Market recipes | Cherries

Paul Fehribach takes a Southern approach to fresh cherries, as he does to all of the food he cooks at Big Jones (5347 N Clark St, 773-275-5725). Both sour and sweet cherries will work for the compote, but Fehribach prefers sweet ones, the better to balance the tart pickling juices.

Corn griddle cakes with mushrooms, goat cheese and pickled cherry compote

For the compote:
1 quart sweet cherries, pitted
1 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp black pepper
2 bay leaves
2 tsps kosher salt, or more to taste

For the griddle cakes:
¼ pound shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped
½ cup plus 1 tbsp melted butter
2 cups white cornmeal
2 tsps cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups whole milk
1 tsp salt
Black pepper to taste
4 ounces fresh goat cheese, coarsely crumbled

1. Make the compote: Place all ingredients in a two-quart nonreactive saucepan and bring to a boil slowly, over low heat. Increase heat to medium and stew for a couple hours, until the cherries are cooked and the liquid has reduced by roughly half. (Be careful to stir the cherries regularly to prevent scorching.) Once it’s thick enough to hold its shape as a dollop on a plate, remove from heat and cool to room temperature before refrigerating. Compote will keep under refrigeration for 10–14 days.

2. Sauté shiitake mushrooms over medium heat in one tablespoon of butter, just until sweated, and set aside. Sift together the cornmeal, cream of tartar and baking soda, then add the eggs, milk, a fourth of a cup melted butter, salt and pepper. Very gently stir in the reserved mushrooms and goat cheese. Grease an iron skillet or griddle with the remaining butter and cook the cakes, pouring one-fourth cup of batter per cake, over fairly low heat. Cook until brown on one side (about three minutes), then flip and cook until brown on the other side (about two minutes more). Keep the cakes warm on a plate in a low oven, covered with a clean cloth. When ready to serve, plate with pickled cherry compote and crème fraîche.

Serves four.