One of the weird byproducts of my ADD is that sometimes I cook just because I need to do something and making something — in this case, edible — gives me a beginning, middle, and end to focus on. So this weekend, out of the blue, I felt a deep, burning desire to focus my energy on making a cherry compote. I have never made one before. This one is a hodgepodge of, like, four different recipes I read online.
Then, as a reward and because I didn’t know what else to do with it, I mixed my compote with cheap champagne, which I always have stocked. And lemme tell ya — sometimes my ADD is good for something because this cherry compote cocktail was yummy. And I still have plenty left over for cocktails the rest of the week. Enjoy!
CHERRY COMPOTE
Ingredients:
- 2 cups fresh cherries, pitted and halved
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 2 tsps. water
- 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
To Prepare:
- Put pitted and halved cherries in a saucepan with sugar and water over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Let simmer for 10 minutes or so until cherries are tender and their juices have released and are thickening.
- Uncover and add balsamic vinegar and continue to simmer for five minutes until sauce thickens.
- Pull off heat and let cool.
CHERRY COMPOTE COCKTAIL
Ingredients:
- 1 spoonful of cherry compote, including a little juice and a few cherries
- cheapish champagne (I like a brand called Cristalino, cause it sounds classy), prosecco, or cava, as much as you want
- 1-2 big splashes of juice, like cranberry or grapefruit
To Prepare:
- Put cherry compote at bottom of glass. Pour in desired amount of bubbly. Add splash or two of juice.
- Drink that awesome shit.
- REPEAT.
- REPEAT.
- REPEAT.
- You get the idea.
Original by Amelia McDonell-Parry