By Jeananne Craig, Press Association
 
Coleman's latest project is a series of sweet and savoury recipes for British Cherries to mark this summer's cherry season. The flavoursome dishes include cherry tart tatin, cherry mess, pork, cherry and pistachio terrine, and spiced duck pancakes with cherry sauce.

You can do so many different things with cherries," says Chef Coleman. "They go really nicely with savoury dishes. With the pork recipe, you need something that's a bit sharp to cut through the fatty meat, so they work really well with it."

Using fresh, seasonal produce in her dishes is important to the chef. The busy cook and food writer still finds time to tune into MasterChef, which she returned to before few years as a guest judge.

Here are three of Coleman's recipes for cherries for you to try at home...


CHINESE FIVE SPICED DUCK PANCAKES WITH CHERRY SAUCE
(Serves four to six as a starter)

 

For the duck:

• 3 large duck legs
• 3 tsp five spice powder
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp water
• Salt

 
For the cherry sauce:

• 350 g cherries - pitted and cut into halves
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 star anise
• 1 strip of orange peel
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar or Mirin
• 2 tbsp water
• Good pinch of five spice
• Grind of pepper

 
To serve:

• 12 Chinese Pancakes
• 1/2 cucumber - seeds removed and sliced into 5cm long batons
• 4 spring onions - tops and roots removed and finely sliced into 5cm strips

 
Prick the duck legs all over with a fork piercing the skin, then massage the five spice into the flesh and season with salt. Place into a bowl, cover with cling film and leave to marinade in the fridge for two hours, for the duck to take on the spice.

30 minutes before cooking, remove from the fridge so you bring the duck up to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 200 C^o. Place the duck into a roasting tin, cover with foil and cook for 45 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, mix the honey and water and set aside.

After the duck has been in the oven for 45 minutes, remove and drizzle the honey/water over the duck, then return to the oven for a further 35-40 minutes until the duck has crisped up.Check every 15 mins or so and baste the legs with the cooking juices. When cooked, remove and allow the duck to rest for 10 minutes.

When the duck has rested, shred the meat from the bone using two forks and serve while warm.
For the sauce, place three-quarters of the cherries and the rest of the ingredients into a saucepan and, on a medium heat, reduce until the cherries start to give and become a pulp. This should take four to five minutes. Remove from the heat and then remove the star anise, cinnamon stick and orange peel and add the rest of the cherries. Remove from the saucepan into a serving bowl and set aside until ready to serve.

To serve, warm the pancakes as directed on the pack. Separate and top each with a spoonful of warm cherry sauce, some duck shreds, cucumber, spring onion, then roll up.
 

PORK, CHERRY AND PISTACHIO TERRINE
(Serves 10 to 12)

 

• 15 g unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion - peeled and diced
• 2 tbsp cognac
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 large chicken breast
• 750 g lean pork mince
• 75 g cherries - pitted and cut into eighths
• 2 tbsp parsley finely chopped
• 25 g pistachios - shelled and roughly chopped
• 14 rashers unsmoked bacon, stretched with the back of a cook's knife until half as long again
• Salt and pepper

 
Preheat oven to 180 C^o.  In a frying pan, add a splash of olive oil and the butter and melt. Add the onion and soften until translucent (four to five minutes) When softened, remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Deglaze the pan with the cognac and cook for 30 seconds, then add to the onions.

In a dry pan, toast the fennel seeds for one or two minutes on a medium-low heat until they start to release their aromas. Remove from heat and using a spice blender or pestle and mortar, grind until powder.

In a food processor, blitz the chicken breast until minced well.

In a large mixing bowl, add the chicken, pork mince, cherries, onion/cognac, fennel seeds, parsley and pistachios, and season well with salt and pepper. Mix well so everything is combined equally using your hands.

Line the bottom of a 900 g loaf tin with a piece of greaseproof paper. Then line the tin with the bacon so half the bacon is in the tin and the other half other hanging, as you will need to wrap this over the top to make sure the top of the terrine is covered.

Once the tin is lined with the bacon, add the terrine mixture, then fold over the bacon to seal the top of the terrine. Cover with a piece of greased foil.

Boil a kettle. Place the terrine tin into a roasting tin and then fill the tray with boiling water, so it comes up the terrine tin halfway. Place into the oven to cook for one hour or just over, so it's cooked all the way through and the juices run clear when pierced in the centre with a knife.
When cooked, remove from the oven, take the terrine tin out of the roasting tray and allow to cool to room temperature. Chill well, overnight if you have time, before removing from the mould, peeling off the lining paper and slicing.

Serve with crusty bread and dressed salad leaves (optional).
 

CHERRY MESS
(Serves six)

 

For the meringues:

• 4 egg whites
• 150 g caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

 
For the roasted cherries:

• 500 g cherries - pitted
• 2 tbsp runny honey
• Zest 1/2 orange
• 1 vanilla pod - split and seeds removed

 
For the vanilla whipped cream:

• 300 ml double cream
• 3 tbsp icing sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla paste
• 3 ginger biscuits blitzed to ground crumbs

 
Preheat the oven to 160 C^o.  Whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer to stiff peaks. Add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, whisking well between each addition.

Fold in the vinegar with a spatula, then spoon the meringue mixture on to a baking tray lined with baking parchment. You want it to be 1.5 cm thick.

Reduce the oven temperature to 150 C^o and bake for 45 minutes, or until the outside of the meringue is set lightly golden brown and the inside will be chewy. Leave to cool on the baking tray. Once cooled, break into pieces.

For the roasted cherries, preheat oven to 180 C^o. Place all the ingredients into a baking tray and mix well. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes until the cherries have softened. Remove from the oven and remove the vanilla pod. Allow to cool to room temperature before serving.

For the vanilla whipped cream, whisk or, using an electric mixer, beat the cream, icing sugar and vanilla paste until soft swirls and set aside until ready to serve.

To serve, add the broken meringue pieces to the vanilla whipped cream and then fold through the roasted cherries, but don't mix too well as you want it to be red and white, not pink. Spoon into glasses, sprinkle with the crushed ginger biscuits and serve within 30 minutes so that the meringue keeps its wonderful texture.