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Sweet Black Cherry Pie Filling

July 28, 2010 by 17 Comments

I used to think I despised cherries.

This was some high-heresy for a girl raised awfully close to ‘The Cherry Capital of the World’.*  Why I thought cherries were gross I can attribute to two reasons: A) I didn’t like the whole spit-the-pit thing.  I was a tidy child. B) The only way to eat cherries sans pits, as far as I knew, was maraschino cherries and I still maintain that those are disgusting.

*Nothing like some trivia to de-cobweb the old gray matter. Does anyone out there know which area I mean?

I realized the error of my ways long after moving out of state*.  I was at a friend’s house when she insisted I try a beautiful red cherry she had picked earlier that day.  I was blown away by the intense, tart, sweet flavor.  And I didn’t even mind spitting the pit. My devotion was deep and instant. But DANG they were expensive. On sale, loss-leader sale even, I couldn’t find pre-picked cherries for anything less than $2.99 per pound.  I lived much too far from any cherry orchards to make it cost-effective to drive to one to pick my own. Then we moved again.

*I have a  major food regret from my childhood. I wish I hadn’t been such an anti-cherry and anti-morel mushroom picky-pants.  I had both overflowing in my backyard free for the taking.

I am now fortunate enough to live in Amish country where the bulk-food buying and canning mindsets of my ‘Dutch’ neighbors combine to provide me with ample and affordable supplies of pre-picked fruits and vegetables at prices that would make grocery store managers reach for the antacids. This year, I pitted sixty pounds of sweet black cherries and I’m still canning my way through thirty pounds of pre-pitted sour cherries. The black sweet cherries rang in at $0.70 per pound and the pre-pitted sour cherries came in at a slightly pricier (but still bargain-basement price of) $1.26 per pound.  You already know about the Rum-Soaked Preserved Cherries and the Boozy Cherry Molasses, and I’ve been promising my Sweet Black Cherry Pie Filling recipe for an (indecently) awful long time.  How many of you are waiting out there languishing with a whipped ganache filled tart in hand just hanging on for a pie filling that doesn’t taste and look like glorified maraschino cherries and doesn’t plop out of a pull-tab can?  I am so sorry.  I blame my children.*

*Because I can. Yes, I can. A little laughter please? Can’t a girl get a little giggle for politico-culinary humour?

Why make your own instead of buying the cheap stuff? For the usual reasons; flavor and health. Store-bought canned pie filling can’t hold a candle to homemade in terms of flavor.  But just as compelling is the long list of nasty additives and artificial flavors present in the storebought stuff.  There are five -count ‘em- FIVE ingredients in homemade Sweet Black Cherry Pie Filling, all of which are readily available and pronounceable.

Ah, Sweet Black Cherry Pie Filling. What can’t you do? Sure, you can make a good old-fashioned cherry pie with it, but you can also top cheesecakes with it, layer it with brownies and whipped cream in a mean trifle, pour it on top of softened cream cheese to serve with graham crackers or make a deadly no-bake Black Forest Truffle Tart.  You want some of this on your pantry shelves. Seriously.

For a printer-friendly, photo-free version of this recipe, click here!

Sweet Black Cherry Pie Filling: Printer Friendly Version

From The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving (see here for book details!)

Yield: about 8 pint (500 mL) or 4 quart (1 L) jars

Ingredients:

  • 10 pounds frozen sweet black cherries, thawed in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
  • 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup ClearJel (Or Thermaflo or Permaflo)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup lemon juice

Position a colander over a large bowl. Pour partially thawed cherries into the colander, cover lightly with plastic wrap and leave on the counter top, stirring occasionally, until you have collected 7 cups of juice in the bowl.  Set aside the juice and the cherries.

Prepare the canner, jars and lids. For more information, see our basic canning how-to’s.

In a large stainless steel or enameled stockpot, whisk together the sugar, ClearJel and cinnamon. When it is evenly combined, whisk in 4 cups of the cherry juice*.  Place stockpot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Continue boiling until thickened. Whisk in the lemon juice and return to a boil, stirring constantly. Continue stirring and allow the mixture to boil hard for 1 minute. Add the reserved cherries all at once, stir in gently, and continue stirring constantly while returning to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat.

*You can freeze or can the remaining juice or turn it into Boozy Cherry Molasses. The basic instructions remain the same, just add half as much sugar (by volume) and go forth with the directions from there.

Scoop the hot pie filling into the hot jars allowing 1-inch of headspace to remain between the pie filling and the rim of the jar.  Remove air bubbles from the filling by inserting a long, flexible spatula or chopstick into the jars. Wipe the jar rims and position the lids in place.  Screw the rings onto the jars to fingertip tight.

Place jars in a canner, cover with hot tap water by at least 1-inch, cover, and place covered canner over high-heat to bring the water to a boil.  Once the water is boiling hard, you can begin timing; both pints and quarts must be processed for 35 minutes.  After 35 minutes, turn off the heat, remove the lid and let the jars remain in the water for an additional 5 minutes.  Remove to a cooling rack or towel lined counter and allow to cool, undisturbed, for 24 hours before removing rings, wiping jars clean and labeling. Processed and sealed pie filling can be stored in a cool, dark place for a year or so.

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Before I leave you to whipping up your own batch of Sweet Black Cherry Pie Filling I want to let you in on a dirty little secret. I have a treat that I allow myself that I refer to as Mommy’s Little Helper. It’s the thing that stands between sanity and selling my children to the nearest traveling circus and it is as simple as it is delicious. Just dip a spoon into your resident jar of Nutella (you DO have one, don’t you?) and top with a dollop of Sweet Black Cherry Pie Filling.  Open mouth. Insert. Oh sure, you could  class it up a little and serve it on graham crackers or chocolate wafer cookies, but then it’s not so naughty -and therefore- not so much fun. Danger. It’s my middle name.

Filed Under: Canning, Component Foods, Desserts, Food Preservation, Instructional, kid food, Recipes, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Garden Couscous Salad

July 19, 2010 by 5 Comments

So.  Is the room spinning or is it just me? I keep waiting for the opportunity to arise where I can kick off my shoes, lay on my back in the sand, find Bugs Bunny as Brunhilde hidden in the clouds, swim in a clear blue lake, and turn to a cooler fully stocked with everything I love to eat before winding up the evening singing songs and making s’mores around a campfire.

*This view of what summer should be is based largely on how I spent every summer day of my youth. Thanks so much, Mom and Dad for a spectacular childhood .  I blame you. In the nicest possible way.

Instead, I’ve been running my children to play practice*, manning the fort while The Evil Genius is off doing highly technical things in scary technical places with frighteningly technical people, preserving every bit of produce that stands still long enough to be pickled or frozen or canned, steadfastly ignoring my ever-growing pile of laundry, and ensuring that my children at least are laying on their backs in the grass trying to discern Elmer Fudd as Siegfried. It’s a tradition, you see.

*For the last week, three of my five sons have performed the parts of the cutest orphans you’ve ever seen in ‘The Sound of Music’.  Is it just me or does anyone else out there fail to remember orphans being in ‘The Sound of Music’?  Whatever.  They were cute.  And orphany.  Well, except for the fact that I still had to make three meals a day and ferry these ‘faux orphans’ to and from rehearsals and performances.  I coached them to come up with their back stories as orphans to help them be convincing.  (Old Theater Majors don’t die.  They just become stage moms.) “Think about how you got to the convent.  Do you know each other?  Are you brothers? How did you become orphans?  Did both of your parents die?  Did your mother drop you off here because she could no longer afford to feed you then run over and join the convent in a very specifically non-childcare capacity?”  I jest.  I didn’t ask them if both of their parents died.

The weather is hot, the garden is producin’ and there is very little time to spend in the kitchen. Couscous to the rescue.  While all couscous is good, I’m especially partial to Israeli couscous; the small, round, toasted pearls of couscous also known as ptitim.  Israeli couscous, unlike the ‘standard’ couscous, is toasted rather than dried.  The toasting imparts a subtle nutty flavor that is well-suited to both warm and cold dishes.  Hot weather requires cold food.  (You’ve heard this theory from me before, right?) A cold couscous salad is a surprisingly effective delivery vehicle for big, fresh, garden flavors. Toasty, nutty couscous tossed with the light flavors of a vinaigrette and all sorts of bounty from the garden; zucchini, broccoli, onions, and more.  Briny olives and salty feta give the salad some body.  Before you all think I’ve jumped the shark; yes.  I actually did mean to put those pickles in there.  The olive/broccoli/pickle combination is one of my mom’s most genius food combinations and it’s not as far out as you might think.  Think of pickles as a shortcut to adding cucumber and dill to this salad.  And when you put together cucumber, dill, olives and feta?  Well you could hardly object to that, right?  (Unless you’re an inveterate feta hater, then you’re off the boat already.  Substitute with extra sharp cheddar if you must. It’ll still taste great.)

As for what to serve this alongside, the possibilities are many; grilled or broiled fish, chicken or pork are all at home on a plate with a big serving of Garden Couscous Salad.  Pack it in picnic baskets.  Eat it alone as a light and healthy lunch.  Sneak it for guilt-free midnight snacks.  I’ve been known to tuck into a bowl for breakfast now and again, and that’s saying something because I’m not normally a breakfast kind of gal.

Don’t flip out and write this off when you see the length of the ingredient list; this is all readily available stuff (even in my little corner of East-of-Nowhere) and it is a very simple preparation.  The only semi-exotic ingredient is the Israeli couscous.  If you can’t find it locally, try Amazon. Prefer whole wheat? They have that, too!

I have a favor to ask.  Could you pop your head out the window and look upward for just a moment?  Look a little closer.  See that?  That’s life and Porky Pig and Bugs and Elmer and Sylvester and Tweety and Foghorn Leghorn and Brunhilde and Siegfried and summer passing us by.  Let’s make a pact.  I’ll lay down and admire the clouds a little if you do.  Do we have a deal?

Want a photo-free, printer-friendly version of this recipe minus my yadda yadda?  Click here!

Garden Couscous Salad

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups Israeli couscous
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 onion end (You are saving them right?  If not, cut off about 2 inches of the root end of an onion, peel and use that.)
  • 2 parsley stems from the freezer (Also saving these in a freezer bag, right? If not, toss a couple fresh stems of parsley into the pot.)
  • 2 teaspoons Kosher or coarse sea salt, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 broccoli crown, cut into small florets (Chop up and save the stem in a freezer bag for your next batch of broccoli soup!)
  • 1 cup black or Kalamata olives, sliced in half
  • 4 ounces of feta cheese, crumbled or diced very small
  • 1 medium sized zucchini, washed and diced
  • 2 medium carrots, scrubbed and diced very small
  • 2 dill pickles, diced
  • 1/2 a sweet onion, peeled and diced very small
  • 1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced (or 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic)
  • 3 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 2-3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar, to taste
  • 1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, to taste

Heat 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan with a tight fitting lid.  When the oil is hot, add the dry couscous and stir well to coat.  Toast the couscous in the oil for about 1-2 minutes or just until a couple couscous grains begin to take on a light golden brown color but most of them remain pale.  Carefully add the water all at once along with the onion end, parsley stems and 1 teaspoon of the Kosher salt.  The water will boil up quickly and may spit a little, so be cautious.  Add the lid and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes, until the couscous is cooked through, but not mushy.  Pour the couscous into a fine mesh strainer and rinse with cold water.

Transfer the couscous into a large mixing bowl.  Add the remaining 3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, red wine vinegar, minced garlic (or granulated garlic) and minced onion to the couscous and toss to distribute evenly.

Add remaining ingredients and toss until evenly combined.  This is best if covered tightly and refrigerated for an hour or more prior to serving, but it can be eaten immediately.

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Pasta, Rebecca, Recipes, Salads, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Black Forest Truffle Tart

July 6, 2010 by 10 Comments

I’m just going to go ahead and say it now because I’ve been biting my tongue for nearly a month now; I don’t like hot weather. It makes me sweat.  And sweating makes me cranky.  Ergo, heat makes me cranky. I don’t mean the lovely warmth of a kitchen where bread is baking on a cold winter’s day.  I mean humid, sticky, drinkable air, back-of-the-legs-sticking-to-the-lawn-chair hot and an ambient air temperature with which you could coddle an egg.

My attitude is, admittedly, not the best vis-a-vis sultry summer heat, but The Evil Genius goes and makes it worse.  He operates on an entirely different energy level when it’s sticky out.  Ninety degrees? He does a happy dance and gets up on the roof to do some highly intricate job involving difficult physical manoeuvres and wiring and tar.  The fact that we have a metal roof that heats up like a griddle and he has to do the job in bare feet to keep from slipping?  No problem!  That makes it more fun for him.  Ninety five to a hundred degrees?  Even better for him!  Too hot to stand on the griddle, er, roof so he repairs to the golf course for a double round -walking while carrying his own golf bag, of course- and maybe more.  The he comes home, towels off and toddles outside to dig a ditch in the full sun or some other such madness.  After nearly fifteen years of marriage I’ve come to the inescapable conclusion that he does it just to watch me get mad.  Because ooh I get mad watching him galavanting out there in the heat like the mercury is narry a notch above sixty. He gets sweatier and happier and I turn into the mean old troll hag under the bridge.  “What’s for dinner?  Cold salad with cold dressing and some lunch meat.  That’s what!”

Heat saps my energy, my mental function, my patience, my strength -and most unforgivably- my appetite. It is the one thing in the world with the power to make me lose my insatiable hunger.  And that. just. isn’t. cool.

There is one evergreen craving that stays with me whatever temperature the thermometer is pushing; sweets.  But I don’t want to spend hours or even halves of hours standing over something else that’s radiating heat (OVEN).  And so?  And so.  And so, where was I?*

*I told you it sapped my brain function.

Ah yes, dessert with no blazing inferno of an oven spewing BTUs into my already furnace-like kitchen. Boo, Dante.  BOO! You want seven levels of he…  (Oh my word, back on track, Rebecca.  Don’t scare the nice readers with your heat-rage.)  Sweet, cold, creamy chocolate dessert that uses a microwave and and a refrigerator.  Just what I need to tame the beast. I present to you “Black Forest Truffle Tart”.  And there was much rejoicing.

Here’s what we have going on in this tart.  You can start with a pre-made Oreo crust (or the off-brand equivalent) or you can make like me and fashion your own because really -and you know I wouldn’t mess with you when it comes to cooking in the heat- it only takes about two more minutes and no extra heat. (Psssst.  It’s cheaper that way, too.  Plus you get leftover cookies that you can stick in the freezer and nibble surreptitiously while the kids aren’t looking.)  Into it goes a whipped ganache* filling that is topped with sweet black cherry pie filling**.

*Ganache, in case you haven’t become acquainted yet, is a chocolate confection given to us by God in his infinite love for mankind. In its purest form, it is simply chocolate melted with heavy cream then whisked until silky and shiny.  It is the base for all chi-chi chocolate truffles that cost a bajillion dollars for six at chocolatiers.  Master this and you will  live happily ever after.  Or at least until you run out of chocolate and heavy cream.

**Now I know I’m putting the cart before the horse with this post, but I prefer to use (surprise) homemade pie filling I’ve canned myself.  I am, truly I am, going to share my homemade pie filling recipe this week.  But this is an emergency.  It’s hot.  And I KNOW I can’t be the only mean old crab-a-lanche out there who needs some sweet chocolatey goodness to feel human again. So if you need to -or want to- make this with store-bought pie filling go for it! My pie filling recipe will be up by Thursday.

While this tart is stupendous cold, it is also pretty spectacular at room temperature. Assuming, that is, room temperature is not EQUATORIAL room temperature.  If you asked my inner pastry-chef, I’d tell you it’s better at room temperature because the chocolate has a fuller flavor.  If you asked my outer whiner who is apt to be laying on the linoleum under the ceiling fan with a spray bottle of cold water, I’d say eat it cold.  Either way, you’ll love it.

Oh.  A word.  It’s pretty rich.  Not that I have a problem with that.  At all.  Just sayin’ keep those slices on the thin side.  That way, when you go back in to the refrigerator for your third or fourth slice, you won’t be wracked with guilt. I’m always looking out for you.  Even when I’m sweaty and crabby.

For a printer friendly, photo-free version of this recipe minus crabby, click here!

Black Forest Truffle Tart

Ingredients:

  • 1 Oreo pie crust (or see instructions below for making your own)
  • 1 1/2 cups (12 fluid ounces) heavy cream
  • 12 ounces chocolate chips
  • 2 cups chilled sweet cherry pie filling

Place heavy cream and chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave on high for one minute.  Leave in the microwave with the door shut for five minutes afterward.  Remove bowl and whisk until smooth and shiny.  It will go through a very raggedy looking stage where you will think I’ve steered you wrong.   Keep whisking in a circle.  I promise it’ll all work out.  When it becomes shiny and smooth put the bowl and whisk in the refrigerator.   Remove the bowl from the refrigerator every fifteen minutes and give it a good stir with the whisk.  After about forty five minutes to an hour, you’ll feel the ganache beginning to thicken up.  It should be cool to the touch all the way through.

Scrape the contents into the bowl of your stand mixer. (Alternately, you can use a hand-mixer or whisk the tar out of it by hand, but that’s rather defeating the purpose of not getting sweaty in the kitchen.  Dontcha think?) Turn the mixer on high and go just until the ganache starts becoming fluffy and thickened.  If you go beyond this stage you will have made what is effectively chocolate butter.  Mind you, that’s not necessarily a problem, but it’s not what we’re shooting for here.

Use a rubber spatula to transfer the contents to your pie crust and smooth the top.  Spread the pie filling over the top of the ganache and chill the pie until the ganache is set up.  This will take about thirty minutes.

Slice into thin wedges and serve, if desired, with whipped cream.  Normally I’m an all-whipped-cream-all-the-time gal,  but this tart brings out my purist tendencies.  My inner pastry chef is begging for a word with you.  She says if you want to get the fullest flavor from your tart you will leave the slices on the plates for at least ten minutes prior to serving.  I say she’s nuts.  Eat it cold!

Homemade Chocolate Cookie Crust

Ingredients:

  • Half of a package of Oreo type cookies (or Newman’s O’s or Hydrox, whatever flicks your bic.)  I like to use the chocolate cream filled ones for a double dose of chocolate.
  • 3 Tablespoons melted butter

Crush the cookies in a zipper top bag or pulse until finely crushed in a food processor.  Mix the melted butter in with a fork and press into a pie plate or removable bottom tart pan.  That’s all there is to it!

Filed Under: Chocolate, Desserts, Holiday Food, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , ,