My friend Amy is an awesome person to have a cocktail with because she’s funny and smart with a big heap of sass spooned in. We knew of each other through a mutual friend and then when finally we met in person, on a food styling job of course, we just clicked. We don’t see each other all that often because well, I’m up here in Massachusetts and she’s down in the big bad Apple or across the pond on a job in merry old England. Thank goodness for the smörgåsbord of ways to stay in touch. One thing, among many, that Ms. Lord and I have in common (besides food styling, being Moms, and our sassy attitudes) is our mutual love of good food and gin.
In last week’s post on Sour Cherry Crumble I mentioned that I’d been sipping on a quick and easy cocktail I called Sour Cherry Gin Jings. Up to my elbows (literally) in sour cherries, at the end of the day I’d grab a handful, pit them, muddle with some simple syrup, mint, a shot or two of gin, and top it all off with a splash of seltzer and a few ice cubes.
Imagine my surprise last Saturday when I went to see my sour cherry dealer farmer and he unbelievably had a few boxes of those glowing red orbs tucked between the baskets of plums and blueberries. When he looked up from making change for another customer and watched me making a determined beeline towards his booth, he smiled and said, “I wondered if you’d show up today.”
Truth was I almost didn’t. After all he’d told me the week before that the season was over, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to torture myself or not. Sitting on his counter were less than a handful of boxes of sour cherries for us hard-core addicts. We chatted about pitting (he doesn’t use a pitter, just squashes them like my friend Marisa does), then got into a philosophical debate about gin vs. vodka in summer fruit libations. I think he’d like this wacky watermelon margarita Todd Porter and Diane Cu whipped up, even though it has neither vodka nor gin in it.
When I got home I decided to try out this super simple technique Marc Matsumoto featured on his blog No Recipes during strawberry season. After all these really were the last few boxes of sour cherries for this season and they deserved some special treatment. To remove the pits I plunked down a layer of sour cherries in a pie plate, topped them with a slightly smaller pie plate, and squished those pits out. Then all the cherries and juice went into a plastic bag, and spent the night in the freezer. The next day I popped the frozen cherries and juice into a large jar, added a bit of sugar, gin and waited.
Since the amount of sour cherry gin or vodka is directly limited to the amount of sour cherries you have access to (I’m guessing that most of my readers do not have a tree in their backyard), my advise is to consider who you share these cocktails with. Limited supply and all. Though of course to look at if from a different perspective this would certainly be a way to make some new friends.
Sour Cherry Gin or Vodka
1 1/2 – 2 quarts sour cherries, washed and pitted
1/2 cup turbinado/raw cane sugar
5-7 cups gin or vodka, enough to cover the cherries
Place the sour cherries and any juice you captured into a plastic back and put the freezer overnight. The next day put all the frozen cherries into a large clean jar, sprinkle with sugar and cover with gin or vodka. Let sit in fridge for 3-6 days. Drain alcohol into a clean jar that has been sterilized. Store in fridge. you can save the remaining fruit (which will have lost most of its color) by zapping in the blender with a few tablespoons of sugar. Freeze into cubes and add to adult beverages as the mood strikes you.
Sour Cherry Gin Jing
Splash a jigger of sour cherry gin into a glass with some ice and a bit of the leftover marinated sour cherries. Add a spring of mint and some seltzer.
Sour Cherry Vodka Sparkler
Splash a jigger of sour cherry vodka into an old-fashioned glass, top with seltzer and a squeeze of lime.
Any other suggestions? The possibilities are only as limited as your supply of Sour Cherry Gin or Vodka. Drinks on the deck anyone?
Photo Credits:
Amy Lord by John Moloney
All others by Cynthia Allen
And no, the vista pictured above is not a view from my deck, though it is a short walk from my house. I think a thermos full of cocktails might be arranged…
P.S. Amy dear I am saving you a batch of this gin-based elixir for when we next meet up! Hopefully it’s soon~
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