Pear and Dried Cherry Pie

[Mai]

Pear and Dried Cherry Pie

-Martha Stewart

Serves 8

1 1/2 cups dried tart cherries
4 pounds firm pears (about 7), peeled and cored
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (2 lemons)
1 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Pâte Brisée
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1. Heat oven to 400°. Place cherries in small bowl, cover with 1 cup hot water. Let stand until cherries have softened, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, thinly slice pears. Transfer pears to a large bowl, and toss with lemon juice. Drain cherries; add to pears along with sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Toss; set aside.

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one pâte brisée round to 1/8 inch thick. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie pan. Fill pie bottom with reserved cherry-pear filling, and dot with butter.

3. Reflour surface, and roll out remaining piece of dough to 1/8 inch thick; place on top of filled pie shell. Crimp top and bottom edges together; cut slits across top of dough. Sprinkle the top of the pie with sugar. Bake until the crust is golden and baked through, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

[Mai]

Double Cherry Pie

Makes 1 - 9 inch pie

" Twice the cherry goodness--dried cherries and frozen cherries make a tangy pie! Tart canned cherries, well drained, can be substituted for the frozen cherries. "

4 cups frozen cherries, thawed
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon butter

1 Combine frozen cherries, dried cherries, white sugar, tapioca, and almond extract in a large mixing bowl; mix well. ( It is not necessary to thaw cherries before using. ) Let cherry mixture stand 15 minutes.
2 Line a 9 inch pie pan with pastry. Fill with cherry mixture. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Dot with butter or margarine. Adjust top crust, cutting slits for steam to escape.
3 Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) about 1 hour, or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. If necessary, cover edge of crust with aluminum foil to prevent overbrowning.

[Mai]

Dried Cherry Cake

Makes 1 -9 inch round cake

1/2 cup chopped dried cherries
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
1 (8 ounce) container vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg plus 1 additional egg white
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 tablespoon white sugar

1 Combine cherries, hot water, and almond extract: let stand 20 minutes. Drain cherries, and pat dry between layers of paper towels. Set aside.
2 In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, and 1 cup white sugar. Add yogurt, eggs, and oil. Stir well. Fold in cherries. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9 inch round cake pan.
3 Stir pecans and 1 tablespoon white sugar together. Sprinkle on top of batter in pan.
4 Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 minutes, or until wooden pick comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Serve warm, or at room temperature.

[Mai]

Dried Cherry Scones

2 cups cake flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces (1/2 cup) butter, chilled and cut up
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
4 ounces (about 3/4 cup) dried tart cherries
Light cream (or half-and-half) and granulated sugar

In a food processor, combine cake and all-purpose flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add butter, egg and milk; pulse until dough starts to come together. Empty dough onto a lightly floured board and knead lightly, folding in dried cherries at the same time.

Gently form dough into a smooth 10-inch circle about 1 inch thick. With a large knife, cut dough into 12 pie shaped wedges. Brush each lightly with cream and dust with sugar. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve warm.

Makes 12.

[Mai]

Fruit Salad with Dried Cherry Vinaigrette

(1 servings)

3 tb Dried cherry vinegar
4 tb Vegetable oil
1/4 ts Salt
1/4 ts Ground black pepper
1 c Dried cherries
1 sm Granny smith apple thin
Sliced
1 sm Orange peeled and cut
Into sections
1/4 c Whole salted cashews
1 1/2 c Belgian endive
1 1/2 c Spinach
1 1/2 c Boston lettuce

For dressing whisk together vinegar, oil, salt and pepper. Arrange greens on serving plate, add cherries, fruits and cashews. Serve with vinaigrette dressing. DRIED CHERRY VINEGAR - Combine 1 cup of dried cherries with 2 cup of white wine vinegar in a glass container. Cover and allow to steep for 2 days at room temperature. Heat just to boiling point, strain through cheesecloth. Cool and store in tightly sealed container.

[Mai]

Dried Cherry Relish

This tangy combo is great with roasted turkey.

1/2 cup dried tart cherries
1/2 cup cherry preserves
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/4 chopped yellow bell pepper
1/4 chopped green bell pepper
1tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)

Combine dried cherries, preserves and vinegar in a small microwave-safe bowl; mix well. Microwave on High (100% power) 1 to 1-1/2 minutes, or until hot. Let stand 5 minutes.

Stir in red onion, yellow and green bell pepper and thyme; mix well. Refrigerate, covered, 3 to 4 hours or overnight. Serve as a sauce with roast turkey or chicken. This relish is also good with grilled hamburgers.

Makes about 1-1/2 cups.

[Mai]

Midwest Sausage and Dried Cherry Stuffing

6 cups country style white bread, cubed and toasted
1 pound bulk pork sausage
1 stick of butter
2 chopped onions
4 ribs of chopped celery
2 1/2 tablespoons of crumbled sage leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons crumbled thyme leaves
1 cup dried cherries (purchase them dried)
1 cup toasted and chopped walnuts
1 cup of chicken stock (canned)
salt and pepper (to taste)


1. Toast the 6 cups of bread cubes for 10 - 15 minutes in a 325 degree oven until golden. Transfer toasted cubes into a large bowl.

2. In a skillet, sauté the sausage, until brown. Drain grease and transfer it the bread bowl.

3. In the same skillet, using 1 stick of butter, sauté all of the vegetables for 10 minutes, until soft. Remove vegetables and place in bowl.

4. Now, in your bowl, combine the sausage, vegetables, cherries breadcrumbs and the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT for the chicken stock. Mix the ingredients until well combined.

5. Now add just enough chicken stock to moisten the bread mixture. You do not want it soaking wet.

6. If packing the turkey, stuff the neck and cavity loosely with stuffing, folding the neck skin under and fastening with a skewer. If not, lightly pack stuffing into a large, shallow stoneware-baking dish.

7. If you bake the stuffing inside the bird, roast the bird at 325 degrees for 15 minutes per pound, or until the temperature of the bird reaches 180 degrees and the juices run clear when thigh is pierced with fork. * If you back in a separate dish, drizzle the stuffing with a little bit of stock (do not soak). Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes.