Stewed Cherries (with stems)

Cherries, for the lazy.

Today CCO told me he liked my blog because I often repeat myself, like a fugue. I couldn't take offense. It is true. I do repeat myself, particularly concerning my love of cherries. Often I don't make things with my cherries because I eat them immediately after returning the market. A couple weeks ago, my mom bought me an enormous 3-lb crate of cherries. That I could not eat all of immediately, so I decided to try some of the recipes I'd filed away for such an occasion.

This recipe, frankly, is genius. Part of the reason cherries are so hard to cook with is because of all the stemming and pitting required. The last time I made a cherry pie, I think I spent more time pitting than doing anything else. But this recipe does not require pitting. In fact, you are encouraged to skip the pitting and serve the cherries with stems still attached. The recipe recommends serving as a dessert with creme fraiche or whipped cream. I've decided this is even better as a breakfast treat with plain Greek yogurt.

From the Atlantic food blog, "Cherry Season Made Simpler" by Sally Schneider

Eat Rating: Awesome.
Difficulty: Easy. No pitting required.

1 lb cherries, stems and pits attached
2 tsbp to 1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp water
1/2 vanilla bean (LN: I subbed 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)

Place the cherries, sugar and water in a medium sautee pan over medium heat. If using sweet cherries, use on the lower end of the sugar. If they are sour cherries, increase sugar to 1/4 cup. Add the vanilla, cover and cook for about 2 minutes, until the cherries have started releasing their juice and the liquid has started to turn reddish. Remove the lid, turn up the heat to high and cook stirring occassionally until the cherries are tender, about another three minutes. They may start to split. At this point, the recipe suggests removing the cherries and cooking down the syrup. My syrup was done, so I just turned off the heat. Serve with creme fraiche or whipped cream or yogurt, dunking each cherry in cream before eating.