Check out these cherry recipes images:
Dr. Pepper Pork “Tinga”
Image by djwtwo
Having seen both the America’s Test Kitchen folks and another show that escapes me at the moment doing pork tinga recipes recently, I’ve had a little bit of a craving going, leading to tonight’s dinner. I’ve also been messing around a little with soda as an ingredient, and I know soda pops up in a lot of southern recipes involving pork, so it seemed to make sense to apply that here.
Since my family isn’t big on heat, I used smoked hot paprika here, but if I were to make this just for myself I’d swap that out for the same amount of dried chipotle powder or 2 canned chipotles in adobo, minced fine.
Ingredients
2 lbs. pork shoulder (“Boston Butt”), cut into 2" cubes
4 Thai chilis, whole
2 pickled long red peppers, seeded and sliced into strips
2 sticks of cinnamon
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. Mexican oregano (can substitute marjoram in a pinch)
2 12 oz. cans Cherry Dr. Pepper
1 c. dried cherries
1 onion, diced
1 c. tomato purée
1/4 c. cider vinegar
2 tbl. smoked hot paprika (or chipotle, or a mix of the two to taste)
vegetable oil
salt
Directions
Salt the pork, and place it, along with the pork, chilis, red pepper, cinnamon, garlic, cumin, oregano, dried cherries, and the soda into a slow cooker over low heat for 6-8 hours, until the pork is falling-apart tender.
Strain off the liquid into a wide pan (like a saucier or a deep skillet), add the tomato purée, vinegar, and paprika, put over high heat, and reduce by 2/3 to make a fairly thick, glossy sauce.
While the sauce is reducing, shred the pork (a potato masher will work well for this, as will a few forks.) Sauté the onions in vegetable oil over high heat until translucent and beginning to brown, then add the pork and continue cooking, stirring frequently, over high heat until some of the edges of the pork get crispy. Combine with the reduced sauce and serve hot.
I served this on fresh tostadas topped with some onions (quickly pickled in orange juice), diced tomato, avocado, pineapple, green onion, and shredded cheese, with some lime wedges to add a little brightness. It’d work well on its own, or as a taco or sandwich filling. In addition to being able to take a little more heat, I think I might up the cider vinegar in the sauce a bit to play off the sweetness of the soda.
Cherry-Almond-White Chocolate Blondies
Image by djwtwo
OK, last food photo for a little while (now that I’ve realized I’ve used 6 pounds of butter since the beginning of March! Yikes!)
One of the things Michael Ruhlman’s book Ratio doesn’t contain is a ratio for brownies or blondies, so I’ve been fiddling around in the kitchen trying to work one out for myself. I’m starting with blondies. This is a 5:3:3:2 ratio of sugar:fat:flour:egg, which works reasonably well, but I think might be just a little bit fat-heavy. I also use both solid fat (butter) and liquid fat (vegetable oil), after some reading on how the mix of fats helps keep the results chewy. So, while I’m pretty close, I’m not quite there yet. This recipe will turn out a pretty tasty batch of blondies regardless.
The photo is of a double-batch of these (using a 9”x13” pan instead of a 9”x9”, and increasing the cooking time to 45-50 minutes). Most ended up at my in-laws for Sunday dinner (where I took these pictures, in the shade on the back porch), and I saved a few for a coworker to share with his wife, in honor of the birth of their first child.
Ingredients
4 oz. butter (1 stick)
2 oz. vegetable oil (about 1/4 c.)
8 oz. brown sugar (about 1 c. packed)
2 oz. sugar (about 1/4 c.)
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
6 oz. all-purpose flour (about 1 1/4 c.)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. dried cherries
1/2 c. white chocolate chips
1/2 c. cinnamon chips
1/2 c. sliced almonds (pecans work well, too)
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Spray the inside of a 9”x9”x2” baking pan with cooking spray, line the bottom and sides with parchment or foil, and spray the lining with more cooking spray.
Combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a mixing bowl and whisk together.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and oil. Add the sugars and whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat, and beat in the eggs and vanilla extract.
Pour the butter-sugar mixture into the dry ingredients and stir aggressively with a wooden spoon until no streaks of flour remain and the mixture is glossy. Fold in the nuts, cherries, and chips and pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
Bake on the middle rack of your oven, 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the blondies comes out with only a moist crumb sticking to it. You’ll want to leave them slightly underbaked for maximum chewiness. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool to room temperature before cutting and serving.
These are pretty rich, so I usually carve the 9”x9” pan into 16 portions, but sometimes I go a bit bigger, as in the photo here.
Black Forest Cake
Image by ulterior epicure
Dark chocolate and cherries is one of my favorite combinations. This is essentially "That Chocolate Cake" that I layered with a cherry filling that I made from fresh cherries.
This is a two-layer cake. I baked this (and others) for my friends’ 40th wedding anniversary.
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