Breaking
FoodNerdy Recipes Management System
Tag

Cherries

Browsing
Food

Do Not Pit: it is Best to Sieve The Cornelian Cherries

From September, the overripe cornelian cherries are ready for harvest. The cherry-like wild fruits taste delicious in chutneys, jams, and pastries, as well as in juice or syrup. However, since pitting the cornelian cherries is extremely laborious, the red fruit should be processed differently.

Seven instead of stone

Instead of pitting them, the cornel cherries should be sieved so that they can then be processed more easily. The best way to do this is to briefly boil the fruit in a pot with a little water and then pass the fruit market through a sieve. In this way, pith and kernels are cleanly separated from one another. Cornelian cherries taste particularly good when they are combined with apples or pears, as this softens the acidity.

Harvesting the cornel

Despite their name, cornel cherries are not related to the well-known cherries but belong to the dogwood family. The wild fruits are also called Herlitze or yellow dogwood and grow on tree-like shrubs at the edge of the forest. Cornelian cherries are ripe from September. When they are overripe and almost fall from the bush by themselves, it is the right time to harvest.

The vitamin bomb

The red fruits are rich in vitamins B and C, which strengthen the body’s defenses and have a positive effect on the immune system. Cornelian cherries also contain potassium, calcium, and iron, which are responsible for strengthening bones and for transporting oxygen in the blood. The fruit is also often used as a home remedy to reduce fever and for gastrointestinal diseases.

Keep Reading
By
Food

Good For The Baby: That’s Why Pregnant Women Should Eat Cherries

Why are cherries so healthy? And why are the small fruits so important for pregnant women? Here you can find out everything about the cherry.

Eating cherries during pregnancy: why is the fruit important for the development of the unborn child?

The cherry is particularly recommended for women during pregnancy, as it also contains a lot of folic acid. Folic acid is necessary for cell division and responsible for blood formation.

If there is not enough folic acid in the body during pregnancy, this can have serious consequences for the unborn child. Because a folic acid deficiency can lead to deformities in children, since the first cells of the unborn child cannot divide properly.

Therefore, pregnant women in particular should use the small red vitamin bombs more often, ideally even daily. But even those who are not expecting a child should definitely include the cherry on their menu.

Healthy cherry recipes for every day

Anyone who thinks that cherries can only be eaten pure or as jam is wrong. The healthy power fruit offers completely different recipes and opportunities to let off steam in the kitchen*. The red fruits are particularly good in salads, with yoghurt and muesli for breakfast or as a healthy snack in the form of refreshing cherry and sour cream ice cream.

If you prefer something savory, you won’t miss out on the cherry either: balsamic cherry gnocchi with sage and olive oil, but also a spicy cherry chutney with onions and fresh ginger are hearty and healthy energy boosts.

So the cherry is an absolute superfood for everyone, but especially for pregnant women.

Keep Reading
By
health

Cherries and Water Make Your Stomach Ache: That’s Really The Point of Grandma’s Myth

Many people know this nutritional advice from grandma: cherries and water don’t go together. The myth that the combination of fruit and liquid causes stomach pains is even said to go so far that the stomach can burst. But is that really true? We got to the bottom of this legend and we have the answer for you.

Controversial Myth: Stomach Pain from Eating Cherries and Drinking Water?

There are no medical studies that the Federal Center for Nutrition refers to as to whether cherries actually cause stomach pains when combined with water. However, there are various theories as to how the severe abdominal pain can occur after eating the cherries along with drinking water. The nutritionist Claus Leitzmann speculates that the origin of the grandparent myth probably comes from the war and post-war period.

Clean water was scarce at that time. The abdominal pain was probably caused by contaminated water that was drunk along with the cherries that were eaten. Other causes of abdominal pain can be yeast or bacteria on the cherries. In the stomach, they can start to ferment together with the drunk water and the fructose of the cherries and cause severe stomach pains. The water you drink also dilutes the stomach acid, which loses its protective effect.

The harmful bacteria can therefore continue to work unhindered on the fermentation process in the stomach. People who suffer from fructose intolerance should therefore be particularly careful when consuming foods containing fructose. A doctor’s recommendation is not to overdo it with the consumption of cherries and to drink liters of water afterwards. If you stick to a halfway normal consumption amount, there will probably be no stomach ache. By the way: Apricots (apricots), damsons (plums) and other stone fruit, as well as gooseberries, can cause stomach ache for the reasons mentioned above if you eat too much of them and drink too much water afterwards.

Keep Reading
By
Cooking Tips

Freezing Cherries: This is How They Stay Delicious After Thawing

Freezing cherries is a good solution when you have too many left over to eat them all fresh. We’ll show you what you should consider when freezing the sweet fruits.

Freezing cherries – the preparation

Leftover cherries can be easily frozen and stored for more than ten months. Nothing can go wrong if you follow these five steps:

select cherries
In principle, cherries do not ripen after they have been harvested, so you should not choose cherries that are too light or overripe for freezing.

wash cherries
Wash the cherries in a bucket or sink, then drain and dry well.

remove stems
Once the cherries are dry, the stems should be removed. This step is mandatory, but you have the choice of whether or not you also pit the cherries. The fact that they can then be processed further speaks for freezing without a core. However, less juice is lost if you freeze them with stone. If you let them thaw briefly after you take them out of the freezer, the core can still be removed easily.

Freeze cherries: first of all, shock-freeze

shock freezing
Before you completely freeze the cherries, you should definitely do this intermediate step. The shock freezing ensures that the cherries do not later freeze into a large lump. This keeps them crunchy even after thawing. Shock freezing also preserves more vitamins, since the faster freezing forms smaller ice crystals, which are well distributed in the cherry. How it works:

Add the cherries one by one
Then put them in the freezer or in the freezer compartment of your fridge for two hours at the highest level.
Freeze
The last step follows: the actual freezing.
Now fill your cherries in containers and store them in your freezer.
In order to protect the environment, you should not use plastic utensils, especially not disposable plastic (such as freezer bags). Instead, try mason jars or stainless steel cans, for example. Cotton bags are also ideal.

Keep Reading
By
Food

Thicken Cherries: This is How it Works Without Lumps

Thickening cherries is worthwhile for refining various desserts. We present three ways to help you thicken without much effort.

Thickening cherries is an easy way to create a delicious topping for desserts and sweets. There are three options: You can thicken cherries with cornstarch (or a cornstarch substitute), vanilla pudding powder and cake glaze. For this you need the following ingredients:

650 g organic cherries
0.5l water
2 tbsp cornstarch/custard powder/cake glaze

It usually takes less than five minutes to thicken the cherries. We explain step by step how to do this:

Place the cherries in a saucepan with the water.
Let the kirsch come to a boil.
Stir in the starch/custard powder or frosting as soon as the mixture boils. Caution: Begin stirring immediately after adding your thickener of choice to the water. That way no lumps form. You should also not add cornstarch directly to the boiling water, but mix it with a little cold water first and then add it. This also prevents lumps from forming.
Important: cherries are in season from June to August. So this is the best time to thicken cherries.

Keep Reading
By
Lifestyle

Pruning, Caring For And Planting Columnar Cherries: Tips For The Garden And Balcony

You don’t need a spacious garden of your own for a columnar cherry, because the plant also fits on a balcony or terrace. You can read here what you should consider when planting and caring for the special cherry tree.

If you don’t have too much space in the garden or if you don’t want to do without sweet cherries without your own garden, a columnar cherry is the ideal solution. The fruit-bearing trees grow narrow and low and can therefore also be kept in pots on balconies, roof gardens and terraces.

Pillar cherries and pillar fruit in general are the result of clever breeding. The trees grow to a maximum height of two to three meters, but beyond that they are normal cherry trees.

Tip: If you want to get a single cherry tree, you should use a self-pollinating variety. These do not need another tree for pollination. Example varieties include Campanilo, Claudia, Sara, Stella and Victoria.

Pillar cherry: The optimal location

As far as location is concerned, the cherry tree has the same preferences as conventional cherry trees. In the best case, you will find a location in full sun – the more sun the tree gets, the sweeter and tastier the fruits will be. A place that is sheltered from the wind and not at risk of frost is best.

The soil should be loose, humus and moist. Pillar cherries do not tolerate wet, heavy soil. The plants also prefer medium-heavy, slightly acidic to slightly alkaline soil.

Planting cherry trees: Here’s how

When you have found a suitable location for your columnar cherry, you can already plant it. The best way to do this is as follows:

Dig a planting hole about twice as deep and wide as the diameter of the plant’s root ball. Tip: If you want to plant your cherry tree in a bucket, it should have a capacity of at least 30 to 40 liters.
If your soil is very poor in nutrients, you can mix in some humus or compost before planting the plant. By the way: If you don’t know what your soil is like, you can take a soil sample and have it analyzed.
Put the plant in the hole. The root ball should be flush with the soil. The plant should therefore be planted neither deeper nor higher than the ground.
Fill the hole with dirt and trample it down with your feet.
Water the plant generously.
Tip: If you want to plant several columnar cherries, you should keep a distance of at least 80 centimeters between them, preferably one meter.

It is also advisable to use a support rod. You can dig this about 30 centimeters deep before you put the plant in the hole. Then tie the cherry tree to it with a piece of string.

Caring for the cherry tree properly

Pillar cherries are quite easy to handle and do not require much maintenance. Just stick to the following tips and you should be rewarded with a rich harvest:

In summer and when it is dry, the cherry tree needs enough water. Then water them regularly and generously. But be sure to avoid waterlogging.
In spring, as soon as the first shoots appear, you can provide the plant with some compost to provide it with nutrients. Finally, you should fertilize in August so that the new shoots can still sprout before frost.
You can protect columnar cherries in tubs from frost in winter with fleece, jute or coconut mats. Also place the pot on a piece of wood so that not too much cold gets in from below.
If you cultivate the plant in a pot, you should repot it every two to three years.

Cutting cherry trees: tips and tricks

In principle, sweet cherries, which also include columnar cherries, often sprout strongly and are very vigorous. Therefore, you should make a pruning every year after harvest.

Remove all weak and diseased as well as very old and heavily woody shoots.
All side shoots should be cut back to two or three eyes. Eye is a synonym for bud – so you can recognize eyes by thickenings on the shoots where the tree sprout. The side shoots should remain about 20 to 30 centimeters long.
If some shoots grow very dense or cross each other, you can trim those too.

Keep Reading
By