Tag Archives: recipes

Cherry Vodka

Posted on by
1

Yet another way to use up cherries.

On Friday, when I was just getting down to the last 5 pounds of yellow (but amazingly delicious) Rainier cherries in my fridge, another client dropped off 18 pounds of what I think were sweethearts — a type of red cherry. I could barely fit them in my fridge and was very happy to give about 1/3 of them to my neighbor (the one who let me park my helicopter on his driveway).

That left me with at least 15 pounds of cherries.

I like cherries even more than the next person and, unlike lots of people, don’t have digestive problems when I eat “too many.” In fact, until I got this big box, I didn’t know how many were “too many.” Now I do.

I did a helicopter winery tour on Saturday that brought me to Malaga Springs Winery in Malaga, WA. While I was there, I chatted with Al, the winemaker, and mentioned the cherries. I told him I was running out of things to do with them.

That’s when he suggested that I make cherry liquor. The directions are very easy:

Ingredients:

  • Fresh cherries, pitted and cut. I quartered them.
  • Sugar, to taste. This is optional. The cherries I had were so sweet — especially those darn Rainiers — that I didn’t use sugar.
  • Vodka. Although I suppose any vodka would do the trick, I don’t drink junk liquor so I used Absolut.

Instructions:

  1. Wash, pit, and cut the cherries.
  2. If you’re adding sugar, mix the sugar in with the cherries.
  3. Cherry LiquorPack a clean, dry canning jar with as many cherry pieces as you can. Because I had all those Rainiers that were starting to get a little old, I layered them in the middle of the jar (Al’s idea) which made each jar a little more interesting looking than if it had been packed with just red or yellow cherries.
  4. Slowly top off the jar with as much vodka as will fit in the jar. You might want to tap the jar on the countertop once or twice to release air bubbles and then top it off again.
  5. Seal the jar snugly.
  6. Store for at least six to eight months.

According to Al, using a canning process or refrigeration is not necessary. (If I suddenly stop blogging about six to eight months from now, throw out your cherries.)

I made six 1-pint jars, using wide-mouth canning jars so I could easily scoop out the cherries when they’re ready to eat. Al says the cherry/vodka mix is great on ice cream and that the cherry-infused vodka is good as a sweet drink. I’m thinking it’ll make a great cherry martini.

When I open the first jar early next year, I’ll be sure to blog about it and let you know how it goes. In the meantime, if you give this a try or have ideas for other ways it can be done, please share your ideas in the comments for this post.

Easy Cherry Turnovers

Posted on by
1

It shouldn’t be this easy.

Cherries

These organic Rainier cherries aren’t quite red enough for sale, but they taste amazing. Shame to let them go to waste.

It’s cherry season in Central Washington State and for me, based here, time to come up with new recipes for the nearly limitless supplies of fresh-picked fruit. Last year, I made Easy Cherry Cobbler for One and Cherry Chutney. These Easy Cherry Turnovers are my first successful experiment this season.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups cherries, pitted and cut into halves or quarters. I (obviously) use fresh cherries; today I used Rainiers that had been left on the tree because they weren’t quite red enough for market. (This is the second year this grower has left behind his excellent organic cherries and allowed me to pick them. I filled two 2-1/2 gallon buckets, shared some with friends, and still have at least 10 pounds left.) Although you can use frozen cherries, if you’re going to do that, you may as well buy Sara Lee frozen turnovers and skip this recipe completely.
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
  • Puff PastryPie crust dough, phyllo dough, or puff pastry sheets. A purist would make pie crust from scratch. I’m living in an RV with limited kitchen facilities, so that’s not really an option for me. Besides, I make really crappy pie crust from scratch. Someone with slightly less ambition might use frozen phyllo dough to make a flaky base for the turnovers. I’m not that ambitious. Instead, I used frozen Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets.
  • 2 tablespoons milk. This is optional, to brush the tops of the turnovers.
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar. This is also optional, to sprinkle on top of the turnovers.

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Combine the cherries with cinnamon and stir well to coat. If the cherries aren’t sweet — mine were very sweet — you could add some sugar, but I’d recommend not doing that. Don’t we have enough added sugar in our diets?
  3. If necessary, roll dough to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into squares about 4 inches on each side. This is really easy with the Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets I used; I just defrosted them, unfolded them, and cut them into quarters. Result: 8 squares.
  4. Cherries in PastrySpoon about 1/4 cup cherries into the middle of a pastry square. Then fold diagonally and seal by pinching two open sides. It’s important to get a good seal if you want the cherries and their juices to stay inside the turnover. Repeat for remaining squares and cherries.
  5. If desired, brush with milk and sprinkle with brown sugar.
  6. On Pie PanPlace turnovers on a lightly greased cookie sheet. (Again, with my limited kitchen facilities, all I had was a pizza pan, which would not fit all eight, so I had to make them in batches.)
  7. Bake for about 45 minutes. Your time will vary. I have a tiny RV oven and the temperature might not be accurate. It’s important to start checking them after about 30 minutes. The tops should be browned when done but be careful not to bake them so long that the bottoms burn.
  8. Cool for at least 15 minutes before eating.

Cherry TurnoversYields: 8 turnovers.

I’m here by myself, so I really don’t need 8 turnovers. I’ll freeze the extras and pull them out for breakfasts over the next few weeks.

If you do give this recipe a try, please share your comments about it here. I’m also very interested in any variations you come up with. I bet it would work nicely with pears or apples if the fruit was cut up small enough to cook.

The Best Pound Cake You’ll Ever Make

Posted on by
Comment

Make this once and you’ll never buy store-bought pound cake again.

I really thought I’d already shared this recipe — it’s one of my favorite things to eat — but I can’t find it in the blog, so here it is.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
  • 1-2/3 cup sugar
  • 5 eggs
  • 1-3/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

  1. Bring all ingredients to room temperature.
  2. Preheat oven to 325°F.
  3. Butter and lightly flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
  4. In a large mixer, cream the butter.
  5. Slowly add the sugar and beat until light.
  6. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well.
  7. On a slower mixer setting, stir in the flour, salt, and vanilla and combine well.
  8. Spoon batter into the prepared pan.
  9. Bake for 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake!
  10. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack.

Pound CakeHere are a few additional notes:

  • As you’re mixing this, be sure to scrape the sides of the mixer bowl and blades frequently with a spatula. The mixture must be smooth and consistent throughout.
  • Do not substitute margarine or any other butter substitute product. I think it might cause your oven to explode. If dietary constraints prevent you from having real butter, you shouldn’t be eating pound cake.
  • The original recipe called for 2 cups cake flour. I have been making this recipe for more than 20 years and have always substituted 1-3/4 cups of regular flour. It has always turned out fine. I did try it once with cake flour (just to see if I was missing something) and, in my opinion, it wasn’t any better. Certainly not a good reason to keep cake flour around the kitchen if you don’t otherwise need it.
  • The best versions of this cake were made with eggs fresh from my own chickens. The extra large, rich yolks really made a difference.

Now you might think: Ho-hum, pound cake. How dull. Stop thinking that right now. Serve 1/2-inch slices of this cake at room temperature, topped with fresh berries (strawberries work best, cut into small pieces) and fresh whipped cream made with only a tiny bit of added sugar. People will love it. (Do not put Cool Whip or any other “whipped topping” on this; I think it might cause your hair to fall out.)

If you take this cake and cut it into 12 servings, here’s the nutritional information for each serving. It’s extremely rich, though, so you shouldn’t need more than one slice.

If you make this, let me know what you think.