Acqua di Cedro-Soaked Cherries

We were sure cherry season had come and gone but then spotted these nearly-black beauts at the market. Amy snatched up a pound of them, recalling a recipe she had seen on Food52 on the bus on the way to New York for the cruise. The recipe had been forgotten over the gadget-free week at sea, but the market display brought it right back. She looked it up then and there, in the middle of the store.

Now, a few years ago during a long weekend in the Federal Hill section of Providence, we spent an hour or so at a tasting at Gasbarro's Wines where we were introduced to B. Nardini's spectacular Acqua di Cedro Liqueur. We loved it so much that we bought two bottles, and have bought several since. We think of it as lemon-flavored grappa, which is how it was described to us. The Nardini website calls it "the noble cousin of limoncello," and describes it quite succinctly as "sweet with a citrus taste." 

Well, what we did was take these two unique products, one of nature, one of man, and marry them via the Food52 recipe. We made five small jars of Acqua di Cedro-Soaked Cherries and set them aside as this year's Christmas Eve favors. Our hope is that they have a bit of a cherry-lemonade flavor; a taste of summer in the harshness of winter. Five households, five jars. So if you need a nice Christmas gift, get on it ASAP. These need a few months to soak (and there are only 122 days until Christmas!). 

Acqua di Cedro-Soaked Cherries

(minimally adapted from this recipe found on Food52)

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh cherries

enough Acqua de Cedro liqueur (or grappa) to cover

glass jars with air-tight lids

Wash and dry cherries thoroughly. Snip off all but 1/4 inch of each stem (it will "act like a little umbilical cord that drinks up the grappa"). Arrange cherries in jar and pour enough grappa over them to cover. Seal in jars and store in a cool dark place for 4-6 months. 

"Semi-Homemade" Cherry Crostata

This week, we officially reinstated our weekly summer dinner with neighbors D and J (and 3-year-old N). When we're in town, we pick a night, split up the dinner duties and share a meal, as good neighbors should. We talk and laugh and drink wine and generally just enjoy each other's company while the sun goes down (or in today's case, the thunderstorm ends).

This week's menu revolved around one of D's Father's Day gifts: Jack Daniels Wood Smoking Chips. Since D and J work during the day while we teachers are home (tee hee), D entrusted us with the chips so we could smoke country-style pork ribs in our smoker. Chris rubbed the ribs with his secret blend of sugar, salt and spices and smoked them for a few hours while making a Jack Daniel's barbecue sauce. Amy made a quick cucumber salad, and together we did a "semi-homemade" cherry crostata for dessert. Some grilled corn and mashed potatoes rounded out the meal. Sounds good, eh?

Everything was delicious - the smoky-sweet tender ribs, the early butter-sugar corn, the buttery mashed potatoes with fresh chives, the vinegary cucumber salad.  We would love to say the dessert stole the show, but that was not the case. Still, it too was delicious. Tart, sweet, and with plenty of buttery crust, it was a fitting ending. Perhaps it was the beautiful fresh cherries that did it? Maybe it was the easy preparation and simple rusticity of the crostata. You can come to your own conclusions if you make it yourself. And if you do, make sure to follow this great tip from Chris:

Use a chopstick to pit the cherries. The pits pop right out, and then you can cut the cherries in half easily.

"Semi-Homemade" Cherry Crostata

slightly adapted from Michael Chiarello's Napa Style

Ingredients:

1 refrigerated pie crust

1 pound fresh cherries, pitted (see tip above)

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg

1 tablespoon heavy cream

2 teaspoons turbinado sugar

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat it to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Unroll one refrigerated pie crust onto the parchment paper. In the meantime, cut the cherries in half and place them in a large bowl. Add sugar, flour and cinnamon to the cherries and toss gently until well combined. Pour the cherry mixture into the center of the pie crust. Fold the sides of the pie crust up over the edge of the cherries. Beat together the egg and cream and brush this mixture onto the pie crust. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Trim away the extra parchment paper and carefully slide the crostata, with parchment paper under it, onto the hot pizza stone. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes, until crust is golden brown and cherry mixture is starting to bubble. Cool on a wire rack until ready to serve.  

Cupcake "Red Velvet" Cupcakes

Are you surprised? We readily admit it: we're not known for our baked goods. But when we tasted Cupcake Vineyards' "Red Velvet" wine, all we could think about was making cupcakes with it. So we did. The idea stems from last year's vacation to Maine - last summer, Amy had copied a recipe from People Magazine for "Zinfandel Cupcakes" and we never made them. This recently-discovered wine, coinciding with an upcoming meeting of Amy's book club, was the inspiration for us to try them now. Seriously - doesn't every book club meeting need wine and cupcakes?!? How about killing two birds with one stone?

 

About the wine: "Red Velvet" wine is a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Syrah. It has a pronounced taste of chocolate/mocha in itself, particularly on the finish. There is also a lot of fruitiness to it, mostly cherries and blackberries, as well as a hint of coconut. Perfect for cupcakes, right? 

 
As we often do, we played with the People recipe (just a little bit) and came up with our own version which we tested on the neighborhood. They were a big hit there, where we heard of couples sharing bites on their porch swings in the early summer evening sun. We'll be making them again next week for the book club. And we probably won't change a thing...

Cupcake "Red Velvet" Cupcakes

adapted slightly from People Magazine, "Trista Sutter's Favorite Cupcake Recipe"

Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

24 maraschino cherries, stems removed

1 box devil's food cake mix (we used Betty Crocker Super Moist)

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup Cupcake Red Velvet wine

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 cup mini chocolate chips

For the glaze:

6 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 stick salted butter, softened

1/2 cup baking cocoa (we used Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup Cupcake Red Velvet wine

Special equipment: non-stick cupcake/muffin pan with a spike in each cup

Note: We only have the one cupcake pan, so we did this recipe in two batches.

Preheat oven to 325 (350 if your pan isn't non-stick). Place cupcake (muffin) liner in each cup of a regular (12-cup) cupcake pan. Place a cherry on each spike (or in each cup if yours has no spike). In a large bowl, pour cake mix, water, wine, oil and eggs. Mix together as directed on the box. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into lined pan, filling cups about half way. Bake for 20-23 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly, then remove cupcakes from pan onto cooling rack. Cool completely. Repeat process with second batch. In the meantime, make the glaze. In a large bowl, beat together powdered sugar, butter, cocoa and salt using an electric mixer on low speed. Beat in the wine. When cupcakes are completely cooled, cover them with the glaze.

Duo of Duck

Amy really loves duck, like, it's her favorite meal! So when she found out about Ott A's Iron Chef Challenge: Duck, she was totally into it and started thinking up ideas. The final decision? A duo of duck, served with Israeli couscous.

The first duck preparation was simply a duck confit leg which we purchased from a butcher. This involved no recipe on our part, just heating up the deliciously tender, falling-off-the-bone duck meat. So very yummy, with its unctious meat and super-crispy skin!

The second preparation was our own recipe and was certainly more involved. It centered upon one gorgeous "Moulard Duck Magret" duck breast from D'Artagnan that we carefully and respectfully seasoned, cooked and served with a sweet-tart Pinot-Cherry sauce. Here's our recipe for that fabulously rich, wonderful duck with the sauce, as well as the couscous that paired so nicely with it.

For the duck breast:

Ingredients:

1 duck breast, skin on

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 pound fresh cherries

3/4 cup Pinot Noir wine

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 ounce Kirsch (cherry liquer)

the juice and pulp of one clementine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Allow the duck breast to come to room temperature and then score the fat in a cross-hatch pattern. Season the duck breast well with salt and pepper. Place fat-side down in a cold cast iron skillet. Place the pan over high heat and sear the duck until the fat is rendered out and the skin releases easily from the pan, 8-10 minutes. Flip the breast and cook on the other side for 2-3 minutes. Then place the entire skillet in the oven and cook until the internal temperature is 155 degrees, about 20 minutes. Allow to rest at least five minutes before slicing and serving with the Pinot-Cherry sauce (recipes below) and couscous.

In the meantime, place the cherries, wine, thyme and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and allow to reduce to about 1/2 the amount of liquid. Stir in the Kirsch and the clementine juice and pulp and continue to cook another minute or so. Allow to cool and serve over the duck breast.

For the couscous:

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup water

1 cup Israeli pearl couscous

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon Bella Cucina Aromatic Savory Salts (Wild Oregano and Sage flavor), or a teaspoon of kosher salt with a pinch of dried sage

1 tablespoon salted butter

Bring water to a boil. Add the couscous, walnuts and savory salts. Cover, lower heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes, until couscous reaches desired tenderness. Stir in the butter and serve alongside the duck.