Recipe From Cherry Country

Recipe & Photo from  Celeste Shadbolt Bonniksen, General Manager, Cherry Country.

Cherry Country is a family owned and operated cherry orchard and chocolate factory dedicated to making delicious, high quality and all natural Oregon cherry products. Cherry Country can be found, like rhubarb, in the Oregon spring at the PSU Market Saturdays.

All year-round, Cherry Country, makes cherry products using only their highest quality, sweet and “tart” cherries.  Their signature product is Dried Cherries & Chocolate, a pairing of dried Royal Ann cherries covered in high quality dark or milk chocolate. They also offer 3 varieties of dried cherries, using Bing, Royal Ann and Montmorency “Tart” cherries.  Cherry Country offers some of the most delicious sweet cherry jams, cherry pepper jellies, cherry chocolate barks and fresh sweet and tart pie cherries at the Portland, Hillsdale, Salem and Corvallis Farmers’ Markets.

Pure, Oregon Cherries – Simply and Naturally!

Cherry & Rhubarb Crisp Recipe

Ingredients:

Filling:

3/4 cup of white sugar

2 tablespoons of cornstarch

3/4 cup of cold water

3 cups of reconstituted dried cherries dried cherries

1/2 teaspoon of almond extract

4 cups of fresh rhubarb

Crust:

1 cup of flour

1 cup of rolled oats

1 cup of packed brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup margarine or butter

1/4 cup finely chopped hazelnuts, pecans or walnuts

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, stir together the cornstarch and sugar. Stir in the water. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick and bubbly. Stir in the reconstituted dried cherries and almond extract. Set aside to cool.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, oats, brown sugar and salt. Cut in margarine until the mixture is evenly crumbly.
4. Press 2 cups of this mixture into the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Spread the rhubarb over the crust, then spread the cherry mixture over the rhubarb.
5. Stir the chopped nuts into the remaining crumb mixture, and sprinkle over the top of the fruit. Stir the chopped nuts into the remaining crumb mixture, and sprinkle over the top of the fruit.
6. Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is crisp and golden. Serve warm topped with ice cream or whipped topping.

Reconstituting Dried Cherries

Quick Method (using water and cherries):

For every 2 cups of dried cherries (any variety) use 1 cup of water. Combine water and cherries into a saucepan. Bring your water to a boil, then turn the heat to a simmer. Let cherries simmer (stirring constantly) for 10 to 15 minutes (or until plump). There shouldn’t be much excess water so you can keep the last of it with your cherries to maintain flavor. Using the 2:1 ratio helps the cherries maintain their natural flavor without getting too watery. While using the quick method, sugar can be added to enhance flavor or texture.

Other Methods:

You can reconstitute your dried fruit many different ways. You can allow them to soak in warm or cold water.  Juices or liquors can be used to add flavor.

We like using the Quick Method because it is simple, easy and you get the natural flavor of the cherries!

Don’t forget that when you store the reconstituted cherries, do so in an airtight container and put it in the fridge so they don’t mold!