Sour cherries

[Retrograde]

We got lucky this year and got to the sour cherries before the birds did. We picked 4 gallons of them yesterday (and there are still plenty left on the tree for our avian friends): I've already made a cherry clafouti, started some cherry vodka, and am planning a Persian cherry and rice dish for tonight, and I'll probably do a Polish cherry soup tomorrow.

Any other suggestions what to do with them, besides pies (I hate making piecrust)? Most of them are already frozen, but there's a big bowl in the fridge waiting for suggestions. They're a bit too tart to just eat out of hand.

[grasswire]

1. wow!

What I would give for a sour cherry tree!

I was at the Farmers Market this morning and asked every farmer about pie cherries. They are really hard to get.

Cherry jam is really good.

Or you could just make cobblers or crisps. No pie crust needed.

If there is a Trader Joe's near you, they have frozen pie crust that is really quite good. Just thaw and roll it out.

Oh! How about a strudel made with filo dough? Mascarpone cheese and cherry filling, maybe with some liqueur in it?

[Retrograde]

2. Thanks!

Sour cherries are good for small yards, since they're relatively small trees and don't need pollinators. Mine's about 15 years old now, but it's been bearing since it was about 5. The trees are hard to find - f you want one, I suggest mail order. The biggest problem I have with it is the scrub jays, who think it's theirs: since the cherries all ripen at once, and I was out the week they ripened last year, the birds ate every single one.

[tigereye]

8. just saw some at the farmer's market on our way back from Gettysburg

I haven't been adventurous enough to get any yet. Sour cherries seem to be fairly common here in PA during this time of year.

[noamnety]

I have a few sour cherry trees

Cherry flan is a favorite, and super easy to make.

[noamnety]

3. I have a few sour cherry trees

Cherry flan is a favorite, and super easy to make.

[Denninmi]

4. None for me this year.

15 cherry trees total, about half sour and half sweet. Less than a cup of cherries total thanks to freezes at just the wrong time.

However, when I've had good crops, I've dried a lot of them in my dehydrator -- they make the best cherry raisins, and those make the best chocolate chip cookies and brownies. They're also great on salads -- make a mixed green salad, toss on some toasted hazelnuts, grilled or pan fried chicken breast strips, some nice rich cheddar cheese cubes, dried cherries, and use a cherry vinagrette dressing.

[kestrel91316]

5. Sour cherries go for upwards of $8/lb at the cheaper ethnic markets

here. I have no idea what the big grocery chains charge, if they even care them for the nanosecond that they are available. At any rate, they are out of range of my food budget.

[grasswire]

6. chains prolly don't carry them

The chain markets in my city won't even carry local strawberries because they "don't hold up" well. So citizens are not able to buy them unless they can get to the countryside or to a farmers market. Strawberries transported a thousand miles from California are what's available. In the meantime, the local farmer is stiffed, too.

[no_hypocrisy]

7. Made this recipe this morning. Superb. Nothing less.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/dining/23appe.html?hpw

[tigereye]

9. oh my! does that look beautiful or what!

:wow: Am thinking of trying that with peaches I just got at a turnpike farm stand yesterday!