Ever since that Pepto Bismol commercial has come on talking about Cherryaki my kids have been asking me to make them Chicken Cherryaki!!
This is not a fictional food. After a little surfing on the Internet I managed to find a great recipe for this kid pleasing dish which includes cherries!
CHICKEN CHERRYAKI
2 pkg. Lipton Onion Soup Mix
2 cans cranberry sauce
2 bottles (8 oz.) Catalina dressing
8 to 10 chicken breasts
2 cans dark, sweet, pitted cherries (drained)
Mix top 3 ingredients together. Place some mixture in bottom of large Pyrex dish. Place chicken breasts on top of mixture and cover with remaining mixture. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 2 hour.
When done, place chicken and sauce on regular or wild rice. Heat cherries a sauce pot, drain of extra juice and spoon on top of chicken.
I know it sounds high sodium and tacky and all that but it was absolutely delicious. My kids loved it too, possibly because it was the color pink. It certainly gave the impression of being a fun food.\
That was the fun version. I found another version that is a little healthier, more Asian in appearance that would make an impressive dish to serve guests.
The sweet, yet tart flavor of fresh cherries, makes them a wonderful addition to this stir-fry meal.
Makes 4 servings.
Here is an even fancier version that is appeals more to adult palates.
Asian Chicken Cherryaki
4 tablespoons (60 ml) Teriyaki sauce (available in any supermarket)
1 tablespoon (15 ml) sesame oil
1 tablespoon (15 ml) grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon (15 ml) cooking sherry
1/2 tablespoon (7.5 ml) fresh lime juice
.75 pound (.35 kilograms) pork*, cubed
1/2 tablespoon (7.5 ml) vegetable oil
1 small white onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups whole cherries, pits removed
1-14 oz (398ml) can miniature corn cobs
1 cup snow peas
1 cup sliced red pepper
1 cup (250 ml) chicken broth
1 tablespoon (15 ml) corn starch
2 green onions, chopped (optional)
Combine first 5 ingredients and mix well. Add pork cubes. Set in fridge to marinate.
Prepare cherries, corn, snow peas and red pepper. Heat vegetable oil in wok or large saucepan on medium. Add onion and garlic. Heat for 1-2 minutes to soften slightly. Add pork marinade mixture and cook for 5 minutes. Increase the heat, add snow peas and red pepper.
Cook for 1-2 minutes. In small bowl, stir cornstarch into chicken broth until dissolved. Add to wok, cooking for 2 minutes until sauce begins to thicken. Add cherries and corn and cook until warm. Remove from heat. Garnish with chopped green onion.
To make it fancy for guests serve it over angel hair pasta! In fact this could be a great food for Valentine's Day.
