Pear Chutney with Dried Cherries and Ginger

Tags

canning, cherry, chutney, ginger, gluten free, home grown, pear, preserving

I love chutney. It has so many possibilities with it’s tangy sweetness. I serve it with pork, on little cheese toasts like those pictured below, and occasionally just eat it plain. This chutney is canned in a hot water bath. The idea is that I will give jars away as Christmas gifts, assuming they make it that long.

Pear Chutney with Dried Cherries and Ginger (from Food in Jars)

• 3/4 cup dried cherries, chopped roughly
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 3 tbsp freshly grated ginger
• 1 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
• 1/8 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp brandy
• 4 cups roughly chopped pears (4-5 medium pears)
• 2/3 cup sugar

Place dried cherries in a heat-proof bowl or measuring cup and pour boiling water over top. Set aside.

Heat a large, non-reactive pot or skillet over medium heat. Add oil and heat until it shimmers. Add onion and sea salt and cook until the onion softened and develops a bit of color. Add ginger, mustard seeds and cardamom and cook until spices are fragrant and the mustard seeds begin to pop. Add vinegar and brand to pan and use a wooden spoon to work up any bits of fond on the bottom of the pan. Add dried cherries and their liquid. Add chopped pears and sugar and stir to combine. Reduce heat to low, put a lid on the pan and let pears simmer gently for 30-35 minutes so that they soften.

When the pears can be crushed with the back of a wooden spoon, remove the lid from the pot. Increase the heat to high and cook quickly, stirring regularly, to help reduce any remaining liquid. When chutney is no longer at all watery and looks deeply colored, take a taste. Makes adjustments as needed.

When chutney is fully cooked down and tastes good to you, ladle it into three prepared half pint jars. Wipe rims, apply lids and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. When time is up, remove jars from canning pot and let them cool on a folded kitchen towel. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and eaten within a week. Sealed jars can be kept in the pantry for up to one year. Makes 3 half pints.

Advertisement

Cherry Bourbon Fizz

Tags

beverage, bourbon, cherry, citrus, cocktail, Woodford Reserve

Talk about some yummy for your tummy… and your taste buds. This cocktail is simple to throw together and has maximum impact. I love that it is a simpler, one serving version of my Bourbon Cherry Lemonade. Definitely adding this cocktail to my regular rotation.

One year ago: Baklava!!!

Cherry Bourbon Fizz

• 4 ripe, juicy cherries
• 1-2 tsp. granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 ounces bourbon (Woodford Reserve is my fav!)
• 1/2 ounce lime juice
• Splash of soda

Muddle 3 of the cherries and the sugar in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Fill the shaker halfway with ice. Add the bourbon and lime juice, and shake. Strain into a cocktail glass with a few cubes of ice. Add the splash of soda and stir gently. Drop in the last cherry as a garnish, and serve.

Cherry Apple Sorbet

Tags

apple, cherry, dessert, gluten free, sorbet

This sorbet is special for several reasons- 1) the micro bits of blended fruit add texture, 2) the rosemary adds a really nice subtle flavor, and 3) your have plenty of flavor without the added calories of ice cream. What a great way to get in your fruit!! 😀

One Year Ago: Hashbrown Casserole

Cherry Apple Sherbet (A variation of a recipe from Of Gates and Madeleines)

• 10 oz cherries, washed and pitted
• 1 apple, peeled and shredded
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 2 tbsp water
• Juice from 1/3rd of a lemon
• Small piece of lemon peel
• 1 small sprig of rosemary
• 1/4 c. milk

Combine all ingredients except milk in a medium saucepan and simmer over medium low heat for twenty to thirty minutes. Stir occasionally, don’t allow mixture to stick to the pan. Remove rosemary.

In a blender, puree mixture. Pulse in a food processor. The end product will have some texture. Add milk and blend. Spoon into a container and freeze for 24 hours.

She’s My Cherry Pie!

Tags

cherry, dessert, pastry, pie, tart

She’s my cherry pie,
Cool drink of water, such a sweet surprise.
Tastes so good, make a grown man cry,
Sweet cherry pie.

Cherry Pie

• 2 cups sour pie cherries, pitted and with their own juice
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 2 pie crusts

In a saucepan, heat cherries and sugar until sugar is melted. Remove 3 tbsp of cherry juice and whisk into it the all purpose flour, being sure to get out all the lumps. Stir the flour/juice mixture back into the cherries and heat until the filling starts to thicken.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a glass pie plate, place the first layer of crust. Pur pie filling into the crust. Top with second crust in desired fashion. I did a lattice but if you dont want to take that time, you could just cut a small design (this allows the steam to escape). Wrap a thin edge of foil over the pie crust edges and place into oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil from edges and place back in oven. Bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned. When you remove the pie, be careful because sloshing pie filling onto your skin would result in a killer burn. Allow to cool some before serving with ice cream or enjoy in it’s simplicity.