Saturday, November 27, 2010

Chamomile Tea Poached Cherries

Weekend Herb Blogging remains in Melbourne where the always lovely Anh from A Food Lover's Journey is hosting. This week I finally get to enjoy the start of Cherry season.

Early Burlat CherriesĀ© by Haalo

These are Early Burlat Cherries - a large, fleshy, sweet and juicy cherry that as the name early implies, comes into fruit before other varieties.

The only trouble with fresh cherries is fighting the compulsion to devour them in one sitting, I found a solution to this is to poach them. This also helps to extend the lifespan of the cherry.

I've taken a slightly different approach this time and poached the cherries in chamomile tea - those subtle honey notes found in chamomile really work well with the flavour of cherry.

Chamomile Tea Poached CherriesĀ© by Haalo


Chamomile Tea Poached Cherries

500 grams fresh cherries, pitted
2 cups brewed chamomile tea
¾ cup caster sugar, approx


Pour the brewed tea and sugar into a saucepan and place over a gentle heat - stir until the sugar has dissolved before adding the pitted cherries.

Let it simmer for about 10 minutes or until the cherries soften slightly and have leached their colour into the syrup. Use a slotted spoon to remove the cherries, increase the heat and bring the syrup to a rapid boil. Reduce the syrup by a third.

Pour the syrup back over the cherries and stir well to coat.

Depending on your preference, these can be served, cold, warm or hot. If you aren't using them straight away, store them in a sealed container in the fridge.

12 comments

  1. something truly different! will try this out--bookmarked :)

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  2. yet another great idea that I never could have thought up in my wildest dreams - must try this!

    When you say the camomile has honeyed flavours I wonder if I could try some honey instead of sugar or would the flavour be too strong?

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  3. Seeing those fresh cherries has me longing for summer!

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  4. I can never resist the urge to polish off half a kilo of cherries in one sitting! Your photos are beautiful.... they're making me crave cherries as I haven't had any this season yet!

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  5. Thanks Priya, hope you enjoy it!

    Thanks Johanna - Good question as I did consider adding honey to this dish but chamomile has a subtle flavour and honey would basically overwhelm it. Now if you don't have chamomile then you might get a similar effect by replacing some of the sugar with honey - it would involve a bit of experimentation as you need a certain amount of sugar in order to create a syrup.

    There is just something about cherries Kalyn!

    Thanks Honey - well, you must immediately remedy that situation!

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  6. Oh, I will have to try this when I get a chance.

    Paz

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  7. You've just given me a good reason for getting some cherries! Thanks for the recipe :)

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  8. Thanks Susan and Abraham!

    Thanks Paz - i hope you do!

    Thanks Min - any reason justifies cherries ;)

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  9. cherries are the best! I bought some recently, but most of them weren't ripe and I read that they don't ripen after they have been picked, so i was quite sad.

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  10. This is such a fabulous idea! Mind racing with thoughts of other fruit & herbal tea combos...

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  11. That is so disappointing Susan, I hope you get hold of some ripe ones!

    Thanks Marisa!

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