Hi Everyone,
Whenever I travel abroad, whether for business or pleasure, I always have a list of things that I’d like to eat or to try. These would be dishes or ingredients I would have read about, seen on television or the Internet, or something that I would have heard described lovingly by someone who has tried it before.
Over the years, some of these dishes have become must-haves whenever I’d visit, if not, the trip would seem to be missing something. A trip to Grenada without having my dear friend Indra’s Oil Down and fried Jacks would be blah. Going to Trinidad and not stopping at The Breakfast Shed or at the Doubles-Man outside my hotel would be a shame. Stopping at one of the roadside food stands in Jamaica is a must for Festival and Jerk. Missing out on a Friday afternoon street-corner helping of barbeque chicken and fried bakes in St Lucia would be a pity. Without a heaping plate of roast fish and boiled ground provisions, a trip to St Vincent and the Grenadines would leave me totally unsatisfied. If I were a visitor to Barbados then a serving of piping hot fish cakes with a drizzle of Bajan Pepper Sauce or a thick slice of macaroni pie would be items not to miss. In Guyana, some black pudding with a generous helping of sour would hit the spot!
When I return home, I spend time in my kitchen, working to re-create most of the Caribbean dishes as often the ingredients are available. When my travels take me up North, it is not always easy to return home and recreate the dishes. Sure, I can find some of the ingredients back in the Caribbean but they are usually imported, sometimes not of the best quality and they often cost a fortune. You know, like they were flown in on first class or something!
Sometimes my travel-food-list gets tossed aside depending on when I visit and what’s in season. We’ll it’s currently summer and I’m in the US and one of the fruits I’ve been so excited to eat and cook with is cherries, the Bing variety. Just one look at these cherries and you’ll fall in love. They are firm, deep red to burgundy in colour when ripe; sweet, juicy and full of fruity flavour. While our Caribbean cherries have three seeds, this North American variety cherry has only one seed. Cherries are indeed a super fruit because just as ours is full of vitamin C and other nutrients; the Bing variety is an excellent source of potassium and is recommended as part of a healthy diet.
I’ve been on a Bing binge; with each bag of cherries I’ve bought, I made different things like jam and compote. And then on Tuesday, I made a cherry cobbler. It was so nice, that I made it twice, within a 24-hour period!!! The first cobbler was for a friend’s birthday and I wanted to make something simple yet interesting for dessert. I personally feel that after a certain number of birthdays, birthday cake becomes boring, more so if you’re not a cake person. The cobbler was cut into squares and served at room temperature. I did not serve it with ice cream as is done sometimes because I really wanted my guests to enjoy the fruitiness of the cherries. And I’m happy to report they did indeed enjoy. The sound of numerous “ummmms” and softly spoken “this is so good!” were clues.
Now, I know that some of my regular readers might be a little confused. You probably remember that I’ve said time and again in this column that, I’m not a dessert person. Well, technically I’m not, but given that I made this cobbler twice in less than 24 hours, we have to accept the proposition that either my tastes are changing in my old age, or that Bing Cherry Cobbler was darn good.
So my time in the US is winding down. Let me check my must-have food list to see how I’m doing – Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms? Check! Artichoke hearts? Check! Dry-cured olives? Check! Bing cherries? Check! Check! Check!
Cynthia
tasteslikehome@gmail.com
www.tasteslikehome.org
Cherry Cobbler
Yield: 1 (9 x 13) pan
Ingredients
Batter
4 oz or ½ cup unsalted butter
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ cup white granulated sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla essence
1 cup whole milk
Dressed Cherries
3 cups pitted cherries
½ cup white granulated sugar
1 ¼ tablespoons all purpose flour
Method
Add butter to pan and place in oven. Turn on oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Let butter melt in pan (about 6 – 7 minutes). Remove pan from oven when butter is melted, do not let it colour.
Meanwhile, add all the dry ingredients for the batter and mix well. Pour in milk and vanilla and stir to fully incorporate. Set aside.
Add cherries and sugar to a bowl and toss. Add flour and toss to coat.
Pour batter into pan. Do not disturb the melted butter at the bottom. Shake the pan slightly, if necessary to distribute the batter.
Liberally sprinkle the cherries over the batter. Transfer to oven and bake for 45 – 55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool on wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. It can be served with ice cream as well.