Chukar’s locally grown, naturally dried Bing cherries are richly flavorful with no sugar added. Besides being delicious, cherries have many health benefits and can be easily used in both food and drink.

Cherry Herbal Tea

Steep three to five dried Bings in hot water for 5 minutes to produce a fragrant tea. For a stronger flavor, cut the cherries in half before steeping (more surface area allows more flavor to infuse). Add a touch of honey for added sweetness.

Once the liquid is gone and I’ve enjoyed chewing the softened sweet cherries, I’m off to bed with the comforting thought that sweet cherries are one of the few plant sources of melatonin and are a flavorful aid in improving the quality of sleep. 

Dipping Bing Cherries in Wine

Buy 6” bamboo skewers online. Place approximately 3 dried Bing or Rainier cherries or 5 Montmorency tart Chukar® dried cherries onto the tip of each skewer.

Place each cherry-filled skewer into glass of wine until the cherries begin to soften and the wrinkles on the fruit relax a bit. It doesn’t take long. Cherries love wine. The combo of sugar and acid is heaven to them – and the combination of wine and cherries on the palate is divine.

Note: white wines pairs best with Rainier cherries. Red wines pair best with Bings or tarts.

Many of our Wine & Cherry Gift Boxes arrive with dried cherries so that recipients can experiment with different soaking times and cherry varieties.

Savory Bing Wine Sauce

It’s easy to combine Chukar’s dried Bing cherries and Washington’s famous red wine to quickly create a fragrant fruity ‘n savory sauce to pour over basmati rice for a rich meatless meal or paired with halibut, chicken breast, or pork tenderloin.

This is how you do it:

A packaged of basmati rice
A bottle of good quality red wine such as a Red Blend, Cabernet, or Syrah
½ cup of Chukar® Dried Bing cherries – approx. 20 cherries
3-4 Tablespoons of sugar
2-4 Tablespoons of unsalted butter
Twig of Rosemary (optional)

Directions:

Begin cooking your chicken breast. duck breast, or pork tenderloin following your favorite recipe.

Cook your Savory Bing Wine Sauce, cover, set aside.

Cook your rice.

Savory Bing Wine Sauce Directions: Pour 2 cups of wine into a saucepan, throw in the dried Bings, heat to a boil, and immediately turn heat down to a simmer. Continue to simmer until the liquid reduces in half, about 15 minutes. Add a Tablespoon of sugar, a Tablespoon of unsalted butter, stir, and taste.

Is the wine sauce too tart? To achieve the desired balance of sweet to savory, add additional sugar in small amounts, a quarter teaspoon at a time, tasting after each addition, until you reach the desired balance of sweet to savory. Add additional unsalted butter by following the same process. Be brave and continue the process until you personally like the balance of savory to sweet.

To Serve: Plate the basmati rice in a mound on plate’s center. Add slices of chicken breast, duck breast, or pork alongside the rice. Stir the Savory Bing Wine Sauce and spoon generously over the rice/meat ensuring that each plate receives 3-5 Bings.

Coming Soon:
Sweet Bing Wine Sauce is a lovely dessert sauce to accompany an light Italian almond cake. Learn how next week!