Ruby Soup Day

All the beautiful cherries at the market inspired me to make a cold cherry soup. The cherries I used were a little on the tart side, so you may want to adjust the sugar depending on how sweet or tart your cherries are.

Cherry pitters make removing the pits a relatively quick job. They come in several styles. Small hand pitters are inexpensive and easy to use, and larger, appliance-like versions help if you’re pitting a whole lot of cherries. The simplest pitter is a clean hairpin; just insert it into the cherry curved side first, hook it around the pit and pull the pit out.

I like to remove the cinnamon stick as soon as the soup is cool; otherwise, the cinnamon flavor becomes too strong. Cherry wine and a little lemon juice added after chilling bring out all the flavors.

Traditionally, sour cream is stirred into the soup before serving, but the soup is such a beautiful shade of ruby red that I prefer to serve it plain in chilled glass bowls. Diners then can spoon on a dollop of nonfat sour cream or plain yogurt if they want.

The soup would be a good first course for meat dishes such as pork, lamb or chicken. It’s also delicious on its own as an entree on a hot summer’s day.

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SUMMERTIME CHERRY SOUP

3 pounds cherries, pitted

1 1/2 cups sugar

Water

1 cinnamon stick

1/2 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup cherry wine

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Combine cherries, sugar, 4 cups water and cinnamon stick in large, heavy saucepan. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into pan with tip of knife, then add bean halves. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until cherries are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Mix cornstarch and 1/4 cup water in small bowl until smooth. Pour slowly into hot soup while stirring to blend well. Return to simmer and cook, stirring, over medium heat, until soup is thickened and clear, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Remove cinnamon stick, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Remove vanilla bean husks from chilled soup. Stir in wine and lemon juice. Serve in chilled glass bowls.

6 servings. Each serving without nonfat sour cream:

408 calories; 4 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 2 grams fat; 94 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams protein; 0.99 gram fiber.