June 01, 2012

cherry and port(o) compote

We happened upon Porto the way you might happen upon a new neighborhood haunt, or a dear friend in the most unexpected of places, or more precisely a great hotel deal while swimming through the depths of the internet. Zach speaks some Portuguese and looks for opportunities to practice so when he spotted the hotel he quickly checked for flights, and then before we really had a chance to question it, we had booked a long weekend in Porto. And since neither of us tends to do a ton/any research before arriving in a foreign city for the weekend it continued to feel like a happy coincidence up until we boarded the plane back to Zürich. 

Porto is tucked in the Douro River estuary, just a few miles from the coast and the crashing waves of the Atlantic. It is a wonderfully bright little city with unique buildings and wonderfully friendly people. We did as we usually do and casually wandered through the city (with the help of the nytimes 36hrs), stopping occasionally to soak it all in with the help of an espresso or glass of wine. 

More likely it was a glass of wine. Like the Champagne region of France, Porto gives its name to its signature beverage, port wine. The grapes are grown inland, the vines terracing endlessly along the hills that define the river valley. Traditionally the port was ferried down river in small wooden boats - like a grownup version of a Venetian gondola with the long wooden steering oar - to Porto, where it was, and still is, stored in long warehouses with terracotta roofs. 

Zach and I can't claim to be wine aficionados, but we do love wine, especially wine from the Ribera del Duero region of Spain, and since the Douro River and the Ribera del Duero are on in the same, we made sure to sample the Douro wines and drive inland along the river and through the vineyards. 
The Douro wine region hasn't fully opened itself up to tourists yet. We drove for along the river for a little while before finding a spot where we could do some tasting and after the tasting we drove for a bit longer in search of something eat. There was one fancy restaurant, a few restaurants that had already closed for lunch, and a woman by the side of the road selling cherries. We went with the cherries, at least as something to hold us over until we got closer to town and found something more substantial, which we eventually did. Much to Zach's surprise I bought a kilo of cherries. I agree that a kilo is a lot for a snack, but it's just so easy to say "um" instead of trying to fumble my way in Portuguese around a half or less. And since we did end up finding lunch we had a lot of cherries left over, cherries that I couldn't possibly abandon, especially since they cost 4x as much in Zürich, so I nestled them in my purse and brought them home. 

On Friday after walking in circles (the good type of circles) through the city we found ourselves at Bugo Art Burger where we ate delicious burgers covered in caramelized onions in a port wine reduction, which we followed up with panna cotta with berry-port wine compote. Heavenly. The panna cotta inspired this cherry-compote dessert. I substituted yogurt for panna cotta (because I'm never quite comfortable with that amount of heavy cream) and cherries for the berries and ended up with a wonderfully summery dessert. And since I had so many cherries I also made a single little jar of cherry jam. Gosh, I love summer!
This picture was taken from the spot we stopped for a tasting. We liked the regular, deeply sweet yet strong, ruby port, but we found the Rose port light and summery so we bought a bottle and that is what I used in this recipe. I think it would be just as good with regular port, or even orange juice if you don't have any port. 
This dessert oozes summer goodness and would be a light, fresh, and cool end to an evening spent outside. I might even go so far as to say that it tastes better eaten outside. 

Zach suggested adding a little crunch to the layers, perhaps with crushed biscotti or amaretti cookies, so if you're with him and like a little crunch I think that it would make a great addition.

// Cherry - Port Compote with yogurt and honey //
adapted from Bon Appetit

enough for 4 servings
ingredients
1 lb / 450 g whole cherries (results in roughly 3/4 lb or 340 g pitted cherries)
1/2 cup / 125ml Rose Port (regular Port or orange juice also work)
1/4 cup + a couple tablespoons raw sugar (or normal sugar)

4 tablespoons of honey, one for each serving 
4 small containers of yogurt (ideally a thick yogurt like Greek), one for each serving

Mix the pitted cherries, port and sugar in a heavy bottomed pot. Bring the ingredients to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium - low and simmer until the cherries begin to release their juices and soften. At this point you will notice the volume of the ingredients will have increased. It should take about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon transfer the cherries to a bowl and leave the juice to thicken over low heat until it coats the back of a spoon, about 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently to insure it doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan. 

Pour the reduced syrup over the cherries. Let the mixture cool. 

Place a tablespoon of honey in the bottom of each serving container. Follow with the yogurt and then top with the cherries and their juices. Serve immediately, or place in the refrigerator until about 20 minutes before eating.
For the jam I followed David Lebovitz's no-recipe method. I used about 350 grams of pitted cherries, which was just enough jam to fill one of these cute little pots.
Our hotel was across the Douro from the city of Porto, hovering on top of the long warehouses. Although it might have been nice to be smack in the center of town, it was a quick walk and we were able to appreciate the view. 

21 comments:

  1. i really love the way you tell your travel experiences together with home cooking pictures! - have a nice weekend suanne

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Susanne! One of my favorite parts about traveling is the eating, so it's fun to come home with some new recipe ideas. Glad to hear that you like the combo.

      Delete
  2. Both Porto and your compote look absolutely stunning. I really like the idea of using yogurt with cooked fruit for dessert! Summer produce hasn't really hit the markets in Chicago yet, but I've been craving cool, fresh things with the recent heat. I've compensated for this in dinners lately by cooking more wintery things like carrots, letting them cool, and then tossing them with lots of yogurt and herbs. Compote and yogurt sounds like a great way to carry that into dessert! I know that Octavian will appreciate being able to have dessert without me having to turn on the oven once summer really hits.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cooled roasted carrots with yogurt sounds incredible - such an interesting idea. It sounds like something they would do in Rome, which is really where the yogurt and cherry idea originated. At the American Academy in Rome (where the chefs are trained by Alice Waters) they serve yogurt, honey and fresh fruit for dessert at lunch everyday and everyone eats it at a long table under the arcade. Siiiigh, Rome...and Porto, and travel in general. Will have to go to Spain next and sample flan.

      Delete
  3. What beautiful pictures! Seriously, I think these are my favorite pictures of yours yet (I think). And oh my god, I just about died reading this post. I've been wanting to go to Portugal for awhile now--it seems that it and parts of Eastern Europe still aren't so bombarded and infiltrated with the tourism industry yet. I always love the places you and Zach choose to go to for your little mini-trips.

    And I was just thinking how I can't wait until the cherries come out over here this summer. My family has two big cherry trees in our backyard, and every year we're left with more than we can handle. I know, what a problem, right? Anyway, I was hoping to preserve some this year so I could always have some with some ice cream or mixed in with some yogurt or some such thing. I love the idea of making some with port, I'll make sure to do that when I get around to it this summer. Though I wish I the port could have come straight from Porto (sigh)!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you. have. a. cherry. tree ! ? ! ! ! oh my goodness, I'm just about dying with jealously. On our drive through the Douro wine region we must have passed a hundred cherry trees, limbs drooping with the weight of fruit. I begged Zach to stop each time we saw one so that I could stare at it for a few minutes and day dream about owning a piece of land so I could plant a cherry tree. I love the city, I really do, but I REALLY want a cherry tree. It's the only thing pulling me into the country. I can't wait until your blog becomes overwhelmed with cherry posts (which I trust it will). I want to live vicariously through you.

      And yes, you really should go to Portugal. We loved it. We also have friends who went to Lisbon last weekend and thought it was fabulous (Frank Bruni - nytimes - just did an article on Lisbon).

      still caught up in the fact that you have a cherry tree. Do you have any other fruit trees?

      Delete
    2. Haha, I have no idea how you got more excited about me having a cherry tree than the fact that you got to drive by cherry trees in Portugal of all places!! But I guess we all take things for granted, including the fact that my family has cherry trees, or that you have awesome geographic proximity. :) But besides the two cherry trees we also have a tree with plums (I think seeing rotting plums in my backyard has turned me off to them unfortunately), and a pear tree. We also get a ton of blackberries (shame I don't like them haha) and a few strawberries. Maybe I'll take some pictures of the trees and plants this summer when they all start fruiting!

      Delete
  4. I love your pictures of the city - they're so atmospheric and make me wanna hop on a plane right now! Sounds like a lovely weekend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Katie, yes it really was a lovely weekend. I love escaping for short little trips like that. Always refreshing to take in another culture and place...and cuisine!

      Delete
  5. So pretty and looks delicious! We're thinking of going to Portugal this summer. I went to the beach there in college, but that's it. Porto looks great-- but is it worth going to on just a week-long trip there? Did you do any exploring of the countryside?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmm, I guess it depends on what you are looking to do. I think it might be worth a trip if you are in the area for a morning and then lunch or an afternoon and then dinner on the Atlantic and then you can drive into the countryside. We only spent one day driving through the Douro wine region, which I'd recommend, but I'm not sure it would keep your interest for a week. I hear great things about Lisbon too, so I'd recommend looking into a visit there as well. Happy traveling!

      Delete
    2. Thanks! I have been to Lisbon back in college and it is great but was thinking of going back and adding in Northern Portugal. I love all your photos and recipes from your travels! I need to review your Puglia trip since that's another place we're considering. Though it seems like you weren't so crazy about that region...

      Delete
    3. I think if you went to Puglia during beach/swimming season that it would be amazing! We were there at an off time, and the weather wasn't great, but it really is a wonderful region. We loved being able to explore the countryside and then later the same day wander through the hill towns. The food is incredible, far better than anything we had in Portugal. If you go to Puglia, I HIGHLY recommend a visit to Masseria Il Frantoio - and if you can swing it, stay there. They will shuttle you back and forth to the beach and feed you the best meals you've ever eaten.

      Delete
  6. Yeah, a photo of Talley! This compote looks delicious and a friend just offered me some cherries from her tree. I'm doing a post about a panna cotta made with lowfat buttermilk this week... might be a good combo? Lovely photos... I adored Portugal when we went to Lisbon, Sintra and the Algarve. Such a beautiful country.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Darcy, you have a friend with a cherry tree? I am so super jealous. I keep telling Zach that when I grow up I want a cherry tree. Maybe 30 is grown up already and I"ll get one for my birthday? But where to put a cherry tree in an apartment? Hmpf, perhaps it comes with a requisite piece of land in the country, with a cute little farm house. Definitely let me know how the panna cotta goes. All those recipes with 2+ cups of heavy cream made me nervous (although I did just make a lemon tart with 2 1/2 sticks of butter so I don't know what was so scary about the cream) and buttercream sounds like it much actually be better than cream. If you do make it I'd highly recommend then cherry compote, it's delish. Looking forward to reading about Berlin!

      Delete
  7. Stunning pictures and a beautiful dessert! I love the fact that the cherries travelled all the way from Porto back to your kitchen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Zach looked at me like I was batty when I stuffed the cherries in my purse, but considering they are a good 4x more expensive here I figured it was worth the extra weight in my bag.

      Delete
  8. Ooo I love everything about this, Talley!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Adrienne! It was a great trip and a yummy dessert.

      Delete
  9. Talley I am so envious of your travel adventures. My sister was just visiting, and over a few glasses of wine we poured through your posts living vicariously through your photos and stories. We resolved to take a trip! To Chicago! Haha, not quite as glamorous, but I'm excited nonetheless. Your porto compote looks divine! And now you have a panna cotta recipe (Darcy's) you must try. I haven't tried it yet, but I am dying to find a good buttermilk panna cotta recipe. The one I used for years suddenly began tasting too sweet for me, and the one I replaced it with, which I love, likely has too much cream for you. I'm going to give darcy's recipe a go soon...but I'll make the compote first :) Also, Port is probably my favorite drink. My mother spoils me with a bottle every Christmas. It lasts about 1 week. It is so delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love everything about this post. Your work with those cherries is brilliant, and those photos! The last three, especially, are breathtaking. I so enjoy what you do here, Talley.

    ReplyDelete