Cherries, sweet potatoes & yukon golds
It is cherry season in Washington! Lucious, dark, sweet cherries! What better way to celebrate than with my favorite dish, cherry chipotle chicken. This not too sweet, not too spicy dish will become a family favorite all season long.
I’m trying something new in my blog, I’m attaching the PDFs of recipes for you to download straight to your computer or phone, instead of listing out all the steps…but I’ll keep the pictures so you know what is going on as you cook!
Cherry chipotle chicken starts with some simple ingredients and will teach you how to use reduction as a technique for deep flavor. I recommend having at least half your cherries be the dark, sweet variety as these add a gorgeous color to the final dish. The other half of mine today are Rainier cherries. Find chipotle powder in your local grocery store.
Get the recipe here! Cherry Chipotle Chicken
Pitting cherries by hand
No pitter at home? No problem, cut each fruit in half and dig out pit with small spoon. No need to make sure each half is pretty, they will cook down anyway. More than a pound to pit? Get a friend and a glass of wine…or go get a pitter 🙂
Onions, cherries, brown sugar, dry mustard & chipotle powder go in pan
If using fresh cherries, the brown sugar can be all but omitted. I often use frozen cherries, and those need a bit of a boost. Today’s batch was glorious, though I felt it would have been just as good sans sugar.
Chicken goes in
Reduced sodium stock added just to cover the veggies & fruit – chicken pushed down in to the mix.
Chicken resting
We need to prevent over cooking the chicken. after simmering on medium with lid on for 5 minutes each side of chicken, take out, let rest covered. It WILL NOT BE DONE! Repeat with me, “It will NOT be done”. Don’t worry, it cooks later.
Reduce, reduce, reduce
After chicken is out, turn up the heat and cook down. This is called reducing, which basically means boiling of water to increase flavor. You want to do this until it is dark & thick.
Look for the lines
Due to the staining from the cherries, you can see the direction of the muscle fibers, this is important (isn’t my handwriting pretty? LOL)
notice the fork placement
To shred, grab two forks and use a plate or a plastic cutting board…wooden boards (especially older, softer ones) can get soft and give off splinters. Holding forks backwards, use the top one to hold chicken still, and the other to drag down in short bursts to shred. Again, the center will be raw, not to worry.
Mix in with hot cherries over high heat, stir and cover. Remove from heat and set aside for 5 minutes. This will flash cook any raw chicken and allow the rest to cool slighty and relax, resulting in tender chicken.
Now time for potato salad! Get it here! Deep Fried Potato Salad
Super easy recipe!
Fried potatoes
Use a combo of yukon and sweet potatoes. Important – cut all about the same size so they fry even. Fry in batches at 350F. Salt when they come out.
Mix together condiments
Mayo, bacon, mustard, chipotle & green onion…yumm. Mix together with potatoes when potatoes are done…right when hot.
Finished dish!
How beautiful is that?!?!?!
Both dishes are great hot or cold. serve the chicken on a baguette as a sandwich. Serve on steamed kale or greens for some added fiber and color. These are both great picnic foods.
Thank you for joining me today on FoodStream. Please leave comments/pictures below! I hope you try these at home and post your results! Thanks for visiting the FoodStream! See you next week!
- Want to have me teach you how to do this? Email me to book a class, bbrunches@gmail.com
- Get great ideas on my instagram:
- Follow my events on Facebook: www.facebook.com/bbrunches
Chef Ricky's FoodStream 