ELK RAPIDS -- Julia Pollister Amos, a fourth-generation cherry farmer, came up with an idea years ago for a cherry cookbook to help the Elk Rapids Rotary Club earn money for its service projects.
Trouble was, she wasn't in Rotary.
"Back then, it was all men," Amos said. So the Rotary Partners, the wives "that took on all the projects the men didn't want," compiled the best-selling "600 Very Cherry Recipes." It sold out 2,500 copies in 1993.
She was helped by Marjory Ann Veliquette, a second-generation farmer, and Pam Rohe.
"We collected recipes from farmers, cooks, cherry processors ...," Amos said. "We collected and collected, then typed and typed." She said they only took recipes from people they knew and only accepted a recipe if someone had actually made it.
"We didn't want something someone cut out of a magazine if they'd never made it," she said.
She contributed about 350 recipes to the book herself, she said, gathered during her years on the farm as well as recipes from her husband's family, also fourth-generation cherry farmers. And she answered our call for main-dish cherry recipes by sending along the book.
Here are some recipes Amos marked as "good" in "600 Very Cherry Recipes."
Chicken Salad
4 whole cooked and diced chicken breasts
1/2 c. water chestnuts, sliced
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1/2 c. dried cherries
1/4 c. finely chopped celery
1/2 t. ginger
3/4 c. mayonnaise
2 T. wine vinegar
1 T. soy sauce
2 t. minced onion
1/2 t. curry powder
6 slices canned pineapple
Lettuce leaves
Mix chicken, water chestnuts, pecans, cherries, celery and ginger. Blend mayonnaise, vinegar, soy sauce, onion and curry powder.
Toss dressing with chicken mixture. Chill.
To serve, spoon onto pineapple slices arranged on lettuce leaves. Makes 6 servings.
-- "600 Very Cherry Recipes"
Oriental Cherry Chicken
2&1/2 to 3 lb. cut-up chicken or chicken breast
Salt and pepper
Flour
Shortening or oil
1 can cherries (tart or sweet)
1/2 c. sugar
1 T. flour
Dash of salt
1 unpeeled orange, sliced and quartered
1/2 c. toasted slivered almonds
Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper; dip in flour. Fry in hot shortening or oil. When done, remove from pan. Pour out drippings; measure 1/3 c. and return to pan. Add cherries and juice, reserving a small amount of juice and sugar. Heat to boiling. Combine the reserved juice and 1 T. flour. Stir into the cherry mixture. Cook until thick and clear. Add orange and almonds. Place chicken piece in sauce, spoon sauce over, and simmer a few minutes. Serve with rice. Makes 4-5 servings.
-- "600 Very Cherry Recipes"
Sweet-Sour Cherries and Shrimp
1&1/2 c. green pepper, cut in strips
1 or 2 cans water chestnuts, sliced
1&1/2 to 3 lbs. shrimp, cooked
3&1/2 c. rice, cooked
Sweet-Sour Sauce
1 (24-oz.) can red tart cherries or dark sweet cherries, pitted
2&1/4 c. cherry juice + water
3 T. soy sauce
1/2 t. (scant) ground ginger
3/4 t. salt
3 T. cornstarch
4 T. sugar, if using sweet cherries; 1/2 c. + 1 T. sugar if using tart cherries
Drain canned cherries, reserving juice. Use 3/4 to 1&1/2 c. cherry liquid, adding enough water to make 2&1/4 c. liquid. Add rest of sauce ingredients, blending well. Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens; add green pepper. Cook a few minutes; add water chestnuts, reserved cherries and cooked shrimp. Heat until warm. Cook rice according to package directions. Serve over rice. Makes 9 servings.
-- "600 Very Cherry Recipes"
Jane Pearsall, who lives on the Old Mission Peninsula, says her family loves this recipe for Cherry Buffalo Meatballs. "I don't have exact amounts for ingredients -- I made up the recipe and do it a little different each time I make it," she said.
Cherry Buffalo Meatballs
1 lb. ground buffalo meat
1/2 to 3/4 c. dried cherries (I usually cut them in half or thirds)
1 egg
1/4 c. cracker crumbs
2 T. wheat germ (optional)
2 T. flaxseed meal (optional)
1 (9.5 oz.) jar cherry barbecue sauce (I prefer the sauce from The Cherry Stop)
Pour the jar of cherry barbecue sauce into a slow cooker. Thin the sauce with a little water -- probably less than 1/4 cup. Turn slow cooker to high.
Mix all other ingredients together and form into small meatballs. Brown in frying pan until almost done. Place meatballs into slow cooker with barbecue sauce. Stir gently. Cook on high for a couple of hours, then on low for 2-4 more hours.
I usually serve the meatballs over rice or noodles.
-- Jane Pearsall
Anna Kindt, 23, grew up in Traverse City. She's currently living in Alpena, working as an architecture intern.
"Although I haven't been living at home year 'round for awhile, I always make sure to raid my Mom's dried cherry stash whenever I visit Traverse," she said. "It might seem like a Traverse City stereotype, but I really do love cherries."
She found the following recipe in "Cooking Light." While it calls for cherry preserves, she always adds dried cherries (from her stash) to the sauce before it's finished and she usually substitutes pork chops for the lamb.
"I use fresh rosemary from my herb garden, make extra sauce and serve it with couscous or orzo," she said. She likes the Bonne Maman brand of cherry preserves (available in the British section of Meijer) because of the chunks and flavor.
Cherry-Glazed Pan-Seared Lamb Chops
Cooking spray
2 t. dried rosemary
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper, divided
8 (4-oz.) lamb loin chops, trimmed
2 t. bottled minced garlic
1/2 c. fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
1/2 c. cherry preserves
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
Parsley sprigs, if desired
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Combine rosemary, salt and 1/4 t. pepper in a small bowl, stirring well. Rub spice mixture evenly over both sides of lamb. Add lamb to pan; cook 5 minutes on each side. Remove lamb from pan. Wipe pan clean with paper towels.
Return pan to medium heat; recoat with cooking spray. Add garlic to pan; cook 30 seconds. Add remaining 1/4 t. pepper and broth; cook 1 minutes, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in preserves and vinegar; cook 3 minutes or until slightly thick. (Toss in a handful of dried cherries a minute or two before sauce is finished, if desired.) Return lamb to pan; turn to coat. Cook 1 minute or until desired degree of doneness. Garnish with parsley sprigs, if desired.
Makes 4 servings. Serving size is 2 lamb chops and 3 T. glaze.
Nita Send, director for cherry promotion for the National Cherry Festival, "as well as a cherry grower, mom and grandma in Leelanau County," mixes a couple local favorites.
Venison With Rosemary and Dried Cherries
1&1/2 t. chopped fresh rosemary
1 t. cumin
1 large garlic clove
1&1/2 t. extra virgin olive oil
1 (1-lb.) venison tenderloin
1/4 c. dry red wine
1/4 c. dried tart cherries
3/4 c. fat-free beef broth
1/2 c. water
1 t. cornstarch
2 T. blackberry jelly
Grind 1 t. rosemary with cumin and garlic with a mortar and pestle to make a paste, then stir in 1/2 t. oil.
Pat venison dry and put in a bowl, then rub with paste. Season well with pepper, then cover and chill 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Heat a well-seasoned cast iron skillet over high heat until hot, then add remaining teaspoon oil, tilting skillet to coat evenly. Season venison well with salt, then brown, turning once, about 6 minutes total.
Transfer skillet to middle of oven and roast venison until an instant-read thermometer inserted diagonally into center registers 125 degrees, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer meat to a plate and cover tightly with foil.
Add wine and cherries to skillet and deglaze by boiling over moderately high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits. Stir together broth, water, cornstarch and remaining 1/2 t. rosemary in a bowl and add to skillet. Simmer, stirring, until mixture is thickened, about 5 minutes. Whisk in jelly and salt and pepper to taste. Makes 4 servings.
-- Nita Send
Kelsey (Hewitt) LaCross was the 2001 National Cherry Queen. She married into a farming family and she and her husband, Ben, have a toddler, Keaton, "who loves to eat cherries in many ways."
"We really enjoy cooking together as a family," Kelsey LaCross said, "and often make extra for leftovers to use during our busiest days of the week. This heart healthy cherry cereal recipe will help make a hectic morning go smooth and leave you with that 'comfort food feeling' all morning long."
She said this is one of her son's favorite breakfasts.
Keaton's Cherry Cereal
1&3/4 c. milk
1 c. oats (quick or old fashioned)
1/2 c. dried cherries
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla
Dash of cinnamon (optional)
Prepare oatmeal as directed on the stove top.
Bring milk to a slight boil, add oatmeal and cook while stirring for about 10 minutes.
Turn the heat to low, add in the remaining ingredients: dried cherries, vanilla, brown sugar and cinnamon.
Cook another 5 minutes until cherries are slightly plump.
Your cherry oatmeal cereal is ready to eat! You can store leftover cherry cereal in a covered container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. Add a tablespoon a milk to thin it while reheating, if desired.
-- Kelsey LaCross
Keith Schwartz, a business student at Central Michigan University, recently got turned on to cooking and likes the sweet/salty combination of olives and cherries in this recipe. He's "ready to be on vacation in TC for Cherry Festival Week!"
Cherry Festival Pork Chops
2 T. brown sugar
3/4 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
3 garlic cloves (crushed)
4 pork chops 1 inch thick; any type is fine but I prefer tenderloin
1/2 c. dry white wine (I like to use local TC wines)
2 T. red wine vinegar
1 t. cornstarch
1/4 t. oregano
1/2 c. dried sweet Traverse City cherries
1/4 c. green olives, chopped
1 T. capers, drained
Combine brown sugar, salt pepper and garlic. Put mixture on waxed paper and press pork chops into it, coating both sides.
Cook pork chops on grill or on stove top 5-7 minutes until pork just loses its pink color on the outside. Set pork chops aside.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix the wine, vinegar, cornstarch and oregano until well blended. Use a pan that is big enough to accommodate the pork chops to cook this mixture, over medium to medium high heat. Stir constantly until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. (If you cooked the pork chops on the stove, use that same pan for this step.)
Put pork chops in pan on top of the wine mixture; add the cherries, olives and capers; heat this through 3-5 minutes. Makes 4 servings.
Quinoa makes it healthy and shrimp makes it a meal.
Cherry Quinoa
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T. vegetable oil
1 can (14 oz.) chicken broth
1 c. quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 T. chopped Anaheim pepper
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground pepper
2 c. pitted fresh sweet cherries
8 ozs. small cooked peeled shrimp
1/4 c. chopped parsley
Prepared salsa, optional
Saute onion and garlic in oil; add broth, quinoa, Anaheim pepper, salt and ground pepper.
Bring mixture to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 12 to 18 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed.
Fluff mixture with a fork and gently stir in cherries, shrimp and parsley.
Serve with salsa, if desired. Makes 6 servings.
-- Northwest Cherry Growers, www.nwcherries.com
