I didn’t mention it at the time, but our blueberry-picking excursion was also a sour cherry-picking excursion, though one of far lesser proportions.

Because, see, it turns out that cherries grow on trees, unlike blueberries which grow on bushes. This makes it extremely difficult to extract fruit from them, unless, of course, you happen to be 1) a giraffe 2) a bird, or 3) a giant. We are none of these things, and since we weren’t about to pull a GW on my friendly neighborhood orchard, we left with only two small pails of cherries.

At first, we weren’t really sure what to do with sour fruit. But after deciding on savory over sweet, we happened upon a recipe from Epicurious for a sour cherry sauce for pork that looked easily adaptable. Luckily it was, and we loved how well the cherries worked with the wine and cinnamon to create a very unique and delectable sauce. This is something we’d love to serve again in the fall.

Perfectly sweet and tart with a great chunky texture, the only thing stopping us from pouring this over ice cream and other random foods was the fact that it contains chicken broth (mentally, we couldn’t get over it). Otherwise, this would have been all over everything.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup red wine
cinnamon stick
1 cup chicken broth
1 pound sour cherries (about 3 cups), pitted
1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
6 chicken breasts

Instructions:
Boil the vinegar and sugar in a saucepan over moderate heat until the mixture is reduced to a glaze. Add the wine and cinnamon stick and boil the mixture until it is reduced to about 1/4 cup. Add the broth and the cherries and simmer for about five minutes. Stir the cornstarch mixture, and add it gradually while stirring until it reaches desired consistency. Simmer the sauce for additional two minutes, then discard the cinnamon stick, stir in the lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm, covered.