Cherries and Mushrooms

Wine:

Chehalem 2001 Pinot Noir
Movia Sauvignon 2005

Cherries have finally appeared at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market. At first they weren’t to sweet but now they are excellent. Cathy found a very unusual salad in
The Zuni Café Cookbook by Judy Rodgers: Mixed Lettuces with Roasted Cherries, Hazelnuts, and warm Saint-Marcellin Cheese. The recipe title says it all. The salad has the warm cherries and cheese and is a real treat. We will definitely make it again.


When we arrived at the Market, David, the Mushroom seller, had a large selection of Porcini Mushrooms. We decided to make a Pasta with the Porcinis.
The recipe itself is easy, it is just the mushrooms that are expensive and hard to find. David thinks they will only be around for 2 weeks or so, so I am glad we got them! We used the Porcini Mushroom Pasta recipe from: The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper.

For dessert we had Coffee Ice Cream (that Billy and Kevin left) with Ginger Chocolate Cookies from The Cheese Store of Silverlake. We topped it with a great Black Cherry Sauce with Cognac from Stownwallkitchens. Someone had given us the sauce (unfortunately we don’t remember who) and we had it in our refrigerator for a few months. When we finally tried it, it was fantastic! Now we have to find out where we can buy it! At least they have a web site. We really recommend it!


Mixed Lettuces with Roasted Cherries, Hazelnuts, and warm Saint-Marcellin Cheese
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About 24 hazelnuts (3/4 ounce, or scant 1/4 cup)
16 or more ripe cherries (or more)
About 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
A few splashes or kirsch or grappa
About 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Salt
2 wheels Saint-Marcellin Cheese (about 3 ounces each) at room temperature
Young lettuce

Preheat oven to 325 degree

Roast the hazelnuts on a small baking sheet until the skin darkens and starts to split, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven increase the temperature to 400 degrees.

What the nuts are still hot, rub skin off and and coarsely chop.

Rub the cherries with few drops of olive oil, and season with a few drops of the kirsch or grappa and a pinch of salt.

Combine the oil, vinegar, and salt to taste. Add another few drops of kirsch or grappa and adjust for taste.

Place the cherries on parchment paper, with the cherries on a baking sheet. Roast until the fruit is near to burst and the cheese is beginning to slouch, about 6 minutes.

Dress the lettuces and hazelnuts with the vinaigrette and arrange on the plate. Top with the hot Cheese and Cherries. Watch out for the cherries pits! Enjoy!