Cherry Mustard Glaze
Cherry Mustard Glaze on Ham
I am always looking for new sauces and glazes for food. We were having a ham dinner and I wanted to dress it up. I had some wonderful frozen cherries and thought they would be a nice place to start. I had cooked them down for a bit and had added some cider vinegar and some honey but it needed something more. Inspired by a friend’s comment about a mustard sauce her mother makes I ended up adding a grainy mustard to the sauce in progress. That was it!! The ingredient I was looking for. We had it on the ham and it was a huge hit, Simple, with only a few ingredients, it is a glaze I will be making again. I am sure it would be good on poultry and I would love to try it on a fresh pork roast or on duck.
Cherry Mustard Glaze
3-4 cups pitted sour cherries- I used a variety called Balaton- darker and not as sour as other sour cherries
1/2 c. cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey, or to taste
1/2 c. grainy mustard
salt and pepper to taste
Place the cherries in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until much of the liquid has cooked off. Stir occasionally. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until mixture has thickened. Stir more often as mixture gets thicker to prevent scorching. Adjust seasonings. I was using this on a ham so I didn’t add much salt, but would add more if I were using it on fresh pork or poultry. Makes about 2 cups.
To use: Spoon mixture over the meat at least 30 minutes before food will be done so sauce can caramelize a bit. Could also be warmed and served on the side as a dipping sauce. I left the cherries whole, but you could puree the mixture for a smoother sauce.
Duck with Cherry and Red Wine Sauce
Duck with cherry and red wine sauce
As part of a dinner with friends I made duck 2 ways. The first was with a cherry and red wine sauce. The tart cherries – I used frozen- paired very well with the duck. I could see using this sauce on pork, lamb or even chicken. I had a duck in the freezer from Plum Creek Farm, a local farm. The cherries were from King Orchards in Central Lake, Michigan. They are neighbors of my sister. I recently got some frozen cherries from them and wanted to use them with the duck. I started by making the sauce.
Cherry and Red Wine Sauce
2 T. oil
1/2 c. minced shallots
2 c. frozen cherries, thawed
1/2 c. red wine- I used Merlot
1 cinnamon stick
salt and pepper to taste
3 T. honey
In skillet saute shallots in oil until they start to turn golden brown. Add cherries, with any liquid they are in, and the wine and cinnamon stick. Cook until most of the liquid evaporates. Add the honey, season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook a few more minutes. Remove from heat and discard cinnamon stick.
Reducing the sauce
The Duck
1 duck
salt and pepper to taste
1 recipe cherry and red wine sauce
I cut off the extra fat and skin from the neck of the duck to save for rendering later. I also removed the wings and set aside for another use. I then cut the duck in half and placed it in a roasting pan on a rack. Season it with salt and pepper. Bake in a 425 degree oven for half an hour. Turn down heat to 350 and cook until duck is done. That will take about an hour- depending on the size of the duck. At this point I had to come up with a plan B. The oven I was using stopped working. To finish off the duck I heated up a large skillet and put the duck in the skillet, skin side up. I poured the cherry sauce over the duck and cooked it with the lid on for 15 minutes. Then I took the lid off and turned the duck skin side down. On medium high heat I allowed the sauce to reduce. It also caramelized on the skin making a nice glaze. If the oven hadn’t stopped working I would have finished off the duck under the broiler.
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