Recipes

Index:

Black Currant Jam  Black Currant Juice  Black Currant Jelly  Audrey's Black Currant Liqueur    Black Currant Cheese Spread  Black Currant Crusted Chipotle Pork

Watermelon and Saskatchewan Cherry Salad   Saskatchewan cherry and Belgian Chocolate Crepes  White Chocolate Bark and Sour cherries  Cherries Jubilee

Chokecherry Cordial Pie  Chokecherry Juice  Chokecherry Syrup  Chokecherry Jelly

Pincherry Pudding  Pincherry Jelly

Rhubarb Surprise

Sea-Buckthorn Jelly

Saskatoon Dessert RollY

Black Currant Jelly

• 8 cups black currants

• 8 cups water

• 4 cups granulated sugar

Boil currants and water.  Cover and simmer about 10 to 15 minutes or until the fruit is soft.  Crush periodically to extract flavour.

Wet a jelly bag, squeeze out excess moisture and fill with currant pulp.  Drip juice for 3 to 4 hours.   If you don't mind cloudy jelly, you can squeeze and speed up the process.

Black Currant Juice

• 4 cups black currants

• 4 cups water

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup lemon juice

Extract juice as per Black Currant Jelly process.  Combine juice with sugar and lemon.  Boil over high heat and pour into sterilized quart sealers.  Leave 1/4 inch head space.  Process for 15 minutes in a canner.

To serve:
dilute 1 part Black Currant juice in 3 to 4 parts water or soda.  Try a squirt in a glass of chilled white wine!

Black Currant Jam

Black currants can toughen and ruin your preserves unless the skins are first tenderized.
Cook initially and soak overnight.  

• 3 cups black currants

• 2 cups water

• 5 cups granulated sugar

Audrey's Black Currant Liqueur   

• 3 pounds black currants

• 1 cup raspberries (opt)

• pinch of cinnamon

• 1 clove

• 2 - 3 Black currant leaves

• 1 quart Brandy

• 1 # sugar

Black Currant Cheese Spread

Mix cheese, curry and brandy till well blended.  Using beaters. 
Heat jam with vinegar till it bubbles, slightly cool. 
Spread on cheese and top with almonds.

Serve with wheat thins.

Black Currant Crusted Chipotle Pork

Cherries Jubilee

• 2-cups pitted cherries

• 1/4-cup sugar

• ice cream

• 4-cups of water

• 2 tbsp. corn starch

• 1/4-cup brandy

Pie filling
Boil 3 cups of water and cherries until soft, crush to release flavours.   Combine corn starch, water and sugar, add to boiling mixture.  Cook until thickened and simmer in a chafing dish.

Spoon ice cream into serving dishes. Heat brandy in hot water and light on fire.  Pour flaming brandy over cherries.  Pour flaming cherries over ice cream or stir cherries 'til flames subside and then spoon over ice cream.  So simple, yet elegant - a snap when pie filling is made ahead of time.

Sour Cherry and Belgian Chocolate Crepes by Shona Pearson

Prepared for the 2004 Bruno Cherry Festival
(serves 8 or more) Recipe prepared by Shona Pearson, Sous Chef at Fuze Finer Dining in Banff

Crepes - 24 crepes, folded in quarters

Cherries
2 cups sour cherries
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 4 tablespoons of cold water.  Stir everything together in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer gently 3 or 4 minutes until cornstarch cooks and sauce is thickened and glossy. Cool slightly.

Dark Chocolate Sauce
2 cups chopped dark chocolate (Belgian is nice!)
1 cup heavy cream, scalded
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon butter
To scald cream, bring it to a boil in a small pan. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate, honey and butter. Stir just until smooth. Cool slightly.

Honey Cream
Whip together to soft peaks:
1cup whipping cream
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla

To assemble, put 3 folded crepes on each plate, spoon  cherries over, drizzle with chocolate, and garnish with honey cream.

White Chocolate Bark with Sour Cherries by Shona Pearson

3 cups sour cherries soaked in 1/2 cup Kahlua or part of sherry
1 cup coconut, lightly toasted in the oven
3 cups melted white chocolate

Drain cherries and spread on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 325 F for about 30 minutes, until cherries are dry and a little chewy.

Stir cherries and toasted coconut into melted chocolate.

Pour mixture into a 9" x 9" baking pan lined with saran wrap, spread chocolate evenly and refrigerate until completely set.

Cut into small squares to serve.

Recipe prepared by Shona Pearson
Sous Chef at Fuze Finer Dining in Banff , prepared for the 2004 Bruno Cherry Festival

Watermelon and Sour Cherry Salad with Lime and Cilantro 

Recipe prepared by Shona Pearson
Sous Chef at Fuze Finer Dining in Banff Prepared for the 2004 Bruno Cherry Festival
(serves 6-8)

8 cups watermelon cut in 1" cubes
4 cups sliced celery, 1/2" thick
4 cups sour cherries

Combine ingredients for dressing just before serving:

Toss the watermelon, cherries and celery with dressing just before serving (because herbs darken too much to store refrigerated). To serve, make a bed of chopped romaine or baby greens then spoon watermelon cherry salad onto greens. Delicious with grilled chicken or sausage.

Chokecherry Cordial Pie

Crust

• 1/2 cup shortening

• 2 cups flour

• 2 tbsp. sugar

• Press into 9"x 13" pan. Bake 10 minutes @ 350⁰F

 First layer

• 2/3 cup or 6 ounces cream cheese

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar

• 4 ounce container whipped topping

• (12 oz. for total recipe)

• Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar,
  and 4 ounces of whipped topping
  together and spread on crust.

Chokecherry pudding
sauce

• 2 cups chokecherry juice (process described later)

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

• 1 cup sugar

• pinch of salt

• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Add cornstarch to 1/2 cup cold juice. To the remainder of the juice add sugar and bring to boil; add cornstarch/juice mixture. Cook to thicken. Add salt and almond extract. Cool.

Second layer

Pour all but 1/2 cup of cooled chokecherry pudding sauce into pie over cheese mixture.

Third layer

• 6 ounces whipped topping

• 1/2 cup reserved chokecherry pudding sauce.

Beat topping and sauce together; carefully spread onto pudding sauce in pie. Use a teaspoon for best results.  With the remaining 2 ounces of whipped topping, mound it on edges or all in the centre and garnish.

Chokecherry Juice   

• 8 cups ripe chokecherries

• 4 cups water

• 2 cups sugar

• 1 oz. Pectin crystals
  
  Cover chokecherry fruit with water, mash and boil at the same time. After boil, simmer for a half hour mashing occasionally.

Prepare chokecherry juice as in previous recipe. Bring pectin crystals and juice to a boil. Stir in sugar and boil vigorously for 1 minute. Pour into hot sterilized jars.

Chokecherry Jelly

• 8 cups ripe chokecherries

• 4 cups water

• 3 cups sugar

• 4 Tbsp. Lemon juice

Strain and measure juice (about 4 cups) Add 1 tbsp. Lemon juice per cup of prepared juice. Heat juice until mixture comes to a full boil. Stir constantly. Add sugar and continue to boil vigorously for 1 minute. Stir! Pour into hot sterilized jars. Seal with melted paraffin.

For a stronger cherry flavour, add 1/4 tsp. almond extract before pouring into jars.
NOTE: Using 1/4 to 1/3 red (under-ripe) chokecherries will ensure that the jelly will set.
Unripe fruit is higher in pectin.

Pincherry Jelly   

• 6 cups pincherries

• 1 cup water

• 1 package powdered pectin

• 4 1/2 cups sugar

Pincherry Pudding   

• 1 cup pitted pincherries

• 1 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup butter

• 1 cup flour

• 1 tsp. baking powder

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1/2 tsp. allspice

• 1/2 tsp. mace

• 1/2 cup milk

Rhubarb Surprise   

First Layer

• 1/2 cup shortening

• 2 cups flour

• 2 tbsp. sugar

Press into 9" x 13" pan. Bake 10 minutes @ 350⁰

Second Layer

• 5 cups rhubarb (chopped)

• 6 egg yolks

• 2 cups sugar

• 4 tbsp. flour

• 1 cup of milk or cream.

Mix together and pour over baked crust. Bake @ 350⁰F for 40-50 minutes.

Third Layer

• 6 egg whites

• 1/2 cup sugar.

Beat 6 egg whites & 1/2 cup sugar. Add 2 tsp. vanilla. Put on top of rhubarb custard. 
Sprinkle with finely chopped nuts. Bake @ 350⁰F until light brown - 10-15 min.

Sea-Buckthorn Jelly   

• 3 quarts of berries

• 7 cups of sugar

• 1 pouch of liquid Certo

Remove stems and mash fruit. Boil and simmer fruit plus 1 cup of water for 10 minutes. Cover please. Squeeze out the juice using a jelly bag or cheese cloth. Top up extracted juice with water to make 5 cups. You may need to add extra water. Pour juice to a sauce pan and boil. Add all the sugar. Stir constantly. ½ tsp butter may be added to reduce the amount of foam. Stir in liquid certo and continue a full rolling boil for 1 minute. Keep stirring!

Remove from heat and pour into sterilized jars. Fill to 1/4 inch from the rim. Seal. Make 8 cups of lovely orange jelly.

Saskatoon Dessert Roll   

4 layers of filo dough approximately 3 inches by 6 inches.  (Can be made any shape - just need any seams sealed really well.)

A slice of good brie cheese (or camembert) approximately 1/2 to 1/2 thick placed on third of dough.

Apply a good spoonful of Saskatoon Conserve placed on top of cheese.  Fold one side of filo over the cheese and conserve.  Tuck in edges.  Seal all edges well so they do not leak.  Shape into a roll with seam tucked into bottom.  Place with seam down onto a dish for the oven.

Bake 375 for 10 to 12 minutes till brown.

Option:
Warm some conserve until thin.  Strain the berries out and either pour the juice onto a plate and place roll on top or pour the juice over the roll in a decorative pattern.

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