Sour Cherries

I have just received 22 pounds of sour cherries! Would love to know of some tried and true recipes for using the fruit.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Pie. Pie Pie Pie.

Persian Sour Cherry Rice
http://mypersiankitchen.com/albaloo-pol ... -cherries/

Soaked in Rye, Bourbon, dark rum--heck, with that many I'd experiment with some gin even. Muffins. Chocolate cherry cookies (you can freeze). Dry some. Endless possibilities.

Sour Cherry wine? I think it would be awesome.
Me, I'd probably chop and freeze 'em and then drop some in anything I could think of. I could see it in braciole in place of the rasins, dropped into a beef stew, a nice cherry/brandy sauce for chicken or duck, or just come home from work and put a bit in a glass of bourbon...

Pickled with star anise, & Vietnamese cinnamon. Also Ferber has preserve recipes, try apricot, vanilla, and sour cherry.

Pit & halve them, and make jam. Add a split vanilla bean while you're cooking them - really rounds out the flavor. Do use Sure-Jell or Certo, BTW - cherries have almost no natural pectin. And use a full-sugar pectin, too - the sourness of the cherries needs the sweetness.

sundevilpeg wrote:Pit & halve them, and make jam. Add a split vanilla bean while you're cooking them - really rounds out the flavor. Do use Sure-Jell or Certo, BTW - cherries have almost no natural pectin. And use a full-sugar pectin, too - the sourness of the cherries needs the sweetness.

I have a bunch of cherries too, but no time to make jam in the next few days. If I pit, halve, and freeze them, will they be just as good for making jam sometime later?

The frozen, pitted cherries will make perfectly fine jam (though you may have to may have to cook them a little long, if they get icy (and therefore exude more moisture).

I do this all time. You could also use the frozen cherries later for pie filling this winter, when you want a taste of summer.

Thank you all for your suggestions. At this point, I am making:

Today - Sour Cherry Jam - David Lebovitz (with the addition of a vanilla bean)
Tomorrow - Sour Cherry Apricot Jam - Christina Ferber

The rest I will freeze for pies.

Jyoti, make the pickled cherries, trust me! You don't even have to pit them! And I canned them. http://shesimmers.com/2010/06/pickled-c ... blend.html

Ava - those do look good. I'm going to add them to my list. Thanks!

I'm with pairs4life. Pickled cherries are just divine with duck breast, roast duck, or ham. I am planning to score a 5 gallon bucket on my next visit to Grawn, MI. See the Traverse City thread for details about the store at the Cherry Growers' Association. I believe they also do mail order.

jygach wrote:I have just received 22 pounds of sour cherries!

I love the fact that:

(1) You even have 22 pounds of anything, let alone sour cherries, in the first place.
(2) That you were apparently taken unawares by its arrival.
(3) None of us thinks this is the least bit unusual. Because it's probably happened to us at some point, too.

Independent George wrote:

jygach wrote:I have just received 22 pounds of sour cherries!

I love the fact that:

(1) You even have 22 pounds of anything, let alone sour cherries, in the first place.
(2) That you were apparently taken unawares by its arrival.
(3) None of us thinks this is the least bit unusual. Because it's probably happened to us at some point, too.

That's why I love the LTH food tribe which accepts such food excesses without any judgement.
The cherries were a gift from my nephew who frequently indulges my cooking needs in big ways - ever seen a 20 pound block of chocolate!

You could saute some cherries with sugar to taste and a little fresh lemon juice, then use the resulting cherry sauce for ice cream or crepes, or crepes with ice cream

I followed the link to the recipe for pickled cherries and talked myself into trying them too. Just bought the remaining spice ingredients I need today.

Today I finally got around to making the pickled cherries. Almost.

I mean almost in that I almost followed the recipe, except that (1) I substituted a bit of pickling spice mixture for the Szechuan peppercorns (I did use all the other spices listed in the recipe); (2) I didn't have 3 cups of red wine vinegar, so I made up the difference with apple cider vinegar and white vinegar; and (3) I started with leaving the stems on, trimming them to an inch or two, and puncturing each cherry on each side with a fork, until, after the first 30 cherries or so, I decided I had to get on with my life and started just plucking off the stems and skipping the fork-puncturing.

So if they turn out less than fantastic, it will be my own fault for one or more reasons. But I am cautiously optimistic. The recipe doesn't say how long to wait before trying them. Overnight, do you think, or longer?

Katie wrote:Today I finally got around to making the pickled cherries. Almost.

I mean almost in that I almost followed the recipe, except that (1) I substituted a bit of pickling spice mixture for the Szechuan peppercorns (I did use all the other spices listed in the recipe); (2) I didn't have 3 cups of red wine vinegar, so I made up the difference with apple cider vinegar and white vinegar; and (3) I started with leaving the stems on, trimming them to an inch or two, and puncturing each cherry on each side with a fork, until, after the first 30 cherries or so, I decided I had to get on with my life and started just plucking off the stems and skipping the fork-puncturing.

So if they turn out less than fantastic, it will be my own fault for one or more reasons. But I am cautiously optimistic. The recipe doesn't say how long to wait before trying them. Overnight, do you think, or longer?

Hi,

I find when I try pickled foods immediately or soon after processing, I don't like them. Tasting them eight weeks later, I have a far better impression.

Cook's Illustrated long ago had an article on making quick pickles. The purposefully used rice vinegar, because it was softer than white vinegar. They felt it could be eaten immediately instead of some weeks in the future. They also had no plans to water bath process, where 5% vinegar is needed.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:

Katie wrote:Today I finally got around to making the pickled cherries. Almost.

I mean almost in that I almost followed the recipe, except that (1) I substituted a bit of pickling spice mixture for the Szechuan peppercorns (I did use all the other spices listed in the recipe); (2) I didn't have 3 cups of red wine vinegar, so I made up the difference with apple cider vinegar and white vinegar; and (3) I started with leaving the stems on, trimming them to an inch or two, and puncturing each cherry on each side with a fork, until, after the first 30 cherries or so, I decided I had to get on with my life and started just plucking off the stems and skipping the fork-puncturing.

So if they turn out less than fantastic, it will be my own fault for one or more reasons. But I am cautiously optimistic. The recipe doesn't say how long to wait before trying them. Overnight, do you think, or longer?

Hi,

I find when I try pickled foods immediately or soon after processing, I don't like them. Tasting them eight weeks later, I have a far better impression.

Cook's Illustrated long ago had an article on making quick pickles. The purposefully used rice vinegar, because it was softer than white vinegar. They felt it could be eaten immediately instead of some weeks in the future. They also had no plans to water bath process, where 5% vinegar is needed.

Regards,

Agreed. I wait several months to open anything that was pickled and processed. The biggest problem with this is if you lean towards small-batch canning you need to make sure you have enough on hand for a longer period of time, unlike jam where as long as you have enough until the same fruit appears the following year you are okay. This means I should put up something like one/2 jars of a pickle( I have one jar of chow-chow left from last year and i will not be opening it, unfortunately, until all fresh corn is gone)for the next 18 months, not 12. Because once I start canning now, that jar isn't edible/palatable for me until the following winter based on the vinegar.

I know Cathy is awesome at "going big" and putting up bushels, but I run out of steam.

Has anyone ever found sour cherries at a grocer? I am wondering why I never see them outside of Farmers' Markets.

All you can find in the grocery store is frozen or canned. I've never been able to figure out how they can justify charging almost $3 for a can of sour cherries, when the grower receives usually less than $.50 per pound at the processor. 99% of the sour cherries end up at the processor where they are used for pie filling or pies. A small percentage of sours are used to make juice too. Some people swear by sour cherry juice for their gout and arthritis.

Occasionally, very rarely, and not at the larger commodity places. They are softer and more fragile than sweet cherries, and seem to go bad more quickly.

pairs4life wrote:Has anyone ever found sour cherries at a grocer? I am wondering why I never see them outside of Farmers' Markets.

Just saw them at Fresh Farms Niles yesterday. They have a fairly big Eastern European clientele. If you look for them, they were on a large movable shelving cart near the front of the store.

At Lickety Split, I recently had pickled tart cherries with vanilla custard. The contrast between the sweet custard and the sour cherries was phenomenal. The tartness of the cherries was amazingly thirst quenching, but left my mouth longing for another bite of cool sweet custard. It was a battle between extremes, but the effect was amazingly refreshing. Perhaps my new favorite combo. Sweet ice cream topped with tart cherries, I'm a new fan.

EvA wrote:

pairs4life wrote:Has anyone ever found sour cherries at a grocer? I am wondering why I never see them outside of Farmers' Markets.

Just saw them at Fresh Farms Niles yesterday. They have a fairly big Eastern European clientele. If you look for them, they were on a large movable shelving cart near the front of the store.

Thanks.

d4v3 wrote:At Lickety Split, I recently had pickled tart cherries with vanilla custard. The contrast between the sweet custard and the sour cherries was phenomenal. The tartness of the cherries was amazingly thirst quenching, but left my mouth longing for another bite of cool sweet custard. It was a battle between extremes, but the effect was amazingly refreshing. Perhaps my new favorite combo. Sweet ice cream topped with tart cherries, I'm a new fan.

Thanks. Have ypu been hiding Lickity Split? I had to google it.

Lickity Split
6056 N Broadway St, Chicago, IL
(773) 274-0830

pairs4life wrote:Thanks. Have ypu been hiding Lickity Split? I had to google it.

Lickety Split
6056 N Broadway St, Chicago, IL
(773) 274-0830

Sorry. It's one of those places that you just assume everybody knows about. The fact that it seems to be spelled two different ways: Lickety and Lickity , also makes it more confusing (Lickity seems to be official). Either way, if you haven't been, you must go. But make sure you have about 2000 calories to spare. They also have an amazing array of vintage candy bars and retro soda pops, as well as, house made treats (such as chocolate coated chocolate truffles) from Celestial Kitchens and Sweet Attila's Bakeshop. In my book, the Sour Cherries and Vanilla Custard are a must try, especially as the Sour Power Concrete (Sour Cherries, Sweet Vanilla Custard and crushed cookies or sugar cones mixed in).

I live right around the corner from LS, and the vanilla custard with sour cherries was one of my first orders there when it opened. I agree that it is a simple and excellent combo. I have noticed however that sometimes during the year, the sour cherries are not a topping option.

For those looking for non-canned sour cherries, Argo Georgian Bakery sells them frozen in bags. It's not too far a drive from LS.

Argo Georgian Bakery
2812 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60659

pairs4life wrote:

d4v3 wrote:At Lickety Split, I recently had pickled tart cherries with vanilla custard. The contrast between the sweet custard and the sour cherries was phenomenal. The tartness of the cherries was amazingly thirst quenching, but left my mouth longing for another bite of cool sweet custard. It was a battle between extremes, but the effect was amazingly refreshing. Perhaps my new favorite combo. Sweet ice cream topped with tart cherries, I'm a new fan.

Thanks. Have ypu been hiding Lickity Split? I had to google it.

Lickety Split
6056 N Broadway St, Chicago, IL
(773) 274-0830

There is a thread about Lickity Split. It looks like the name gets misspelled. I've been remiss in posting about it myself. A recent sundae of vanilla custard with sour cherries and hot fudge was fantastic.

The GP wrote:

pairs4life wrote:

d4v3 wrote:At Lickety Split, I recently had pickled tart cherries with vanilla custard. The contrast between the sweet custard and the sour cherries was phenomenal. The tartness of the cherries was amazingly thirst quenching, but left my mouth longing for another bite of cool sweet custard. It was a battle between extremes, but the effect was amazingly refreshing. Perhaps my new favorite combo. Sweet ice cream topped with tart cherries, I'm a new fan.

Thanks. Have ypu been hiding Lickity Split? I had to google it.

Lickety Split
6056 N Broadway St, Chicago, IL
(773) 274-0830

There is a thread about Lickity Split. It looks like the name gets misspelled. I've been remiss in posting about it myself. A recent sundae of vanilla custard with sour cherries and hot fudge was fantastic.

I corrected the name in my post. I googled LTH and Lickity Split and found the thread. GP, can you post on your recent sundae and re-invigorate the thread? I consider myself an ice cream/custard/frozen dessert lover and have no idea how I missed the thread.