Recipe: The sweet fruit is paired with blanched almonds
(Photos by Kathy Morrison) |
Sweet cherries are so good by themselves that it almost seems a waste to cook them. Anytime I've put them in a quick bread or muffin, I've been disappointed; the bright cherry flavor seems muted. A clafoutis features the fruit better but it requires -- oh, no -- turning on the oven. (Yes, it's getting hot out there, folks, and it's only mid May.)
This compote, a new recipe from the New York Times, struck me as a better way to go. It serves as a fancy dessert, or the start of one, but requires only stovetop cooking time and some refrigerator chill. There is the pitting to do, but my little plunger-pitter made that go fairly fast.
Blanched whole almonds are the other half of the dish, and if you don't mind some tedious work slipping off the almond skins, they are worth doing at home. (Hint: Get some kids to help -- they'll enjoy squirting the soakedalmonds from their rough skins.) Or buy whole blanched almonds if you can find them. Blanched slivered almonds will give the dish a different texture, but they work as a substitute.
I found some gorgeous Brooks cherries at one of the local farm stands to use in this recipe. Brooks are early-season cherries, with a touch of tartness. They have a local pedigree, too: developed at the University of California, Davis, in the 1960s as a variety with low chilling requirements, ideal for growing in the Central Valley.
The finished chilled compote can be served by itself in fancy glass dishes, maybe with some shortbread alongside, or can be draped over poundcake or vanilla ice cream.
Note: This recipe contains liqueur, but if you prefer not to use it, substitute some orange juice.
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| A cherry pitter is essential equipment. |
Cherry-Almond Compote
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
1 cup whole blanched almonds (see below for how to blanch them at home)
1 pound fresh red cherries, pitted
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons orange or almond liqueur, such as Cointreau or Amaretto
2 or 3 drops almond extract
Instructions:
If blanching the almonds yourself: Start with 1 cup whole raw almonds. Place them in a heat-safe bowl and pour enough boiling water over to cover them. Let the almonds soak about 5 minutes, then drain.
Rub the skins off while the almonds are still warm. A few will be stubborn; set those aside and try again after a few minutes.
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Whole cherries and whole almonds make a delicious light
dessert.
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To make the compote: Place the pitted cherries and any juices in a wide, shallow skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle the granulated sugar over them and cook, stirring occasionally to bring the sugar crystals at the edges into the developing syrup. Cook until the cherries are heated through and the syrup is obvious and smooth, about 7-10 minutes.
Remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in the liqueur and the almond extract, then add the almonds.
Scrape the compote into a serving bowl and chill, covered, until ready to serve. Compote can be made 2 days ahead of serving.
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Garden Checklist for week of May 12
Get your gardening chores and irrigation done early in the day before temperatures rise.
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions. This heat will cause leafy greens and onions to flower; pick them before they bolt.
* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters.
* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.
* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.
* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.
* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.
* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.
* Got fruit trees? If you haven't already done so, thin orchard fruit such as apples, peaches, pears, pluots and plums before they grow too heavy, breaking branches or even splitting the tree. Leave the largest fruit on the branch, culling the smaller ones, and allow for 5 to 6 inches (or a hand's worth) between each fruit.
* Thin grape bunches, again leaving about 6 inches between them. For the remaining bunches, prune off the "tail" end, about the bottom third of the bunch, so that the plant's energy is concentrated in the fruit closest to the branch.
* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.
* Add mulch to the garden to help keep that precious water from evaporating. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.
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