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Savory Cherry Compote

Savory Cherry Compote

When fresh cherries are in season, it's kind of hard to resist eating as many as you can. Actually, at our house, that goes for any stone fruit. But sometimes, sometimes we have even more cherries than we can justifiably eat, and common sense kicks in and we think, uh, maybe we should fill up on more than just fruit? Protein perhaps? Dinner beckons yet that big bowl of cherries eyes us temptingly. Dilemma solved. A quick and easy savory compote made with fresh cherries, walnuts, rosemary, and shallots in a wine reduction makes an excellent accompaniment to pork, chicken, or even duck. Serve with pork chops, pork tenderloin, seared duck breasts, or baked chicken. Yum.

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Savory Cherry Compote Recipe

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp minced shallots (can sub red onion)
  • 2 1/2 cups pitted sweet cherries, quartered
  • 1 cup walnuts, chopped
  • 1 Tsp minced fresh rosemary
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup Port, red wine, kirsch, cassis, or cherry juice (or water)
  • 1 Tbsp honey

Method

1 Heat the olive oil in a pan in a frying pan on medium high heat. Add the shallots and sauté until they just begin to color on the edges, about 2-3 minutes. Stir a few times while they’re cooking.

2 Add the walnuts, rosemary and cherries and stir everything to combine. Turn the heat down to medium and cook until the cherries are soft, about 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a little black pepper and taste for salt.

3 Pour in the Port, wine, kirsch or cassis and the honey, and stir again. Boil this down slowly until the softening cherries and the liquid cook down to a syrupy texture.

Makes a couple cups, enough to accompany meat dish for 4 to 6 people.

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8 Comments

Thank you for providing the non-alcoholic version. I don't drink, and I hate buying a whole huge bottle just for a fourth of a cup!

Posted by: The Boob Nazi on June 2, 2010 7:17 AM

Can you sub in cranberries? I have a bunch in the freezer from Thanksgiving.

Cherries are sweet; cranberries are sour. If you want to make a cranberry sauce, you will need to add a lot of sugar. ~Elise

Posted by: Liane on June 2, 2010 7:29 AM

Are these sweet Bing type cherries, or sour pie cherries (of which I still have gallons from last year)?

Bing cherries, or other sweet cherries. ~Elise

Posted by: Katja on June 2, 2010 11:57 AM

Oh, my goodness, with a nice young duck . . . Can you use the rosemary fresh or dried? We're just coming into black cherries now where I am, and I am so primed for a good luscious dish like this.

You get such beautiful photos with those pretty blue dishes and counter.

Thanks! Use fresh rosemary. Dried will have the texture of twigs. ~Elise

Posted by: mantha on June 3, 2010 2:07 PM

I had a fantastic crop of cherries last year and froze them. Good thing, since this year they almost all rotted due to late rain.

Do you think this recipe would work with thawed, pitted cherries from last year?

Yes, I think it would work with defrosted cherries, given you're going to cook them up anyway. ~Elise

Posted by: Jane on June 8, 2010 9:48 AM

What an easy, brilliant recipe! I made this today and put it on tea sandwiches w/ spicy seitan "lunch meat," mustard, and spinach, and my guests loved it. I substituted the alcohol with 1 Tbsp apple juice concentrate, 1 Tbsp sake, and 2 Tbsp water. Boiled it down for 20-30 min for it to be syrupy.

Posted by: berkeley girl on June 27, 2010 7:08 PM

fantastic website and lovely recipe - is it suitable for preserving in a jar?

Looking at the recipe it doesn't have enough acid and/or sugar to can unless you use a pressure canner. In that case I think it would be fine for canning. But if you are just doing a water bath, I would keep it refrigerated. ~Elise

Posted by: her ladyship on June 7, 2011 12:37 PM

How long would you process in a pressure canner? I was thinking of canning this recipe as well as it is DELICIOUS and I want to share some with everyone I know. Thanks!

So glad you like it! No idea how long to process in a pressure canner. ~Elise

Posted by: Melissa on July 7, 2011 12:18 PM

I apologize for the inconvenience, comments are closed. ~Elise

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