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thewayneWe had a very good harvest this year and I've never made a cherry pie before, so this year I did! My previous experience was with one apple pie for Pi Day a few years back and multiple chocolate mousse pies using Oreo crusts, so this was a little bit of an adventure.
The BIG labor was in halving and pitting SIX cups of cherries! Aside from having very sore and stained hands, this was definitely the worst part of the process. Next time I'm enlisting the spousal unit! I found a Ree Drummon recipe (The Pioneer Chef on Food Network) that was remarkably easy, since once again I wimped and used a frozen crust. 2/3rds cup of granulated sugar, cook until bubbly. Add two tablespoons balsamic vinegar. Separately mix together half a cup of corn starch and half a cup of lemon juice (two lemons), then mix that in with the cherries. It thickens nicely. Let cool completely. Pour in to crust, bake until crust is brown and cherries are bubbling. Let cool completely before cutting and devouring.
I may be too late to get more cherries, I don't know. I made this ten days ago. She actually recommended using canned cherries! I can't think of anything more appalling. I'm going to take a look at frozen cherries, they might be of an acceptable quality.
The taste was absolutely fantastic. I used a frozen pastry crust that's probably been up in the freezer for at least 3 years, and it worked just fine. Russet wanted a lattice-work crust: I'm not yet at the confidence level to make my own pie dough, but I'm getting there. Now that I'm confident with the fillings, once I get some cabinet surface area re-established, I'll give it a go.
A friend of mine complimented me on the rich color from the local cherries and the lack of water seepage. I'm wondering if the lemon juice and the corn starch in the 50/50 blend prevented that: simple syrup is also exactly a 50/50 mix. I don't know, I'm not that much of a food scientist.
The BIG labor was in halving and pitting SIX cups of cherries! Aside from having very sore and stained hands, this was definitely the worst part of the process. Next time I'm enlisting the spousal unit! I found a Ree Drummon recipe (The Pioneer Chef on Food Network) that was remarkably easy, since once again I wimped and used a frozen crust. 2/3rds cup of granulated sugar, cook until bubbly. Add two tablespoons balsamic vinegar. Separately mix together half a cup of corn starch and half a cup of lemon juice (two lemons), then mix that in with the cherries. It thickens nicely. Let cool completely. Pour in to crust, bake until crust is brown and cherries are bubbling. Let cool completely before cutting and devouring.
I may be too late to get more cherries, I don't know. I made this ten days ago. She actually recommended using canned cherries! I can't think of anything more appalling. I'm going to take a look at frozen cherries, they might be of an acceptable quality.
The taste was absolutely fantastic. I used a frozen pastry crust that's probably been up in the freezer for at least 3 years, and it worked just fine. Russet wanted a lattice-work crust: I'm not yet at the confidence level to make my own pie dough, but I'm getting there. Now that I'm confident with the fillings, once I get some cabinet surface area re-established, I'll give it a go.
A friend of mine complimented me on the rich color from the local cherries and the lack of water seepage. I'm wondering if the lemon juice and the corn starch in the 50/50 blend prevented that: simple syrup is also exactly a 50/50 mix. I don't know, I'm not that much of a food scientist.
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Date: 2017-07-12 11:44 pm (UTC)I've made apple pies and cheese cakes (and basic cakes and quick breads). No one here but me would eat cherries.
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Date: 2017-07-12 11:55 pm (UTC)With the exception of an hour-long Throwdown With Bobby Flay when they did a Thanksgiving challenge, I've never watched her show. While I can appreciate that she's frequently cooking for a large number of farm/ranch hands (as I understand it), that's not really an excuse for using canned things -- look at what Robert Irvine was able to do with Dinner: Impossible. While I do use frozen things, it's all IQF (individually quick frozen), such as peas for pasta. I used canned beans and tomatoes as we don't have regular and reliable farmer's markets here, but those are always in conjunction with other things, never the core of the meal. Cheese cakes, eh? That's a somewhat tricky proposition! I've always wanted to do creme brule, but that's another thing that I haven't done yet. Got the torch for it, though - straight from Home Depot. :-) I really like my chocolate mousse, has a teaspoon or so of chili powder in it, just enough for a slight zing. II had a chocolate mousse at our local diner - they put it on top of a flourless torte! So now I want to make a flourless torte to put my mousse on top of! Apple pies are fun, I plan one for the not distant future. I have a peeler/slicer that does a fantastic job, one of the few uni-taskers in the kitchen. Well, off to make meatloaf for dinner! Should have done the veg an hour ago or so. (Roasted vegetable balsamic glaze meatloaf: two bell peppers + zucchini)
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Date: 2017-07-13 02:34 am (UTC)It's kind of funny, I wasn't a cherry fan until I moved up here where they're grown. For me, prior to moving up here, my main exposure had been the never sufficiently cursed Maraschino cherry. That's just a chemical bomb that has no business being ingested. Now that I've had a good cherry, my opinion has definitely changed. AND, I'll definitely NEVER have a Maraschino again, not that I'd eat one in the first place.
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Date: 2017-07-13 05:04 pm (UTC)I'd love to try your chocolate mousse. Dark chocolate and chili pepper is one of my favorite combinations.
ETA: You should try something similar with cranberries come fall.
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Date: 2017-07-14 09:35 pm (UTC)The funny thing is that I was not a fan of cherries until I moved up here, where cherries are actually grown. Down in Phoenix my most common exposure was the abomination known as Maraschino, worthless chemical bombs that they are. Now that I've had real cherries, I like them.
Cranberries? Possibility. My wife likes to make a cranberry chutney for Thanksgiving or Xmas, which is basically cranberries, zested orange, some sugar, then beaten to death in an industrial-strength mixer. I definitely want to do more with apple pie, but that's possible year-round. I've heard of apple/cran, so maybe something like that? Maybe with some walnuts?
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Date: 2017-07-13 06:52 pm (UTC)I made an apple pie from scratch for Thanksgiving last year. While it was a bit of work, I suspect the coring and peeling wasn't anywhere near as big a task as pitting all those cherries was for you. I did make a crust from scratch, which turned out far better than I expected.
My one mistake was not realizing that the recipe for the filling made enough for two pies, so even with a very stuffed pie, I had a lot of filling left over. Fortunately, warm apple filling is rather nice to eat for dessert all on its own.
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Date: 2017-07-14 09:40 pm (UTC)I have a Pampered Chef apple peeler/slicer/corer that makes peeling apples crazy easy. I've made one apple pie, and with the correct firm apples, it was child's play with this tool to peel them. Once you're done, remove them from the device, one knife stroke down the middle, and they're ready to throw in the pot. Pitting the cherries was definitely a chore using only a knife, especially not knowing about how many it would take to make six cups. Turns out about almost two baskets for six cups. Which is over $10 worth of cherries! Definitely going to be trying frozen cherries at least once: I don't expect them to be as good, but they might be acceptable.
I must try making my own crust: my wife wants a lattice top. That'll take some patience, but I don't think the weave is all that complicated.
I would think that leftover apple pie filling would be awesome over a high quality vanilla ice cream like Breyer's!