A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road. - Henry Ward Beecher
Our front yard sour cheery trees are currently overflowing with the most beautiful, bright red cherries. We have never had such a large harvest as this year. Last year... we had a total of one cherry... and that's it.
But now, everything has changed. What can you do with about 1 million cherries? All day I pondered this deep question. I know there is
cherry pie...but what else can you make with sour cherries? Then I got an idea....
First thing in the morning I dressed, quietly went out of the house and in the early morning sunshine I began picking cherries for my creation...
And Here it is...
a version of my husband's (and children's) favourite breakfast food...
Crepes...
This is what I did...
Ricotta and Sour Cherry Crepes
A recipe in three parts-yielding about 8 crepes
Part 1: The Cherry Syrup
Ingredients: (double or triple for a greater yield)
2 cups fresh sour cherries, pitted
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon Tapioca or Cornstarch
Directions:
1. Put cherries, sugar and Tapioca into a pot. Let rest for 15 minutes before adding to heat source.
2. After the cherries have rested in the sugar for 15 minutes. Transfer the pot to low heat and cook for about 7-10 minutes or until the flesh of the fresh sour cherries is no longer yellow, but red.
3. Once cooked through, set aside to use when the crepes are finished.
Part 2: The Ricotta
Ingredients: (yields about 1-2 cups...double recipe for greater yield)
6 cups milk
2 cups cream
3 Tablespoons lemon juice (or vinegar)
1 teaspoon salt
Directions:
1. Heat milk, cream and salt in a saucepan over low heat until bubbles start to form. (be careful not to let the milk boil over the pot)
2. Add lemon juice to bubbling milk.
3. Continue to stir until curds start to form in the hot milk and the remaining liquid begins to turn more opaque.
4. Remove from heat source.
5. Prepare a colander lined with a damp light weight kitchen towel.
6. Pour the curdled milk into the prepared colander.
7. Gather the ends of the cloth and tie closed.
8. Hang the Ricotta to remove the excess liquid.
Part 3: The Crepe
(This recipe was taught to me by a French Canadian...whose mother had eleven children...her general rule of thumb was...per person add..1 egg, 1 cup of flour, and 1 cup of milk...I have varied that recipe slightly...)
Ingredients:
For every 1-2 people, prepare:
(To serve a larger crowd double the suggested amounts as required)
3/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 egg
pinch of salt
Directions:
1. Add 3/4 cup flour, 1 cup flour, and 1 egg and pinch of salt to bowl. Whisk. (Remember: If you are making for more than two people...repeat with the above amounts in the same order...until you get the desired quantity of batter...for example...flour,milk, egg, salt, mix. Flour, milk, egg, salt, mix. etc...)
2. Heat up a medium sized frying pan over low heat.
3. Prepare a small bowl with a small amount of oil. From the bowl, take 1 spoonful of oil and pour onto the hot pan. Tilting the pan, swirl the oil around.
4. Ladle about a half cup of batter onto the oiled hot skillet. Tilt the pan to swirl the batter around to evenly cover the entire bottom of the pan.
5. Fry for about 30sec - 1 minute per side, depending on the skillet temperature. Then flip gently with spatula. Lightly fry the reverse side. The crepe should look like this:
8. Continue frying the batter in portions, until you have the desired amount of Crepes.
9. Then begin to assemble your finished crepes for serving.
Lay crepe flat on plate:
Put about 3 -4 Tablespoons of Ricotta Cheese down the middle of the crepe:
Put desired amount of Cherry syrup over the top of the ricotta Cheese. (I used about 3-4 Tablespoons):
Fold the edges over the filling, like you are folding a business letter....Now serve and enjoy!
