It’s that time of the year again! Once you pop an icy cold and sweet dark red cherry, you know you can’t stop! Especially if that cherry is of the organic variety. If you haven’t tried, you should, and while you’re at it, support one of our local farmers. Zebroff’s Organic Farms from Cawston, BC (just south of Penticton) has been supplying Capers with organic cherries and other fruits and vegetables for 22 years! Some varietals include:

Sweet Cherries, which arrived during the Canada Day long weekend.

Bing: First to ripen. Not tart, just sweet.

Vans: A zippier type of Bing with a tart note.

Lamberts: Often called pie cherries, these beautiful, dark cherries last another 7 – 10 days after Vans and are a traditional, almost heritage variety. Their skins are more tender than Vans, so they are ideal for pies and canning.

Sams: Big, black cherries.

Montmorency: Medium large, bright red fruit with firm yellow flesh. These cherries have a rich, tart, tangy flavour and take their name from the Montmorency Valley in France where the variety was developed sometime before the seventeenth century.

To celebrate the arrival of these cherries, here are two delectable recipes that you’ll want to try out with the first local fruits of the season, courtesy of Capers Community Markets.

Recipe 1: Crispy Romaine Salad with Smoked Turkey and Fresh Cherries

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 head Fraser Valley Myers organic romaine lettuce, medium-chopped
1/2 cup crumbled Vancouver Island Little Qualitcum Cheeseworks feta cheese
1/4 cup diced organic green onions, some green included
1 cup diced Fraser Valley OriginO Hot House Yellow Peppers
1 cup smoked McLean Meat organic turkey, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2/3 cup Okanagan Zebroff bing cherries, washed, halved and pitted
1/4 cup Capers Gourmet balsamic vinaigrette

Directions:

1. Toss all ingredients together (except cherries) in a large bowl

2. Drizzle balsamic vinaigrette over salad, reserving 1 tablespoon of vinaigrette, and toss salad

3. Drizzle remaining vinaigrette over cherries and toss to coat

4. Arrange salad on individual plates and sprinkle with cherries

Recipe 2: Zebroff Cherry Kuchen

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
Serves: 12

Dough Ingredients:

2 beaten Capers Organics eggs
3/4 cup water (105 – 115 degrees Fahrenheit)
1 (1/4 ounce) package dry yeast
4 cups sifted all-purpose organic flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup organic butter
1 1/2 teaspoons cardamom powder

Topping Ingredients:

1 lb pitted fresh Zebroff Vans cherries
1/4 cup organic butter
1 1/2 cups organic white flour
1/2 cup fair trade sugar

Directions:

1. Add water to beaten eggs and dissolve dry yeast in this mixture. Let all these ingredients rest refrigerated for 15 minutes

2. Meanwhile, blend with a pastry blender or by hand, the flour, salt, sugar, butter and cardamom

3. In a large mixing bowl, make a ring of blended flour. Pour chilled yeast mixture into the center and work it into dry ingredients. Knead until smooth, about 2 minutes

4. Form dough into ball and let rest, covered for about 20 minutes

5. Roll out dough into two 9×9 baking dishes. Push edges of dough up against dish to prevent fruit topping from spilling

6. For topping, spread cherries over top of dough

7. With a pasty blender or fork, cut butter into flour and sugar until small crumbs of mixture are formed. Sprinkle crumb mixture over top of cherries

8. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes until topping begins to golden

For Zebroff’s Organic Farms cherries, visit one of Capers‘ Four locations in Greater Vancouver:

2496 Marine Drive, West Vancouver
Store: 604.925.3316 Natural Living: 604.925.9489

2285 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver (Kitsilano)
Store: 604.739.6676 Natural Living: 604.739.7912

1675 Robson Street, Vancouver
Store: 604.687.5288 Natural Living: 604.687.0079

3277 Cambie Street, Vancouver
Store: 604.909.2988