While I was out on the west coast a few weeks back, I got an email from a very nice woman from the Whole Foods Market corporate offices. She was writing because they’ve recently launched a travel company called Whole Journeys and were partnering with bloggers as a way of shining some light on some of their featured trips and destinations.
In this particular round of promotion, they were inviting a few bloggers to create a preserve would combine seasonal produce with an ingredient from one of the regions visited on a Whole Journeys itinerary.
Despite my crazy schedule, I just couldn’t say no to this very interesting recipe development challenge. Plus, they were kicking in a gift card to cover supplies and another one to give away to a FiJ reader (more about that at the end of the post).
When I got back to Philadelphia, there was a package waiting for me that contained a few jelly jars, a little tub of raw mountain honey, and a sheaf of paper telling me all about the Dolomites, which is a mountain range in the northern Italian Alps.
I spent a goodly amount of time wondering what I could make that would be both appropriately Italian and evoke a mountainous region. So much time, in fact, that I missed the challenge deadline and still didn’t have a plan. Oops.
Last Thursday, I stopped thinking and started canning. One of the details included in the material they sent was the fact that the Dolomites is known for cheeses, speck (it’s a lovely, smokey cured ham), and wines. I decided to make a preserve that would go nicely with all those things.
I took 2 1/2 pounds of cherries, split them in half, popped out the pits and piled them in a low wide Dutch oven. I added the honey that had come in my box (it was a 16 ounce jar), along with a fragrant stem of rosemary (I brought a gallon size bag of rosemary clipped from a giant shrub in my parents’ front yard back to Philly with me). I let it sit for a bit, until the honey dissolved and the cherries released some juice.
Once it was juicy, I put the pot on the stove and brought it to a boil. I cooked it at a rapid bubble for about 20 minutes, until the cherries softened and the syrup thickened a bit. I didn’t add any pectin because I wasn’t going for a jam, but instead wanted tender cherries in a rosemary and honey flavored syrup. Towards the end of cooking, I added the juice of one lemon and just a pinch of sea salt, to help sharpen the finished flavor.
The preserve is a perfect accompaniment for cheese and cured meats, so I think I hit my mark. It’s one that I look forward to cracking open later in the fall when the evenings turn crisp and the days shorten.
Now, the giveaway. I have one $50 gift certificate to send out to one of you. Here’s how to enter.
- Leave a comment on this post and tell me what you would have made given the same challenge!
- Comments will close at 11:59 pm eastern time on Saturday, July 26, 2014. Winners will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog on Sunday, July 27, 2014.
- Giveaway open to United States residents only.
- One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog at the bottom of this post.
For more about Whole Journeys, check them out on Facebook and Twitter.
Disclosure: Whole Foods Market gave me a gift card to cover the cost of supplies for this challenge (along with a few jars and a little tub of honey) and has also provided the $50 gift card for this giveaway. My thoughts and opinions remain, as always, entirely my own.
Cherry Preserves with Honey and Rosemary
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds sweet cherries
- 16 ounces raw honey
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary about 6-8 inches lont
- juice of one lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Prepare a boiling water bath canner and enough jars to hold 4 half pints of product.
- Wash cherries. Remove stems and pits, and slice in half.
- Combine the chopped cherries with the honey and rosemary in a low, wide pan.
- Put the pan on the stove and bring to a boil. Cook at a moderate boil, stirring regularly, for 15-20 minutes. The preserve is done when the liquid has thickened into a slow running syrup and the cherries are soft.
- Towards the end of cooking, add the lemon juice and salt.
- Remove the pan from the heat. Funnel preserves into prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Apply lids and rings and process in a boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes.
- When time is up, remove canner from heat and set the lid aside. Let the jars cool gradually in the pot for an additional 10 minutes (this is to prevent any liquid loss).
- Remove the jars from the canner and set them on a folded kitchen towel to continue to cool.
- When jars are cool enough to handle, remove rings and test seals. Rinse the jars to remove any sticky residue.
- Sealed jars will keep on the shelf for up to a year. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used promptly.
you definitely hit the mark with this preserve. i would’ve tried to modify my grandmother’s cherry conserve recipe (by using the honey instead of sugar). pickled cherries might go well with cheese and speck also, but those recipes don’t use any honey/sugar.
I probably would have attempted a honey fig jam! Pairs nicely with meats and cheese.
As I live at 9000′, and the cherries from a few thousand feet down are showing up in our farmers market, I too would have made something yummy and savory-sweet like this preserve. Yum.
Love your recipe. I would make cherry pie.
Very new to canning so not an expert, but canning a spiced peach mixture with the honey would be divine!
Fresh Strawberry Salad Dressing using the Honey, Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil with a pinch of Sea Salt and Crushed Black Pepper.
The Salad Dressing would be served over a Spinach Salad of Strawberries, Gorgonzola Cheese and Chicken that had been marinated in Balsamic Vinegar and Rosemary then grilled to perfection.
Honeyed Prune and Apple Compote would be my idea. But the cherries do look so good.
i would try using honey to make my blackberry jam in place of sugar. Sounds delicious!
I would make a slightly thick sauce with champagne vinegar, the honey, and possibly fresh basil (I’d have to taste test it as I went along
I would make yummy fruit tarts!
The honey and cherry with rosemary recipe sounds lovely. I plan to try this. My son is a beekeeper so keeps me supplied with honey. I think I would have tried a combination of strawberries, honey and reduced balsamic to make an ice cream sauce.
Using seasonal produce would be a blueberry pie filling sweetened with the honey.
I once made a failed lemon honey jelly…used the resulting syrup for sweetening tea. I’d like to try that one again.
I’m a novice canner, having just started a week ago–really appreciate the information and recipes on your website/blog–thanks! For this contest, I would have used the honey in a caramelized onion, tomato, and balsamic vinegar compote. The honey adds a sweetness and balanced the vinegar and garlic-great on crusty bread! One of my two recipes this week; looking forward to many more!
I would grill up some polenta and top it with some local veggies. Add some reduced wine glaze and of course a glass to drink on the side!
Cherry jam with honey and a touch of balsamic (just enough to accentuate the flavor of the cherries) I’d probably use Pomona’s as well. Thank you!
I love the Whole Journeys concept. I’ve personally arranged my travels always to intercept with farming (my profession) research, and eating. Research? Yes! I’m also a beekeeper, so honey is close to my heart. I might have taken the easy route for this one, and simply soaked the fruit in the honey, and served them with lavender and thyme flowers on some (homemade) sweet cream ice cream. Thanks!
What a fun challenge! I would make some kind of chutney using the honey as a sweetener…maybe Italian plum chutney?
I would make a strawberry thyme jam recipe that is sweetened with honey. I’ve had my eye on it for a while, but I haven’t gotten around to making it.
For some reason black raspberries is what I would want to use here. I don’t think they are Italian at all, but I haven’t canned with them and maybe that’s the inspiration.
Wild mountain blueberries with raw honey and balsamic vinegar of which Italians are fond in combo with fruit. Thanks for the giveaway!
Mostarda!
I think cherries in in a sweet-savory syrup, pickle or chutney would have been right up my alley. I would make Italian cherry sodas! Looks great, Marisa.
I would have used the honey and rosemary to make a brine for salmon and then hot smoke it. I would have used the cherries to make a compote to go on top of it.
I would make my raspberry and honey jelly…so good!
Apple Strudel!
Great choice in recipe. I have been wanting to make jams that are honey sweetened so I probably would have taken this opportunity to make “Honey sweetened cherry jam”.
If I were given similar ingredients I think I would make a cherry BBQ sauce with herbs. Something that would go with chicken or pork on the grill.
I would make a fig preserve.
I have an entire counter of peaches right now so I would have probably gone for a peach/vanilla butter to slather with cheese and croissants. I have peach butter on the brain at the moment…..:))
M-
Can’t improve on your recipe. I’ve slipped across the border into italy and visited the dolomites (beautiful+++++) several times while vacationing in Germany. The entire mountain regions of Germany, Austria, and Italy love cherries, cherry jam, cherry juice, cherry liquor…etc. Your recipe is perfect!!!.
Jam Bubba
i think i would have gone with an onion jam with herbs. but i love the cherry jam with rosemary idea so much, i’m eyeing the bag of cherries in the fridge.
I could easily repeat the sweet cherry chutney… But will try this rosemary cherry preserve recipe next…fabulous ideas
I would make a cherry soup, add extra water and maybe yogurt or creme fraiche.
I luv your savory/sweet idea…I think I would have added some cocoa powder and chili powder to make a spicy jam…yum!
Great creation Marisa! Would be great not only on cheese but perhaps with game meats, which I understand are big in the Dolomites. With that in mind, perhaps a sweet savory jam (cherry onion sage?)
As I was reading, I was wondering how a deep, fruity red wine and a splash of balsamic vinegar would pair with rest of the ingredients. Some thing to add a bit of depth to the sweet but still allow the rosemary to come through…. hmmmmm…. now where can I get cherries??
I would just eat the cherries raw! haha, too impatient 🙂
Those jars are gorgeous! If I were to dream up a jam for that challenge I’d try to include figs! Fig jam paired with ciabatta and a good cheese…yum!
Love your use of cherries with rosemary, but perhaps with some wine in it as well. That is a challenge!
I’d make a honey sweetened bread….
Lemon, sage, honey jam.
I love to dehydrate all kinds of things, including fruit, and this spring I dried strawberries. I would make creamed (or spun) honey, and when it sets up, I’d powder the strawberries in the blender and add it to the creamed honey. I would love to try it with blueberries and blackberries and raspberries, too! I give creamed cinnamon honey butter as Christmas gifts to my friends. Maybe this year it will be creamed strawberry honey!
I am so in awe of all of you. I have never actually canned or preserved anything but am hugely interested. My friend sent me the link the Food In Jars and all I have been doing is reading posts. So, quite frankly, I don’t know what I would make. For what it is worth, I just read about herb infused honey… that seems easy enough for a newbie like me. Is that a fair thing to post?
This recipe sounds amazing. I think I would have made a preserve with figs and the cherries, perhaps adding some basil as well. I do love a good fig recipe. Thank you for sharing!
I think I’d make a not-too-sweet onion jam to go with the cheeses and German-style breads I see listed on Dolomite-related food sites. In order to use up all the honey, I’ll bet it would be a moderately big batch.
I would make my raspberry jelly. I steam the juice and all of the flavor out of the berries. It is heavenly! Using honey instead of sugar would make it more heavenly!
I like fennel and oregano, so maybe some kind of butter with the honey and those herbs.
hmm fruit with honey is such a broad category! I think I’d be tempted by the beautiful blackberries this year
I love peaches and honey together so maybe something like that. Thanks for the chance to win.