caramelised onions, weight loss

 

Weight loss - 80.4kg - weight seems to have stablised, at least it hasn't gone up. Now the silly season is just about over I need to get back on the straight and narrow.

 

 

 

weight loss, sour cherries

Weight loss campaign - 81.1kg, still the lowest I have been for years but I need to continue my downward spiral if I want to reach a normal healthy weight any time this century.

Sour Cherries - new wonder food or something we have know about for ages?

Sour cherries don’t sound very appetising but they are the best cherries for cooking.  They hold their shape and have good texture and great flavour whereas sweet cherries can be a bit insipid.  Sour cherries are very good for you containing a good dose of antioxidants and other substances that improve well-being.  While sour cherries are usually smaller than their sweet cousins they are easy to pit using a simple cherry or olive pitter.  But a word of warning, don’t wear good clothes as ripe red sour cherries produce heaps of staining purple red juice.  If you have a juicer you can drink this wonderful liquid for a health boost.

 

Sour cherry trees are usually prolific so what do you do with all those little red nuggets of goodness once you have washed and pitted them? 

 

1.       Put some on trays lined with freezer film and freeze them individually.  Then pack them into special bags with spoonful or two of sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice, vacuum seal them and put them in the freezer until needed.  They are good as topping for ice cream, cheese cake, used in clafoutis or for a pie.  You can marinate them with a little alcohol and add them to cocktails.

2.       Cook some of them with some spices and sugar. To every pitted 500 g of sour cherries add 150 g of sugar, a pinch of salt, a big pinch cinnamon, the zest of half a lemon and a cup of water.  Bring to a simmer and cook for ten minutes or so, add a teaspoon of cornflour and cook until thickened a little.  Let the mixture cool and pack into plastic containers and freeze. This is delicious as a desert or as a sauce for duck or pork.  It is a great topping for pancakes, waffles even French toast. It can be used as a base for a Hungarian cherry soup (just thin with 2 cups water and add 1/2 cup of sour cream).  It can be used as a layer in a chocolate cake or a topping for a Black Forest cake.

3.       I put some in my dehydrator and dry and then vacuum pack. These are great in muesli, dried fruit mix or in cakes.

4.       If you have enough you can make jam.

5.       Of course you can bottle them.

 

·      See http://mypersiankitchen.com/albaloo-polow-persian-rice-with-sour-cherries for a great recipe for Albaloo Polow ~ Persian Rice with Sour Cherries - which uses fresh sour cherries.

·      Check out http://www.thekitchn.com/in-season-right-now-sour-cherr-119568 for some good ways to use sour cherries and there is a link to a recipe for making your own maraschino cherries.

·      This website has a great recipe for making a really non-hassle sour cherry jam.  http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2005/06/norecipe-yikes/

·      You can also pickle sour cherries.  Delicious! Try the recipe at the following web site http://www.savory.tv/2011/06/16/pickled-cherries-recipe/