Sweet or tart, stock up on fresh cherries this summer
It’s June and for me that means the arrival of fresh cherries from all over the place. I have a friend with several trees. While there isn’t a crop every year, thanks to Mother Nature this year is an exceptional one for her cherry trees.
Exalted and an integral part of Japanese culture, cherry trees became known as a symbol of friendship. The blooms are breathtaking, but the fruit is the prize. By mid-June we see the first ones arrive on the market and they will usually continue until August from sources throughout the South.
I’ll be headed to Idaho to help kick off the 84th Annual Emmett Cherry Festival. If you care about cherries at all, it’s the place to be. But if staying closer to home is a necessity, you can still enjoy plenty of fresh cherries for cobblers, ice cream, pies, canning and even salsa.
Whether sweet or tart is your preference, you’ll want to stock up now since freezing this fruit is so easy. And since the frozen shelf life is up to a year, there’s plenty of time to get creative with how you want to use them. There is really no need to thaw them ahead of Ellen, here is the recipe I have been making for years. Take a pint of stemmed, pitted sour cherries and add them to a cup of simmering maraschino liqueur, available at your liquor store. Remove it from the heat and allow to cool completely. Then transfer to a canning jar and refrigerate. time since they do so quickly.
When purchasing, select those that are brightly colored, shiny and plump. Sweet cherries will be firm, but not rock hard. Sour cherries tend to be a little softer. Resist the urge to wash all of them after you get home. Instead, wash only those that you are going to enjoy right away. Washing before storage hastens decay. Just refrigerate in a loosely closed bag and wait on the cool spray of water until you are ready to use them. Cherries with the stems can be stored longer than those with the stems removed.
Tammy Algood of Smyrna is the author of five Southern cookbooks. Reach her at ttalgood@bellsouth.net.