In A Nutshell

My friend Carol was kind enough to bring me some delicious sour cherries from Door County; it seems impossible to find them around here so it was quite a treat to have a real cherry pie. Double Pie Crust (store bought or homemade ) For the filling : 1 cup sugar 1 T lemon zest 3 T cornstarch 3 lb pitted sour cherries (I love this cherry pitter ) 1 egg beaten with 1 t water for egg wash  Roll out the dough to fit the pie pan and let that rest in the fridge for about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 425º. Mix the filling ingredients and load into the pie pan. Roll out the other disc of dough and either do a lattice top or a regular top with a couple of cutouts to vent steam. Brush with the egg wash---you can put coarse sugar over the top if you like. Chill the assembled pie for about 30 minutes to relax the gluten. Place the pie on a foil or parchment lined rimmed baking sheet (it will overflow) and bake on the lowest rack (preferably on a preheated pizza stone) for 30 minutes; c...

I made the cupcakes in these cute little cups in honor of the Sochi Olympics but then forgot to actually post the recipe until now. Chocolate cupcakes 1 cup cherry preserves (I like Bon Maman for this recipe) 2 T bourbon pitted sour cherries from a jar, drained Use any chocolate cupcake recipe you like; the  Hershey chocolate cake recipe is a good one for this recipe but you can use your favorite. Using a paring knife or a cupcake corer (who knew such a thing existed???), cut a hole about an inch deep and round. Go ahead and eat these little morsels of cake- they don't really count because they're so small... fill the center with the cherry jam mixture and top with a sour cherry. Dust with powdered sugar.

Isn't it irritating how magazines use fake food and food stylists so that then your finished product never even slightly resembles the photo? This dessert was actually prettier than the photo!  Woo hoo!!!! The recipe is ever so slightly adapted from Fine Cooking. For the Crust : 6 oz. chocolate wafers 2 T sugar 5 T unsalted butter, melted Finely crush the cookies in a food processor; add the sugar and butter and pulse until well-mixed. Press the crumbs into a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom and bake at 350º for 8 minutes. For the Cherry Swirl : 3/4 cup pitted sweet cherries (I used frozen Bing cherries) 3 T cherry jam 1 T kirsch Puree in a blender; transfer to a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens slightly, about 7 or 8 minutes. Stir in the kirsch. For the Filling : 12 oz. cream cheese, softened 4 oz. sour cream, room temp. 1/3 cup sugar 1 T flour 1 t vanilla 1/2 t kosher salt 2 eggs, room temp. Reduce oven heat t...

I got the idea for these desserts from Delicieux . I served them in fancy, smaller-sized martini glasses one night and the next day made them in these small canning jars to take on a picnic.  The cake recipe is completely unchanged (other than the choice of baking sheet) from Smitten Kitchen ; it is not possible to improve this recipe-- its chocolatey-goodness is indescribable! The cherries and cheese mixture I improvised. For the cake : 2 cups flour 2 1/2 cups sugar 3/4 cups Dutch process cocoa powder (I love Valrhona) 2 t baking soda 1 t salt 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup sour cream 1 1/2 cups water 2 T white vinegar 1 t vanilla 2 eggs Sift together all dry ingredients (don't skip this or else you will have undissolved cocoa nuggets in your cake). I deviate from her recipe by (from sheer laziness) just throwing all the moist ingredients except the vinegar into the dry at once and whisking this until combined well. Add the vinegar last. The cake batter will be ver...

Another great way to enjoy the cherry season while using up leftover grilled chicken and day-old bread. I recommend using a thick straw to pit the cherries. For the dressing : 2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice 2 T extra-virgin olive oil 1 T almond oil 1 T cherry preserves 1/2 t Dijon mustard 1/4 t salt freshly ground pepper 1 small clove of garlic, pressed 1 T finely chopped red onion Whisk all ingredients together. For the salad : spring lettuce (I used that Artisan Lettuce found at Costco) fresh bing cherries, pitted crumbled ricotta salata  slivered, toasted almonds thinly sliced radish (don't leave out the much maligned radish - it adds a nice crunch and flavor) leftover grilled chicken (optional- turns the salad into a substantial meal) day-old bread extra-virgin olive oil Cut the stale bread into cubes and put into a hot frying pan. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with a bit of coarse salt (or Maldon salt) and fry until golden bro...

This tart will suffer if you have sub-par apricots (which unfortunately is a chronic problem in the Chicago area). I would suggest adding a little more sugar if this is the case and brushing a generous amount of melted apricot jam over the tart when it is done if you don't have access to really delicious apricots. The recipe for the crust is adapted from Sara Foster's Southern Kitchen and the filling is adapted from Bon Appétit magazine. For the crust : 2 cups flour 3 T sugar 2 sticks salted butter (or 2 sticks unsalted butter and 1/2 t salt) 1 large egg yolk 3 T ice water Using a pastry blender (or a food processor but it will turn out much better if you do it by hand), cut the butter into the dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse meal (it should look kind of like wet sand). Mix egg yolk and ice water and drizzle over the flour mixture; mix lightly with a fork and a gentle touch until dough comes together (adding 1 T more water at a time if it doesn't ...

The chicken is adapted from a Rachel Ray recipe and the cherry salsa from Bon Appétit magazine; I served this with grilled asparagus and the whole thing was a visual delight (as well as a taste delight).  We drank Marius wine with this (although tricky with the asparagus- we sipped it only after a bite of chicken) which to me has cherry flavors matching the salsa(disclaimer:  I am not a trained smelly-ier). Sumac Chicken : 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1 large lemon, juiced 5 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed 3 T extra-virgin olive oil 1 t sumac 1/2 t cumin 1/2 t ground coriander 1 t salt freshly ground pepper Mix all marinade ingredients together; poke lots of holes in the chicken with a fork and cover with the marinade, preferably overnight. Take out the chicken 30 minutes before grilling to come to room temperature. Grill over medium-high heat for 6 minutes (or 6 1/2 for larger breasts) per side. Cherry Salsa: 4 oz. pitted fresh bing cherries (I ...