Christmas Cherries

What would ham be without a few Pickled and Spiced Cherries – on this side of the world anyway!

For the past few years I have been pickling a box of cherries and now living so close to the cherry capital of Australia I have no excuse not to pickle again this year.

The recipe I have used is from one of my favourite books and I would recommend this to anyone…..Danks Street Depot by Jared Ingersoll.  Jared is a kiwi that lucky for us here decided to jump the ditch.

I use the cherries with ham and with turkey and also serve them with pate or terrine.  TRhey are also wonderful with roast duck.

Pickled and spiced cherries

Fills 2.5 litre jar

1kg cherries with stems on

750 ml red wine vinegar

500g soft brown sugar

6 cloves

6 juniper berries

4 allspice

1 star anise

The peel and juice of 1 lemon, cut into strips

1 stick of cinnamon

2 green cardamom pods

Pick through the cherries for any less than perfect ones, then rinse.  Put all the other ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to the boil.  Boil for about 5 minutes, then add your cherries and cook for 5 minutes before removing the pan from the heat.  Allow to sit overnight before transferring everything into sterilized jars.  These keep for months.

Enjoy

Love Mary