Sunday, June 14, 2009

Cherry Picking

Yesterday was very interesting indeed!

I woke up knowing that I would be participating in a great event, a charity walk for a group called Rainbows4children (http://www.rainbows4children.org/). The goal is raise funds to support a school in Mekele, Ethiopia as well as the students, families, and teachers. My colleague and Allyson and I would be walking three hours in tribute to the distance the school children walk every day. My supervisor sponsored me in part (she's on holiday in the U.S.) and I looked forward to spending the day outdoors in Horgen, Zürich and the dinner and reception afterward.

I decided to make a fortifying lunch, as the right energizing food makes all the difference. Most people would grab a bowl of pasta, but sugar and gluten sensitive would rather not :) The previous weekend at the market I bought a carton of what I thought were cranberries in a rare sale...or so I thought. I actually bought Kirschenbeeren - cherries! Not a low sugar fruit*. But then I got creative, and decided to make something I could pair with savoury dishes - the Cherry Almond Chutney was geboren (born).

Cherry Almond Chutney



2 cups fresh cherries
1 cup chopped almonds
1 T olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 T mustard seeds
1/4 t each of ground cloves, nutmeg, salt, ginger and pepper
2 cinnamon sticks
4 packets Stevia (eq. just under 1/4 cup sugar)
1/2 cup water

  • De-stem and chop the cherries to remove any pits.

  • Chop the onion, though not too finely since you want a nice texture

  • If you haven't, quickly run the almonds in a food processor to chop (again not too fine)

  • Heat the oil in a pan and add the onions for about 7 minutes

  • Add your mustard seeds and all of the spices, stirring regularly as it gets aromatic

  • Add the cherries and after a couple of minutes stir in the sweetener and water

  • Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 30 minutes.

  • Uncover and simmer for another 30 minutes until sauce has thickened.

This was delicious, I served mine over Cream of Buckwheat cereal as shown in the photo (it's just buckwheat mixed with milk and water). It's sold at Whole Foods and shipped all the way to Schweiz for me by my momma! *Actuallly, cherries are brilliant at regulating blood sugar as it happens.

I'll add more to this post about the actual event, which was a beautiful day. Max and Kathy Robinson, the founders, were humble and warm. And the craziest thing? As we were walking on the course (including through a horse and sheep farm), we came upon what else - a cherry picking grove! Stay tuned for photos where Allyson and I ran among the trees and grabbed several cups of fresh cherries for under 2 Swiss francs ;)

2 comments:

  1. I think if you ever decide to change your career path, you could be a chef!! fresh cherries YAY~!

    ReplyDelete
  2. thanks babe, i'm not there yet but i'm working on it ;) can't wait to see you at the end of the summer!

    ReplyDelete