The Goods
 Lenny's Favorite TODAY!
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You may “ooh” and “aah” over a pale pink cloud of cherry blossoms in the spring, but the real fun begins in early summer after the blossoms fall and the cherries turn ripe and juicy. Bing, Burlat, Brooks, Rainier, Royal Anne—these juicy little bites are bustin’ out all over at farmstands and supermarkets, ready to supercharge your smoothie and put some sass in your desserts.
Early summer relatives of peaches, nectarines and plums, cherries have been cultivated in the United States since the 1800’s. All sweet and sour cherry varieties cultivated today were developed from wild cherry trees that originated in Central Asia. Sour, or pie, cherries account for about one-third of commercial production in the United States, and most sour cherries are grown in Michigan and Utah. Sweet cherries can be grown almost anywhere, tolerating a range of climate variations, but Washington and California are the largest commercial producers of sweet cherries.
Totally awesome for eating out of hand (be sure to have a pit-spitting contest!), sweet cherries are incredibly versatile and delicious in every course. Schmear a piece of toasted rustic bread with soft goat cheese, top with a few cherry halves, a drizzle of honey and a few fresh thyme leaves; cook cherries with a cardamom pod, a stick of cinnamon, a bit of brown sugar and a splash of sherry vinegar for a delicious accompaniment for roast pork; for dessert layer cherries on a circle of puff pastry or pie dough with almond paste or mascarpone cheese for a beautiful rustic galette. Buy a great big bunch of cherries on a whim? Freeze half of them and use them as ice cubes in summer cocktails. Cherries are ready for summer—are you?
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