!!

I was thinking about a sauce for some baked chicken cutlettes maybe?

I'm not too sure how to season the chicken though...
 
#2 ·
Cherry season started 3 weeks ago here! :) However they are much better now than they were 3 weeks ago. Cherries with chicken? Personally I'm not a fan. They would go wonderfully with a nice duck breast though!! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/licklips.gif

Some Szechuan pepper - or pink pepper would work nicely. Any kind of hot spice too: cayenne, chipotle, chilis...
 
#3 ·
We've still got weeks before Michigan cherries are in and I've heard Michigan fruit crops were badly damaged by the Midwest's very warm March followed by a very cold April. Chicago Farmer's markets are very dependent on Western Michigan orchards.

I did see Washington state Ranier cherries at my neighborhood fruit market for $8.99/ lb! 

I passed.
 
#4 ·
I was in the orchard the other day and there are literally thousands of little cherries on their way.

After the birds do their thing the trees filter out and I am looking forward to what's left.

We have 2 varieties.

One is usually ready by July 4th but with the weather being crazy this season I may find them ready a few weeks early.

The other variety comes due by early August....they too will possibly be early.
 
#5 ·
Besides raw and on cheesecake I don't know much else to do with them.  Maybe I'll try it with the duck as french fries suggested.  I agree that chicken won't hold up with it, but the nice fruity tartness would pair well with the richness of the duck.
 
#7 ·
Not exactly fine dining, but a great snack to have on hand for a card game, casual cocktail party, or grilling out with friends is bacon wrapped cherries.

I pit the cherries, wrap them in center cut bacon, then glaze them with some sort of sweet, spicy sauce. I've used Thai sweet chili sauce, spicy barbecue sauce, and a concoction of brown sugar, bourbon, and cayenne. I favor the latter, although depending on how sweet the cherries are it can be a bit cloying so in those cases I tend to go with the spicy barbecue sauce. Glazing them a few more times while in the oven results in an almost candied bacon exterior.

This is one of those bites that you can never make enough of!
 
#11 · (Edited)
How about, pound the cutlets thin and then a bound crust of chopped Almonds or Filberts?  A Cherry Coulis (pit and then simmer them briefly, a touch of salt and maybe a tad bit of sugar if you need it, stick blend, chinois, reduce to target consistency) and maybe a crumbling of fresh goat cheese and a garnish of a green herb minced, (flat leaf parsley would be safe, but maybe tarragon or chervil would be interesting).  Side it with something like a wild rice pancake and pan seared seasonal greens.
 
#12 ·
Sounds interesting........

Besides eating them as is , nothing beats a cherry clafoutis.

Brandied cherries are always made each year, lovely on ice cream.

Cherry stuffed pork tenderloin is another dish we make here at work.

Another dish is duck with caramelized fennel, pearl onions , potato puree, cherry/port sauce garnished with whole cooked cherries and a sprinkle of pistachio.

Duck confit crostini with stilton and a cherry mash.

One of my favorite cherries is the Rainier. I don't know what it is about them ?.......

Petals.
 
#14 · (Edited)
How about, pound the cutlets thin and then a bound crust of chopped Almonds or Filberts? A Cherry Coulis (pit and then simmer them briefly, a touch of salt and maybe a tad bit of sugar if you need it, stick blend, chinois, reduce to target consistency) and maybe a crumbling of fresh goat cheese and a garnish of a green herb minced, (flat leaf parsley would be safe, but maybe tarragon or chervil would be interesting). Side it with something like a wild rice pancake and pan seared seasonal greens.
UUUUUUUU, YUM /img/vbsmilies/smilies/licklips.gif

that sounds super good

I think that the tarragon would be nice

I have some wild rice blend in the pantry

the chervil i haven't found yet, well i did at penzey's (sp) but on the spendy side for me ... what does that taste like anyhow? ::scratching head::

edit:

I know how to spell, really...
 
#16 ·
Do a spice rub of coriander, star anise, black pepper, sambal oelek, ginger, and lemongrass and grill. Season cherry sauce with cardamom and fresh mint. If you want to do baked cutlets just mix the spice rub into your coating of breadcrumbs, macadamias or whatever.
 
#17 ·
Besides eating them as is , nothing beats a cherry clafoutis.
I'd have to agree with you petals!! We had 6 different cherry trees at home, so I grew up on cherry clafoutis. We used to wait for my mum to take it out of the oven, then just take a spoon and eat right out of the dish, so there was never really a chance to make proper slices. The best ones were made with merises (a sort of wild cherry) or griottes (a sort of very sour cherry not really good to eat by itself but incredible in cakes or preserved in alcohol).

Just talking about it brings the taste right onto my palate. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/licklips.gif
 
#18 · (Edited)
FF: I hear you loud and clear ! Even the tart cherries are great in dessert.

I used to come home and the smell  of it was in the air. There were times when my father used to put heavy cream in it.....

You were fortunate to have such a variety at home.

Growing up we had one cherry tree (among others). Pappy used to put a net over it to stop the birds from having a feast. I think ChefRoss in his post mentioned something about the birds also .

Good memories.....I still make it to this day. Right now they are on for 2.25 a pound.

Merci FF .

Petals.
 
#19 ·
You're lucky, around here the only palatable ones are around $6/lb. Anything less (at least around my neighborhood) just looks like a cherry, but has neither the taste nor the texture of a cherry. More like a soft texture-less watery unidentifiable fruit. A friend of mine recently bought 3 lbs at a party, that he paid $3/lbs. He was very proud and kept boasting about the incredible price he got, especially when I said that the ones I had brought to the same party were $6. The ones I brought were gone within 60 seconds, the ones he brought ended up in the trash. Talk about a bargain!

I don't even know the actual name of the different trees (or cherries they produce), because the trees were already planted when my parents bought the house. My favorite one was the smaller tree, which would be the first to produce fruit (mid to late May) and produced, to my taste, the best cherries I've ever tasted: big, juicy, plump, redish brown cherries. The flavor was simply incredible. No way I can find that around here. The only problem is, the birds have excellent taste as well. So there would often be a bit of the cherry missing. No problem: that would simply make it easier for us to identify the best cherries, the ones that should be picked first. 

I remember a picture of me when I'm 3 year old, eating a cherry, a double-cherry around one ear, and cherry juice running from my forehead to my ears to my belly button, and all over my legs. Aaaaaah good times!!!
 
#20 ·
You're lucky, around here the only palatable ones are around $6/lb. Anything less (at least around my neighborhood) just looks like a cherry, but has neither the taste nor the texture of a cherry. More like a soft texture-less watery unidentifiable fruit. A friend of mine recently bought 3 lbs at a party, that he paid $3/lbs. He was very proud and kept boasting about the incredible price he got, especially when I said that the ones I had brought to the same party were $6. The ones I brought were gone within 60 seconds, the ones he brought ended up in the trash. Talk about a bargain!

I don't even know the actual name of the different trees (or cherries they produce), because the trees were already planted when my parents bought the house. My favorite one was the smaller tree, which would be the first to produce fruit (mid to late May) and produced, to my taste, the best cherries I've ever tasted: big, juicy, plump, redish brown cherries. The flavor was simply incredible. No way I can find that around here. The only problem is, the birds have excellent taste as well. So there would often be a bit of the cherry missing. No problem: that would simply make it easier for us to identify the best cherries, the ones that should be picked first.

I remember a picture of me when I'm 3 year old, eating a cherry, a double-cherry around one ear, and cherry juice running from my forehead to my ears to my belly button, and all over my legs. Aaaaaah good times!!!
The price of cherries these days are incredible. Off season they are 12.00 a lb.

You mentioned big, juicy, plump redish brown cherries , are they the bigarreau burlat cherries ?



Charles Trenet: Our folks ( I know mine ) know this song well.

Would love to have seen the pic. Yes, memories.

Petals.
 
#21 · (Edited)
You know, I think this could be the same variety!! Although they did look a bit bigger - from what I can tell by looking at your picture. But I guess there are variations within the same variety obviously. So I think it might be the variety. 

We also had a tree that gave late cherries, yellow/red kinda like the Rainier but much thinner. I didn't like them as a kid because to me they didn't "taste like cherry", but that taste grew on me as I grew up. 

The third tree didn't produce much fruit and when it did they weren't the best anyway. It was a HUGE tree, taller than our 3 story house. It was good for shades and swings. ;)
 
#22 · (Edited)
I had bought two huge bags of cherries, probably about 6 pounds,

brought the lovelies home,

washed them and stashed them in the cold box.

So here we are about a week later,

and they're starting get a little shriveled,

unappealing to the mister k~girl.

I have a nice sized bowl of them still left and we have been so busy,

I haven't had a chance to cook with them.

For some reason I started to think about Christmas gift giving, why?

Oh yeah, I know, my husband announced that I need to attend a ladies luncheon with his bosses' wife… ARGH! A Hostess gift…

HEH! (did you hear the light bulb switch on)

How about this

His friends all LOVE Vodka



Macerated Cherries

I just de-stemmed them but did not pit them



I "Googled" and found that I don't need to "can" them,

just make sure that the fruit is completely submerged and hide away for one month

What do you all think?

Would make a great Martini in the dead of Winter, Plop a fresh cherry into your guests glass ... stirred not shaken ..

 
#23 ·
I was in New Jersey last week on business and at our company golf tournament one of the girls operating a drink cart pulled in behind us and pointed out a GIANT cherry tree. I'd never seen one before. I had a taste but they are a couple weeks out from what she said so too tart. The thread was interesting timing so I wanted to share a picture I snapped of the cherries growing on the golf course in NJ!

 
#25 ·
I was in New Jersey last week on business and at our company golf tournament one of the girls operating a drink cart pulled in behind us and pointed out a GIANT cherry tree. I'd never seen one before. I had a taste but they are a couple weeks out from what she said so too tart. The thread was interesting timing so I wanted to share a picture I snapped of the cherries growing on the golf course in NJ!

In much of the Northeast deciduous forests you can find them growing very tall (30 to 40' roughly). They get very sparse in fruit because they are competing for light mostly.
 
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