Sour Cherry Sauce and Sour Cherry Dressing

I bought 3 quarts of sour cherries at the market a few weeks ago.  Two of the quarts I used to make Kirsch, aka, Cherry Liquor.  Hmm.  The remaining quart I decided to make some sour cherry sauce. The sauce, hopefully, will have a few applications.  The first of which is a salad dressing that my friend made. The dressing was a nice contrast to the bitter green salad we had.  Ah, sadly, the greens I picked up at the market last week were a bit bitter.  

I will do my best to impart what my lovely friend added to make the lovely dressing.  She added cherry sauce (1/4 cup) to some olive oil (3 tablespoons), lime juice (1 whole lime), basil (1 teaspoon), oregano (1/2 teaspoon) and mint (8 leaves).  Measurements are approximates as she made this on the fly.

My friend also brought over some wonderful Brazilian appetizers.  A woman, locally, makes and sells them, frozen or already fried.  Her name is Tia.  She can be found here, at Yummy Bite Brazil.

I am giving you the name of these nuggets of deliciousness.  If you are curious and want to learn more about them, click on the names.  I am so sorry I did not take pictures of them the other day.  I have some in my freezer though and will take pics, the next time I make them.

Coxinha de gallinha (a chicken filled nugget)

Quibe - Kimpe (bulgur wheat, beef and seasonings- totally like kibbe, a Middle Eastern dish)

Pao de queijo (cheese balls)

Empadinha de palmito (Hearts of Palm empanadas, the one we had also had green olives in it)

Sour Cherry Sauce
If you dont have fresh sour cherries, you could totally use some Tart Cherry juice here. Just use 1 3/4 cups juice.

1 quart sour cherries, pitted
1 cup water
3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 1/2 tablespoons Thermoflo or cornstarch

Wash, remove stems and pit the cherries.  Place in a saucepan.  Add 1 cup of water.  Bring to boil, then turn down heat so the cherries simmer.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Turn of heat and strain the liquid from the cherries.  Save the cherry pulp for smoothies if you like.  I had 1 3/4 cups juice remaining.

Return liquid to clean saucepan and add sugar.  Bring to a boil. Add in lemon juice.  In a small cup mix Thermoflo with a couple tablespoons of water to make a slurry.  Drizzle the slurry into the cherries, stirring constantly to prevent lumps.  Cook until thickened, though this will happen really quick.  Keep stirring.  Remove from heat and stir in almond extract. As the mixture cools, it will thicken more.