Cherry-Walnut Compote

Last week, I bought some amazing sweet cherries at the farmer’s market, and used some of them for a frozen yogurt that I blogged about earlier.  I had thought I was only buying enough to cover my needs for the yogurt, but I grossly overestimated and ended up only using about half of the cherries for that recipe.  So, I needed to use them up before they went bad–I couldn’t stand to waste these berries.  I found another recipe on Simply Recipes that sounded great to try, and also could be an interesting combination with chicken, pork, or turkey.  Sausage, possibly, as well.

Cherry-Walnut Compote (from Simply Recipes)

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.

I substituted vegetable oil, red onion, dried rosemary, and water for the Port.  I don’t feel any of those substitutions hurt the dish, though–it came out delicious.  Even my fiancé–who is picky about eating fruits and vegetables–though it was good.  I was left with plenty, I would definitely say it can serve more than 4-6 especially since not very much compote is needed with meat.  I served it with grilled chicken and it was excellent.  I highly recommend it, possibly even more than I recommended the frozen yogurt.