In the Kitchen with Sigona’s: It’s cherry season!

Cherries are delicious eaten on their own, but they add new level of flavor to savory dishes and grilled meats, such as pork. One of our customers even replaces tomatoes with cherries in their homemade salsa! Remember, cherries have pits in the middle so be careful when biting into them.

Balsamic-Drizzled Summer Stone Fruit over Creamy Gelato

Stone fruits are just coming into season, and though I prefer to eat them out of hand, they’re delicious when roasted, drizzled with balsamic (especially an infused balsamic) and served over ice cream or gelato. Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 12+ cherries, halved with the pit removed
• 2 other stone fruits, such as peaches, apricots, plums or nectarines, quartered with the pit removed
• ½ cup Sigona’s cherry balsamic
• 1 pint of Vanilla Bean gelato (we recommend Gelato Massimo; it’s made in Watsonville!)
• 4 mint leaves, for garnish (optional)

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and prepare fruits as directed.

Place fruits in a baking dish and drizzle with Sigona’s cherry balsamic. Roast fruit for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, scoop gelato into four dessert bowls. Place equal amounts of roasted fruit in the bowls and drizzle with more balsamic (leftovers from the baking dish and/or a drizzle of more from the bottle). Place a mint leaf in each bowl (optional) and serve immediately.

Smoked Turkey and Cherry Salad with a Cherry Balsamic Vinaigrette

This salad recipe, inspired by this one on the California Cherry Advisory Board website, is a great way to use fresh cherries and our cherry balsamic. Serves 4.

For the salad:

• 1 head Romaine lettuce, medium-chopped
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 cup diced green onion, some green included
• 2 small mandarins or tangerines, such as Pixie tangerines
• 1 cup smoked turkey, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2/3 cup California Bing cherries, washed, halved & pitted

For the balsamic vinaigrette:

• 1/3 cup Sigona’s Fresh Press extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 TBL Sigona’s Cherry balsamic
• 1 TBL stone-ground mustard
• 1 tsp honey or organic Agave nectar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions: Toss all salad ingredients together, except cherries, in a large bowl.

Add all the vinaigrette ingredients, except the EVOO, in a small bowl and whisk to mix. Slowly drizzle in the EVOO and whisk quickly to emulsify the mixture.

Reserving 1 TBL, drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad and toss to coat. Add the cherries to the reserved vinaigrette and toss to coat.

Arrange salad on individual plates, sprinkle with cherries and serve immediately.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with a Cherry-Balsamic Reduction

Just typing out this recipe makes my mouth water. It’s a simple go-to recipe when we have fresh cherries in the store that is sure to impress. If it’s too hot and you don’t want to turn on the oven you can always grill the tenderloin on the BBQ. Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 1 pork tenderloin (about 1 pound)
• Salt and pepper
• 2-3 TBL Sigona’s Fresh Press extra-virgin olive oil
• 2-3 TBL unsalted butter
• 1 large shallot, diced
• 1 TBL chopped fresh rosemary
• 3/4 lb. Bing cherries, halved and pitted
• 1/2 cup Sigona’s cherry balsamic

Directions: Rub pork with salt and pepper. Heat EVOO in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot add pork to pan and cook 3 minutes, rotating to brown all sides. Roast pork in the oven at 400F for about 20-25 minutes or until a thermometer registers 155F (it will still be slightly pink). Set aside and let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

When pork is done and resting, begin the cherry & balsamic sauce.

Add butter to a skillet over medium-high heat. When melted, stir in the shallots and rosemary and cook for one minute. Add the cherries and balsamic and increase heat to high. Cook another minute or so to reduce the balsamic (it’ll get a little thicker).

Drizzle the cherry and balsamic mixture over the sliced pork (about 1-2 inch thick medallions) and serve immediately.