Orchard Talk

Tags: cherry cobbler, cooking with cherries, fresh cherries, Fresh Cherry Recipes, tart cherries

1 tablespoon dried tart cherries

1 small onion

1 clove garlic

3 tablespoons fruit-flavored vinegar

2 tablespoons orange juice

1 tablespoon honey

1/3 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Chop cherries, onion and garlic in food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Add fruit-flavored vinegar, orange juice and honey; puree. With food processor on, slowly add olive oil; mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Tags: Cherries, cherry recipes, dried cherries, michigan, michigan cherries, tart cherries, tart cherry recipes

Makes about 6 servings of Hungarian Cherry Cake – Cseresznyes Lepeny

Prep Time:  30 minutes

Cook Time:  30 minutes

Ingredients:

- 1 pound of fresh, washed, stemmed and pitted sour cherries (left whole)

- 6 ounces of unsalted butter at room temperature

- 3/4 cup of granulated sugar

- 3 large eggs, separated

- 1 cup of all-purpose flour

- a pinch of salt

- 1/4 cup of bread crumbs

- vanilla sugar

Preparation:

1.  Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Butter a 10×6 inch rectangular tart pan, or a 9″ square or 9″ round  cake pan and dust with bread crumbs.

2.  In a large bowl, cream butter and half the granulated sugar until light and fluffy.  Add egg yolks and continue creaming until well incorporated.  Add the flour and salt, mixing well.

3.  With clean, grease-free beaters, whip egg whites with remaining granulated sugar until stiff.  Gently fold whites into cake batter.

4.  Transfer batter to prepared pan.  Top with cherries, stem side down.  Bake 30 minutes.  The batter will partially bubble up and cover the fruit.  Cool in pan.  Sprinkle with vanilla sugar.  Cut into squares or wedges and serve.

Tags: Fresh Cherry Recipes, fresh tart cherries, sour cherries, tart cherries

Makes about 2 1/2 cups of Hungarian Cherry Sauce or Cseresznye Martas

Prep Time:  20 minutes

Cook Time:  20 minutes

Ingredients:

- 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

- 2 tablespoons of butter

- 1 pound of washed, stemmed, pitted sour cherries

- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice

- 1 teaspoon of sugar

- a pinch of salt

- 1/2 to 3/4 cup of half-and-half

- 2 tablespoons of sour cream

Preparation:

1.  In a medium saucepan, lightly brown flour in butter.  Add cherries, lemon juice, sugar and salt.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until thickened.

2.  In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup of half-and-half and sour cream until smooth.  If cherries have not given off a lot juices, you may need to use 3/4 cup of half-and-half instead of 1/2 cup.

3.  Temper the sour cream mixture with a ladleful of the cherry sauce.  Return the tempered sour cream mixture to the cherries, mix well and heat through on low for about 5 minutes.  Serve warm, cold or at room temperature with chicken, potatoes or game meat.

Tags: balaton cherries, cherry recipes, fresh cherries, michigan cherries, sour cherries, tart cherries, tart cherry recipes

Makes 6 servings of Cherry Bublanina or Tresnova Bublania

Prep Time:  30 minutes

Cook Time:  30 minutes

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter, softened

- 1/2 cup of sugar

- 3 large eggs divided, at room temperature

- 1 tablespoon Amaretto or other almond liqueur (optional)

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

- pinch of cream of tartar

- 1 cup of all-purpose flour

- 1 pound of washed, pitted sour cherries

- confectioners’ sugar

Preparation:

1.  Place rack in center of oven and heat to 350 degrees.  Butter or lightly coat with cooking spray a 9″ x 9″ baking pan.  In a medium  bowl, cream together butter, sugar and yolks until light and fluffy.  Add liqueur, if using, and salt, mixing well.

2.  In a clean medium bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until stiff.  Alternately fold in egg whites and flour into butter – egg mixture.

3.  Turn batter into prepared pan and scatter cherries evenly over top.  Lightly press down cherries into batter until partially covered.  Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.  Cut  into 6 equal pieces.  Serve warm or cold dusted with the confectioners’ sugar.

Tags: fresh tart cherries, tart cherries, tart cherry recipes

There is one question everyone is asking. How long will we be able to pick sweet cherries? This year is so odd that I can’t say. My hope is that we will be able to pick through to next week end. There is a lot of fruit out there and if it stays dry the cracked cherries may dry up and the good cherries will be left for picking. Am I wishing for the impossible? If it continues to rain we will have to wait and see. Tart cherries will be into full swing come mid week. Raspberries continue to be great! All in all people are happy with there fruit and having fun. Betsy

Tags: crop report, sweet cherries, tart cherries, u-pick

Crop Report

Sweet Cherries:  There’s still plenty of fantastic sweet cherry picking available in both black sweet cherries and light sweet cherries (Queen Anne or Rainier cherries).

Pick your own:  $1.50 per pound
We pick: $4.50 per quart; $12.00 per 3 quarts; $30 per 8 quart flat; $36.00 per 20lb lug

Raspberries: $4.00 per pint; $7.00 for 2 pints; $24.00 per 8 pint tray (4 quarts)

Tart Cherries: We expect the tart cherries will be ready for picking by Tuesday, the 21st. It’s going to be a great year for u-pick tart cherries.

Look who we found hanging out in the sweet cherry orchard!

Gnorth the Gnome has been traveling Up North this summer, exploring all the things that make summer traveling and living in Northern Michigan great.  He’s hanging out with us here at King Orchards for a little while (if he’s still here next week, we may have to put him to work on the tart cherry shaking crew).

Take your picture with him while he’s here and enter it in Traverse Magazine’s MyNorth contest for a chance to win an “I’d rather be Up North” t-shirt.

Tags: gnorth the gnome, sweet cherries, tart cherries, traverse magazine, u-pick cherries

There are a lot of cherries on the trees, and all signs point to a good crop of both sweet and tart cherries. Our latest estimate is that sweet cherry picking will begin around July 10th, with tart cherries following a week to 10 days later.

Betsy and Rose expect to have strawberries in the markets beginning Monday. We still have wonderful, delicate & crisp asparagus available for the next few days, and also some tasty fresh spinach.

Montmorency cherry trees

Little green cherries, soon to be plump red cherries!

Tags: cherry crop, Crop Updates & Orchard Talk, tart cherries

2 cups cubed cooked chicken

½ cup dried tart cherries

3 green onions, sliced

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup plain yogurt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Lettuce leaves

Chopped fresh parsley

2 to 4 croissants

Combine chicken, cherries and onions in a large bowl; mix well. In another bowl, combine mayonnaise, yogurt, lemon juice and pepper; pour over chicken mixture. Mix gently. Refrigerate, covered, 1 to 2 hours. Spoon chicken salad on sliced croissants; top with lettuce.

Tags: Cherries, dried cherries, michigan, michigan cherries, michigan tart cherries, Recipes, tart cherries, tart cherry juice, traverse city

NEW ORLEANS, April 20 (UPI) — Eating one and a half servings of tart cherries could significantly boost antioxidant activity, U.S. researchers said.

University of Michigan researchers said 12 healthy adults ages 18-25 were randomly assigned to eat either one-and-a-half cups or three cups of frozen tart cherries.

Researchers analyzed participants’ blood and urine at regular intervals after they ate the cherries and found increased antioxidant activity for up to 12 hours after eating cherries.

Principal investigator Dr. Sara L. Warber, co-director of University of Michigan Integrative Medicine, said the study documents that the anti-oxidants in tart cherries make it into the human bloodstream and are coupled with increased antioxidant activity that could have a positive impact.

“More research is needed, what’s really great is that a reasonable amount of cherries could potentially deliver benefits, like reducing risk factors for heart disease and inflammation,” Warber said in a statement.

The findings are being presented at the 2009 Experimental Biology meeting in New Orleans.

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Tags: antioxidants, montmorency cherries, tart cherries, Tart Cherry News