pickled cherries (times two)

i have never been a cherry person.

growing up, while all the other

kids were reaching for cherry

ice pops,

lollipops,

candies,

i held back because i always

knew the sour apple or grape

that i was hoping for was not

in danger of disappearing.

(oddly enough,

i had a conversation with my

sister this week about her

similar dislike of cherry starbursts.)

it wasn't until i was older

that i really understood that cherries -

fleetingly available, expensive, messy to eat cherries -

are lovely and fruity and offer the

very best of summer.

i hold true to my original belief -

i'm still not one for cherry flavored things.

but, apparently, i kind of love cherries.

last week, i, as many people i know,

came into a huge lot of cherries. i was torn

between eating them immediately or saving

and playing. ultimately, thanks to my work

schedule, i opted for the latter.

after a brief conversation with larry,

he asked if cherries could be pickled.

magic words. i recently told someone that

if i don't know what to do with a vegetable

lately, i pickle it or pesto it. i was not feeling

cherry pesto, and i was totally into making

the already tart cherries, ultra tangy.

i researched recipes and decided on something

i'm often guilty of - talking myself into making

something that i have a very good reason not to

make. (it requires a skill i don't think i can handle,

i can't find something that is vital to the recipe, but

make it anyway, or the worst

- and the culprit this time - convincing

myself that an ingredient i don't care for will be

delicious when utilized in this particular capacity.)

i haven't had five spice powder for years.

the last time i tasted it,

the mixture had been used to jazz up a sauce

for chicken. i wasn't crazy about. it was the star anise.

i'm just not a licorice person - hence my major issue

with fennel, anise and several other things.

but since then, i've sampled it in other dishes that

had not been so bad: larry's pho from mo pho,

a seafood dish on vacation, a dessert that's kind

of foggy in my memory.

when i saw a recipe that involved star anise,

i remembered the richness of the pho and i

decided to take a chance.

pickling the cherries was easy. larry poked

holes in their flesh as i mixed together the

brine of cinnamon sticks, star anise, black

peppercorns, red wine vinegar and brown sugar.

as it boiled, the house smelled delicious.

i poured the mixture over the cherries and let

them sit. an hour later, before leaving for

the evening, i sampled one. it reminded me of

something. when we returned home, i had a second

and it hit me: it tasted like medicine. and now

i had a whole big batch of medicinal cherries.

as i tried to go to sleep that night, my mind

wandered back and forth: why can't i sleep?

why did i think the star anise was a good idea?

why didn't i just go with a flavor profile

that i knew i liked? wasn't pickling cherries

risky enough? i will never be able to wake

up in the morning. i should have made them spicy!

the next night, i surveyed the chiles at the market.

i was not feeling jalapenos or serranos - and if i

had been, i have a stockpile in a pot on our deck (yay

for keeping something alive!) - nor, was i into

the other options. as i placed the habanero

into a bag, i was pretty sure i was crazy and

seriously sadistic when it came to these cherries.

at home, i tossed together the habanero, now

halved, cinnamon sticks, white

wine vinegar, palm sugar, left over

from the sriracha, and salt. i boiled the mixture

together and poked the cherries

(smarter this time - i used only a portion of my

remaining quantity). this time i notice that

when you poke holes in the cherries,

they make a mess. when the mixture

had boiled for a couple minutes and cooled

slightly, i poured it on top of the fruits

and while i was scared of the spice, i already

knew this batch was a winner.

the other ones? they're ok.

in fact, i can see how someone who

is not me would really enjoy them.

but, the spicy cherries? they're the ones

i regret not making more of - and sadly,

that's now what's on my mind late at night

when i really should be asleep.

pickled cherries (times two)

i'm including both recipes because i know that just because the first version is not my favorite, it doesn't mean it can't be yours. in both recipes, i poked the cherries about four times with a fork, a trick i learned from the internet. this makes it easier for the brine to infiltrate the cherries and helps the cherries to release their own juices into the brine.

star anise, black peppercorn and brown sugar pickled cherries

adapted from shesimmers.com

i played around a lot with this recipe, changing the peppercorns, opting for brown sugar (and less of it) and eliminating the bay leaf and the fennel seeds, just to name a few. i also halved the amount of cherries, used two-thirds of the vinegar and did not reduce the brine.

2 cups red wine vinegar

1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons granulated brown sugar

3 cinnamon sticks or 1 large cinnamon stick, broken into 3 pieces

2 pieces star anise

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 1/4 pounds cherries

in small saucepot, combine vinegar, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, star anise and kosher salt. rub the peppercorns between your hands as you add the to the pot. over high heat, bring to a boil; reduce heat and let simmer 5 minutes. remove from heat; let cool 10 minutes.

meanwhile, using fork, poke cherries 4 times. place in bowl. pour slightly cooled brine mixture over cherries, pressing on cherries to make sure they're all under the brine. let sit at room temperature 2 hours. cover bowl tightly or transfer to a cleaned glass jar with lids. chill in fridge.

habanero, cinnamon and palm sugar pickled cherries

i will not lie - these are spicy. but, they were nowhere near as spicy as i feared they would be when i opted to use the habanero. i used one very long cinnamon stick, which i think is equivilant to about 3 normal size cinnamon sticks. this is the same amount i used for the first cherries, but because i used a lot less vinegar, the cinnamon was significantly more prominent. and, opted for palm sugar, because i had it in the fridge, but i'm sure you could use whichever sugar you have in the house. oh, and one last thing, i used two cups of cherries, but i'm pretty sure i could have used at least 1/2 cup more, if not a full cup for the amount of brine i had.

these cherries were great in a salad with arugula, pickled onions and goat cheese.

1 1/3 cups white wine vinegar

3 cinnamon sticks or 1 very long cinnamon stick, broken into three pieces

1 habanero pepper, halved

1/4 cup palm sugar

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 packed cups cherries

in small saucepot, combine vinegar, cinnamon sticks, habanero pepper, palm sugar and kosher salt. bring to a boil over high heat; reduce to heat to low and simmer 5 minutes. let cool 10 minutes.

meanwhile, using fork, poke each cherry 4 times. place cherries in a medium bowl. top with slightly cooled brine mixture, shaking slightly to make sure all the cherries are under the brine. let sit at least 2 hours at room temperature. transfer to a clean glass jar or cover bowl tightly. store in fridge.

so lucky

so remember the marshmallows?

the ones that i botched and had to pry

free from a cutting board,

cursing myself in the process?

well, it turns out that little incident

didn't matter - they must have still tasted

a little sweet, slightly spiced, a bit chocolatey,

light and airy, just like i intended,

because the squares have been chosen

as a finalist in this week's contest on food52.

if you remember how much

i love making marshmallows,

then you know what it means to me

that they are even under consideration for

the cookbook. another highlight: in

their description of the recipe, amanda

and merrill said that they had fun

making them. that made my day.

you can find the recipe here.

i made cranberry sauce muffins (then got news that made my day)

i was off on wednesday.

i woke up with a clear plan:

shop for dinner,

shop for muffin ingredients.

make muffins,

make dinner.

i was planning to tell you

about the muffins a week

from now, when we were closer

to thanksgiving and they were

sure to make a little more sense.

but then on thursday something really

great happened.

--

it was august when i found out

about food52. i was reading another

blog, talking about this recipe contest:

two winners each week, both

published in a book at the end of the year.

i pretty much enter any situation with

trepidation (sadly, true), and this?

if i entered, this would really be putting

myself out there. i'm not going to lie,

the blog in the beginning, was scary.

but in that really good way.

like the blog, i had a feeling that

food52 would be a good

thing to be a part of, for the community of it,

the inspiration and, yes, the possibility

of submitting a winning recipe.

after weeks of watching

and waiting for a category that i felt

strong and confident about, i entered

into the smoked paprika contest with

sherry steamed clams. i didn't win, but

it was not at all the scary experience i

thought it could be. so, i entered again

with a variation of the squid stew.

after a few contests, i felt

like i hit my groove and have continued

to enter when inspiration strikes.

two weeks ago, i entered the contest for

best cranberry sauce. and on thursday,

i found out that i was a finalist.

it's a recipe, i feel, that is true

to me and who i am as a cook:

not completely traditional,

but not so wacky either.

it's full of flavors and

different textures,

and, the whole thing is made

in one pot, so cleanup is minimal.

while i will not back peddle and say that i didn't

feel passionate about the other recipes

that i submitted, i know i can

stand by the cranberry sauce,

regardless of if it makes its way

in the cookbook or not.

--

the only problem with making

cranberry sauce a month before

the holiday, is that there are leftovers.

a lot of leftovers. and considering

that my thanksgiving day plate usually

holds only one small piece

of obligatory turkey, anyway,

i was not about to make anything

turkey now. i thought about fish,

and briefly toyed with chicken,

then thumbprint cookies,

before having a dream that i

made cranberry sauce muffins.

when i woke up, i realized

that it was not such a bad idea.

i planned to adapt a muffin recipe

that i already had, but then all it

took was one click of the button

to realize something:

someone else had already thought

of it. of course. what was i thinking?

so, i read a few and decided to

go with a recipe published last year

in serious eats. i was drawn to

this particular take because of

the whole grain flour and

oats, combined with a small amount

of oil and only one egg.

i was looking for something slightly

wholesome, not rich and buttery.

(in spite of liking the

good-for-you additions,

i'll admit one thing.

without a recipe in hand, i had

picked up white chocolate the

the night before, sure that it

was what the

muffins would need

to play off the tartness

of the cranberry.)

the other thing i liked was that,

with a few modifications,

i had all the ingredients in the

house. sure, i had to swap out the

skim milk for 1%, which is odd

because we are usually a skim

milk househould, and i used

whole wheat flour instead of

whole grain because that's what

was stashed in the freezer.

but otherwise? all in the kitchen.

i cut my shopping trip in half.

there is absolutely nothing

complicated about this recipe

and if you're not trying to

make cheese at the same time

(more on that later),

the muffins should take you

no more than 10 minutes

to mix together.

i added the white chocolate

in, which i kind of liked -

the pieces added sweetness and

moisture, to an otherwise

almost savory muffin.

but, if i didn't have any in the

house - or if you, like many,

are not a fan - i'd leave it

out and not worry.

also, i will tell you,

once simmered into a sauce,

cooled and then baked into

muffins, the cranberries

are not as tart as they once were.

these, i think, are great

to bake, cool and

throw in the freezer -

perfect to thaw for yourself as needed.

if i'm being completely honest,

i'm not sure these are the muffins

i would whip up for company.

unless, of course, the company

is your immediate family who doesn't

judge and who you cook for all the time

and are so famished after waking up

from their thanksgiving comas,

they're just impressed that you

made last night's cranberry sauce

into this morning's baked good.

cranberry sauce and white chocolate muffins

adapted from michael harr via serious eats

you can use any leftover cranberry sauce - what i loved about using mine (wow, that sounds snobby) is that it was made with walnuts and grated pear, so as the sauce was incorporated with the other wet ingredients, nuts and pears created their own pockets in the finished muffin. two weird things about this recipe: 1) it said that it should make about 12 muffins, but i had a lot more batter. i decided to make mini muffins with the remaining batter and i actually liked those better than the big ones. but that may be because of 2) the baking temperature. i bake most things somewhere in the 300-350 range. this recipe calls for 400˚f for 20-22 minutes. if i had used my head sooner, would have lowered it by 50˚. but i didn't, and at 19 minutes, the large muffins were browner than i would have liked. if i make these again, i will stick to normal baking temperatures. here is the recipe, how i made it.

1 cup all-purpose flour, divided

4 ounces white chocolate, chopped into small pieces (optional)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup quick-cooking oats

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups leftover cranberry sauce (recipe below)

1/2 cup 1% milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

heat oven to 400˚f. line wells of a muffin tin with paper baking cups. have a mini muffin tin on standby, just in case. (because i didn't expect to use the small muffin tin, i didn't have it out. after finding it under everything else i owned, i didn't bother adding muffin cups - i just coated the tin with nonstick spray.)

in small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour with white chocolate pieces; set aside.

in large bowl, combine remaining all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. in medium bowl, whisk together milk, oil, cranberry sauce and egg. using spatula, fold all dry ingredients into wet ingredients; stir just until moistened. fold in white chocolate pieces.

fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way full; spoon extra in greased mini muffin pan.

bake 20-22 minutes, or until just golden brown (i'd start checking somewhere around 15 minutes if you bake at this high a temperature), and toothpick inserted in muffins comes out clean. for mini muffins, bake 8-10 minutes.

let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

pear, brandy and walnut cranberry sauce

1/3 cup, plus 2-3 tablespoons brandy, divided

water

2 cinnamon sticks, each broken in half

8 black peppercorns

12 ounces fresh cranberries, picked over

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 medium bartlett pears, peeled (ripe, but still firm)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted and divided

pour 1/3 cup brandy into liquid measuring cup; add enough water to equal 1/2 cup water total. set aside. place cinnamon sticks and peppercorns in in cheesecloth or large tea bag; tie closed using kitchen twine.

in medium saucepot, combine cranberries, brown sugar and cinnamon-pepper bundle. using large holes on box grater, grate pears into saucepot. stir in brandy-water mixture.

over high heat, bring cranberry mixture to a boil; reduce heat to medium and cook 10-12 minutes, or until cranberries have burst and the mixture has combined, stirring occasionally. remove from heat.

stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons brandy. let cool. remove and discard cinnamon bundle; stir in all but 1 tablespoon toasted walnuts. transfer mixture to a small seving bowl; sprinkle with remaining walnuts.