Chokecherries

[ElsieD]

Does anyone have a recipe for a pork or poultry dish that calls for a chokeberry sauce?

[Magictofu]

Since no one suggested anything and that I don't have a real recipe to provide, I'll tell you how I would start experimenting with chokecherries.

1. I would make a simple gastrique (put sugar in a pan and let it melt until it is slightly yellow, do not let it turn into a dark caramel unless you want some of the bitter notes in your sauce, then add vinegar and combine the sugar and vinegar together... this can be messy... take it off the heat when it becomes syrupy).

2. Add the chokecherries to your mixture and cook on medium-low until they start to fall apart. This should make your mixture a bit lighter since water from the chokecherries will mix with your gastrique. When it is cold enough to handle, pass the whole content of your pan in a food mill or a chinois to ensure that no pit remains in your sauce.

3. Return to the pan and add a bit of brown stock (veal is nice but other type of stock would work such as pork or chicken).

4. Reduce and season to your taste.

You could probably experiment with a bit of thyme or orange zest.

Again, I have never done such a sauce but this is the way I would start experimenting.

[pax]

Choke cherries are poisonous to livestock. I have no idea if they are to people.

[baroness]

Choke cherries are poisonous to livestock. I have no idea if they are to people.

←

Not to people.

We used to make jam from them. The first time, we didn't realize how much natural pectin they contained -- and ended up with chokecherry fruit jellies/gumdrops!

[tim]

Hi,

I think a gastric would work.

Tim

[Magictofu]

Choke cherries are poisonous to livestock. I have no idea if they are to people.

←

Not to people.

We used to make jam from them. The first time, we didn't realize how much natural pectin they contained -- and ended up with chokecherry fruit jellies/gumdrops!

←

Around here, people make a simple wine with them. It can be surprisingly good.

[TongoRad]

Choke cherries are poisonous to livestock. I have no idea if they are to people.

←

Not to people.

We used to make jam from them. The first time, we didn't realize how much natural pectin they contained -- and ended up with chokecherry fruit jellies/gumdrops!

←

Around here, people make a simple wine with them. It can be surprisingly good.

←

I made some chokecherry mead about 10 years ago, and it was Awesome. (actually I should say 'still is' because I recently found an old sixpack- nice surprise that was.) The chokecherries were given to me by a friend who would forage for them on Long Island- the instructions were to simply 'muddle' them, and not to break the pits because I could possibly release toxins (cyanide, perhaps- but again, that's just hearsay), then add them to the diluted honey. I really just thought of them as more of a flavoring agent than anything else- the flavor is so deeply concentrated that by the time you had enough to get significant fermentables out of them I thought the final product would become overbearing. As it is I think I struck the right balance, because the aroma is rich with ripe cherries, not too much acid, and a hint of honeysuckle on the finish. And it was surprisingly easy- I'd do it in a second if the opportunity presented itself again.

FWIW- the ones given to me were frozen, which had no ill effect on the final product in this application. So, if you don't know what to do with them at this point in time freezing may not be a bad option until you decide.

[DanConnor]

Wilted chokecherry foliage is poisonous to animals, and people too, but not the fruits. Actually that's true of any type cherry I think.

In upstate New York we are having a banner year, and every morning the picnic table is covered with a fresh layer of fallen fruit. Come to think of it, I'm not absolutely certain if they are chokecherries or black cherries. Very astringent at any rate, and hang abundantly on good-sized wild trees.

I also put them in homebrew once- they made a nice strong cherry flavor.