End of the Season: Cherries!

Its time to say goodbye again... to cherries that is.

We got the last crop in at the store about two weeks ago, and honestly, they were definitely end of the season cherries... when they got to us, the were already brownish and slightly bruised. They tasted good enough, but man, they were ugly. So ugly in fact that they didn't sell - like at all. Even after lowering the price and offering samples to anyone walking in our direction.... Oh darn...

Tip: Don't judge a fruit by its cover! Seriously, the most delicious fruits come in all looks and sizes! And just to be sure, ask the store to give you a sample. No, really. Just about anywhere that sells fruits and vegetables will give you a sample - including grocery stores. I've done it. Just make sure to find an actual produce person to help you out.

So, 5 pounds of ugly, tasty cherries that no one wanted to buy - ended up in my house. The thing is, they were Rainier Cherries - not notoriously good cooking cherries. I love myself a cherry pie, but I wasn't such a fan of the last one I made with Rainiers... so I had to put my thinking cap on - my husband and I were NOT gonna be able to eat 5 pounds of cherries before they went bad.

Sauce? Naw... again they're Rainiers...  Cobbler? Naw... similar taste to pie.... Dried?! That just might work.

Its super simple:

Dried Cherries - Even Rainiers!
Ingredients

• Any amount of pitted cherries, cut in half

Directions

1. Bring out, clean and set your dehydrator on the lowest temperature.
2. Set cherries onto trays, cut side up (rounded, skin side on the tray). This will allow them to retain all their flavor and plumpness.
3. Dry for many hours - between 8-12 - depending on the heat. I let mine go overnight, and woke up to some well dried cherries, with only a few crispy ones. The dryer they are the longer they will store. Mine were DRY. Next time I'm gonna turn them off little sooner, letting them be a little squishy.
4. Collect the cherries, and put into a jar - without the lid. Wait till they cool to room temperature then tighten on the lid.
5. Substitutions: Use any kind of cherry for this, even sour or tart ones, which would be great re-hydrated in a chutney!

They didn't get any prettier during the drying process.... but they did get darn tasty! So tasty that I soon used them in Ina Garten's Granola Bar Recipe! I just cut the cherries up using scissors and used them in place of the apricots. Delicious!

Onions Shouldn't Make You Cry

Onions! Onions! Everywhere!!

The other day, my boss hefted a 50-pound bag of brown onions into the shop. My job was to put them on the shelf, the easy part, and replace the older ones. Which, of course, I couldn't just throw away.

Now, what to do with 10 onions? I love myself some onions, but since they were already a little bit older, I knew I wouldn't be able to store them for long enough to cook them all. At least… not in their current state!

Enter the dehydrator, stage left.

It’s not QUITE as easy to dehydrate onions as I thought it would be. They are a little touchy… and apparently my dehydrator doesn't heat evenly… and you need a piece of special equipment… and you really should do it outside… onions are smelly! But, OTHER than all that, it’s really easy. Here’s how:

Dehydrating Onions
Ingredients:

• Onions, peeled and diced or sliced 

Directions:

1. Once all your onions are cut up, my pieces were about ¼ inch, get your dehydrator ready. 
2. Insert Clean-A-Screens (non-stick screens for your trays, available here), into each of your dehydrator trays. Set the temperature to a lower setting, if you have that option (I don’t, and I think mine runs a little warm). About ½ an onion will fit on each tray. 
3. Spread an even layer of onions onto each tray. Don’t let the pieces stack on each other or be too close together, because they all just get stuck together, and it is hard to separate them. Turn on the dehydrator (I used my patio plug outside). 
4. Every couple hours, rotate the trays. Maybe mix them around a bit if you notice some getting browner than others. The outer edges of my trays cooked WAY faster than the inside. The process takes about 8 hours… give or take 2 hours, depending on the size and sweetness of your onions. Sweeter onions brown faster, so keep a close eye on those. And DON’T let them get brown-brown! They get bitter, and burnt tasting… trust me… I know. 

Once cooked, put them into a glass jar. Keep the lid off till they cool completely, then seal them up!
Add them to anything. Soup. Dip. Re-hydrate them in a bit of water to sauté with. Eat them right out of the jar… yeah… seriously… they’re tasty. Mine had a nice sweet, caramelized flavor, I think due to the higher dehydrating temperature.

And that’s it! My jar is full of about a cup and a third of onions – and it took 5 raw ones to make that much. I actually cut my onions up the night before, kept them in the fridge, and then dehydrated them the next morning. It doesn't seem so labor intensive when you break the work load up.

Have fun! And, I hope you enjoy!