A glorious part of early summer in Colorado is the incredible harvest of sour cherries. Our yellow lab used to be known to stand out under our cherry tree and nibble the lowest fruits like a baby deer!
Our good friends had an absolutely amazing harvest this year from their backyard tree and asked if there was anything we could do with it. I've made a lot of jams and jellies and thought this was a challenge just perfect for the 7th Avenue Cook! I asked for a nice big bag of several pounds of cherries and pulled out my canning jars and pot.
Colorado Cherry Compote
Ingredients:
3-1/2 - 4 pounds sour cherries
4- 3/4 C sugar
1 box pectin
Jars, lids and screw caps for enough containers to accommodate 6-7 cups of compote.
Thoroughly wash and stem the cherries. In order to pit them, you can either head to your local ACE hardware (the best place to find stuff you were sure they don't make anymore) and pick up a cherry pitter OR you can amuse yourself by putting your hands and fingers to work. I chose the latter and aside from the rather hypnotic and zen-like state such repetitive work can put you in it's a quick job. Just pop off the stem and crush the cherry in your fingers-- the pit pops right out. You don't have to worry about the integrity of the cherry, as you'll be chopping them anyway, but you do want to do it over a bowl to catch all that yummy juice that squirts out. Did I mention you should wear an apron, too? Um, yeah. Definitely an apron.
Once your cherries are ready to go, get your canning equipment set up and ready to go-- jars cleaned and heated (I do a quick load in the dishwasher and just let them stay in there until I'm ready) and water filled and boiling in your canning pot.
Prepare your cherries with a quick run through a food processor. Don't puree-- you really do want some nice solid pieces of cherry in there, so get it in small bits but not smooth. Place your cherries in a sauce pan and add 1/2 C water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
Stir in the pectin, and bring to a full rolling boil. This takes a little while, particularly at altitude, so use this time to ensure your canning equipment is good to go (jars hot and clean-- I put them through the dishwasher and let them sit in the hot air until I'm ready to go). Once it's really boiling, add your sugar and watch that pot! Bring it to a full boil again, and let it stay there for one minute. You may need to reduce the heat slightly and stir in order to prevent it from completely boiling over.
After it's boiled for a minute, turn off the heat and skim the foam off with a large spoon. At this point, you fill your jars, top them, and process according to your altitude's needs. This recipe will make a very liquidy compote-- perfect for ice cream topping, drizzled over goat cheese or brie for an appetizer, or an excellent add-in to plain yogurt.
Summer will live in your pantry all year long!
Our good friends had an absolutely amazing harvest this year from their backyard tree and asked if there was anything we could do with it. I've made a lot of jams and jellies and thought this was a challenge just perfect for the 7th Avenue Cook! I asked for a nice big bag of several pounds of cherries and pulled out my canning jars and pot.
Colorado Cherry Compote
Ingredients:
3-1/2 - 4 pounds sour cherries
4- 3/4 C sugar
1 box pectin
Jars, lids and screw caps for enough containers to accommodate 6-7 cups of compote.
Thoroughly wash and stem the cherries. In order to pit them, you can either head to your local ACE hardware (the best place to find stuff you were sure they don't make anymore) and pick up a cherry pitter OR you can amuse yourself by putting your hands and fingers to work. I chose the latter and aside from the rather hypnotic and zen-like state such repetitive work can put you in it's a quick job. Just pop off the stem and crush the cherry in your fingers-- the pit pops right out. You don't have to worry about the integrity of the cherry, as you'll be chopping them anyway, but you do want to do it over a bowl to catch all that yummy juice that squirts out. Did I mention you should wear an apron, too? Um, yeah. Definitely an apron.
Once your cherries are ready to go, get your canning equipment set up and ready to go-- jars cleaned and heated (I do a quick load in the dishwasher and just let them stay in there until I'm ready) and water filled and boiling in your canning pot.
Prepare your cherries with a quick run through a food processor. Don't puree-- you really do want some nice solid pieces of cherry in there, so get it in small bits but not smooth. Place your cherries in a sauce pan and add 1/2 C water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
Stir in the pectin, and bring to a full rolling boil. This takes a little while, particularly at altitude, so use this time to ensure your canning equipment is good to go (jars hot and clean-- I put them through the dishwasher and let them sit in the hot air until I'm ready to go). Once it's really boiling, add your sugar and watch that pot! Bring it to a full boil again, and let it stay there for one minute. You may need to reduce the heat slightly and stir in order to prevent it from completely boiling over.
After it's boiled for a minute, turn off the heat and skim the foam off with a large spoon. At this point, you fill your jars, top them, and process according to your altitude's needs. This recipe will make a very liquidy compote-- perfect for ice cream topping, drizzled over goat cheese or brie for an appetizer, or an excellent add-in to plain yogurt.
Summer will live in your pantry all year long!
