i did manage to pit and freeze a good pound of sour cherries this week. remember these?

some day, god willing, i'll live in a house with a separate freezer for crazy things like summer cherries, and chicken stock, and, well, everything i want in a freezer that otherwise drives the sommelier crazy.  because when there are frozen chicken breasts and cookie dough and leftover adorable little individual servings of browned onion kugel that i just couldn't eat or throw away and that are just AMAZING still if you just microwave them and then you don't have to cook for just yourself on an average wednesday, it can be awfully hard to find the cherry garcia frozen yogurt.  that is really all the sommelier wants out of his freezer.  can't say i blame him.

BUT, if he ever does make it back to the sweatbox known as dc, now that i have frozen the cherries, i'll be able to recreate this for him:

cherry clafouti!  continuing on this week's theme of summer food that is fun to say.  clafouti!  rhymes with booty!  another yummy french dish. 

in addition to being a very yummy, custardy dessert, clafouti has an entertaining wikipedia entry: 

"The dish's name derives from Occitan clafotís (Occitan pronunciation: [klafuˈti]), from the verb clafir, meaning "to fill" (implied: "the batter with cherries"). Clafoutis apparently spread throughout France during the 19th century."

clafouti: to fill one's batter with cherries.

i also filled my batter with lemony goodness.

i trew in some vanilla and almond extract too.  and left the cherry pits in.  apparently that is the "authentic" way to do so, and i'd already thumbed my nose at julia over the ratatouille this week, plus it's supposed to taste almondy-er.  it worked out ok for me.  just be sure to warn your dinner guests!

Cherry Clafouti

• Largeish handful of cherries – tart or sweet, with or without pits. 
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar (maybe less for sweet cherries)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1 lemon's worth of zest
• Turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Warm your milk in a saucepan – bring to a simmer but don't boil.  If you boil it start over.  No one likes burnt milk.  Unless it's for dulche de leche.  But that's not what we're doing here.

Whisk together the rest of the ingredients.  It'll be a little sticky.  SUPER DUPER slowly, whisk in the milk.  Don't scramble your eggs!

Cover the bottom of four ramekins with one layer of cherries (fill ramekin with cherries!). Pour custard batter over cherries (fill cherry-filled ramekin with custard!).

Pop in the oven for about 20 minutes.  Then sprinkle with turbinado sugar and keep baking for another 5-10 minutes until set and golden brown.