Cheering for cherries
Four recipes for this versatile fruit.
When I was a child, my favorite flavor was red. If pressed to be specific, I always said my favorite was cherry.
When I became a man I put away childish things, but I still love cherries. At this time of year, when they are so abundant, I can never quite get the stains of cherry juice off my fingers.
Cherries are sweet, of course, and they make basically any dessert better. But they also can be part of savory dishes, too — they add a hint of cherry magic that accentuates the savoriness of the other ingredients. And they are reason enough to order an old fashioned, a Manhattan or an amaretto sour.
So with red-stained hands, I raised a Manhattan to toast cherries, the most glorious of summer glories. And then I made a bunch of dishes that have cherries in them.
I began with Cherry Chipotle Chili, and not entirely because of the alliteration. I was instantly intrigued by the addition of sweet cherries to the spice and the smokiness of the chipotle peppers. I thought the classic combination of sweetness, smoke and heat — think of a spicy barbecue with a sweet, tomato-based sauce — might be good.
I had no idea. This may be my new favorite way to make chili.
At least, that’s how I felt on the second day. It was also pretty good when I first made it, but the sweetness of the cherries was a bit assertive; it stood out from the smooth blend of the other flavors.
But by the next day, the cherries had had a chance to mellow and join the assembly of tastes. On the second day, you get just a hint of sweetness and the flavor of cherries was happily assimilated into the whole.
This is a chili recipe to keep. I stayed in the savory realm with my second dish, Grilled Pork Tenderloin With Cherry Salsa. Pork and cherries are a natural combination, and I liked the fact that the cherries would come in the form of a chunky sauce.
I was also attracted to the recipe by the fact that the tenderloin is marinated briefly before grilling. Marinating a tenderloin is never necessary, but it doesn’t hurt. This marinade has the bite of lime juice mixed with shallots, along with plenty of cilantro.
Those ingredients are also featured in the salsa, along with the freshness of cherries and a bit of pepper for extra punch. The salsa is great on its own — one tastetester said she wanted to make it to serve with tortilla chips — but here it also amplifies everything that is so wonderful about grilled pork tenderloin.
For my first sweet dish, I made a pastry that is not too sweet, despite its name. Sweet Cherry-