May 16, 2013
What makes Chukar’s slow cooker BBQ beef a summertime favorite is that it only takes two ingredients—a good beef roast and Cherry Chipotle Grilling Sauce.
Our sweet, spicy, and peppery grilling sauce is similar to a barbecue sauce but without the thick tomato base. It’s also slightly thinner than a typical barbecue sauce, making it easier to use for basting. The ingredient list—packed with spices, sour cherries, and cranberries—gives the sauce Northwest flair.
Cherry Chipotle Barbecued Beef can easily be made in advance and stored in the fridge. Once prepared, it can be served as a main dish or on buns. We particularly liked the beef served on sandwich rolls and topped with sautéed mushrooms, onions, and toasted provolone.
Easy Cherry Chipotle Barbecued Beef
By Beth
Published: May 16, 2013
What makes Chukar’s slow cooker BBQ beef a summertime favorite is that it only takes two ingredients—a good beef roast and Cherry …
Ingredients
- 1.5-2 lb. beef roast
- 2 cups water
- Chukar Cherry Chipotle Grilling Sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Trim fat from the outside of a 1.5-2 lb. beef roast. Place in slow cooker with two cups of water and a sprinkling of salt and pepper.
- Cook 6-8 hours on low until meat is very tender. Drain and shred meat—removing any fat. Pour entire jar of Cherry Chipotle Grilling Sauce into the slow cooker with the meat.
- If serving immediately, turn the slow cooker back on until the sauce is warmed. If making ahead, the mixture can be refrigerated at this point and returned to the slow cooker to reheat before serving.
- Cook’s Notes: The longer you cook the beef, the easier it will be to shred. Using the low setting on your slow cooker is preferable since it keeps the edges from scorching.
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A sweet and savory grilling sauce ideal for chicken, pork, or beef. Spread on meat in the last five minutes of cooking for classic BBQ flavor with notes of chipotle, cherry, honey, and Dijon.
Posted in Cherry Recipes | Tagged Savory Sauce |
From Alyson at Pike Place Market
May 8, 2013
Here at Chukar Cherries in Pike, our non-cherry products often get overlooked. Sometimes customers don’t realize that Chukar doesn’t just do cherries. Pecans are one of our most popular non-cherry chocolate treats, and while they are delicious beyond description, they are also a wonderful accompaniment to baked goods.
When visitors sample our Dark Chocolate Cocoa Pecans, we often tell them that they taste like “pecan brownies” because they are so rich and chocolatey. So I came up with the idea of creating a recipe for pecan brownies featuring Cocoa Pecans. But I didn’t want to make just any brownie; I wanted to make the ultimate brownie to complement these already decadent treats.
Whenever I’m testing out recipes for Chukar or just leisurely baking at home, I bring my successful endeavors to work to share with the Chukar team and also our neighbors. It makes any day better to have an unexpected sweet treat. I made a double batch in a 9×13 pan and these brownies were probably my biggest hit so far!
This recipe is versatile and easily adaptable. If you have a peanut allergy, the peanut butter can be substituted for more butter. Or you can use almond, cashew, or pecan butter. If you feel there is enough chocolate in the rest of the dessert, the chocolate chips can be omitted from the cookie layer. Also, if you want to make this recipe easier, use brownie mix and/or cookie mix, or even refrigerated cookie dough. And if you make a double batch to share, bake them in a 9×13 pan for about 50 minutes.
Ultimate Pecan Brownies
By Beth
Published: May 8, 2013
Here at Chukar Cherries in Pike, our non-cherry products often get overlooked. Sometimes customers don't realize that Chukar doesn't …
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 bag Chukar Cocoa Pecans for pecan layer
- ½ cup butter or vegetable oil for brownie layer
- 1¼ cups sugar for brownie layer
- 2 large eggs for brownie layer
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder for brownie layer
- ½ teaspoon salt for brownie layer
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or instant coffee granules for brownie layer
- ½ cup all-purpose flour for brownie layer
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350˚F. Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper.
- Make the cookie layer: Cream together the butter, peanut butter, and brown and white sugars. Then add the egg and vanilla. Next, add the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Spread this along the bottom of the baking pan and press it down evenly.
- Lay down the Cocoa Pecans on top of the cookie dough. Make sure to place them evenly so you get one in every bite!
- Make the brownie layer: Melt the butter and mix with the sugar (or mix sugar with oil if using oil instead). Mix in the eggs. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour the brownie batter over the Cocoa Pecan layer.
- Bake for 30-35 min, or until the center is no longer runny.
- Cool completely before slicing, as the brownie and Cocoa Pecan layers are still very gooey when warm.
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Posted in Cherry Recipes, Chukar at Pike Place | Tagged Dark Chocolate, Pike Place Market |
About this Author
Alyson Lenhoff is the Assistant Manager at Chukar in Pike Place Market. She is an avid chef, baker, and cherry enthusiast.
Recipe from Chef Frank Magaña
May 2, 2013
Pacific Northwest cuisine oft evades definition. However, if there’s one dish everyone can agree is quintessentially Northwest, it’s salmon. And since Washington is the sweet cherry capital of the nation, what could be more Northwest than a cherry-salmon entrée paired with Washington wine?
Last year on Good Morning Northwest, Chef Frank Magaña created just such a dish utilizing fresh salmon, Chukar’s Peach Cherry Salsa, and macadamia nuts.
The recipe was so delicious we wanted to revisit it and make a few suggestions.
First of all, hazelnuts are commonly grown in Washington and Oregon. Try substituting blanched hazelnuts for the macadamia nuts.
Second, Chef Magaña recommends pairing the salmon with Alexandria Nicole Cellars’ Malbec—a deep purple, medium body wine with sweet and savory notes. It complements the fruit and spices that top the salmon.
For dessert, we recommend a handful of Chipotle Cherries—ultra-dark chocolate Rainier cherries with a hint of smoky pepper.
Macadamia Nut and Cumin Crusted Salmon
By Beth
Published: May 2, 2013
Pacific Northwest cuisine oft evades definition. However, if there’s one dish everyone can agree is quintessentially Northwest, …
Ingredients
- Two 7 oz. salmon fillets
- ¼ cup hazelnuts or macadamia nuts chopped
- 1 teaspoon parsley chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1½ tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- Chukar Peach Cherry Salsa
Instructions
- Coat flesh side of salmon fillets equally with parsley, macadamia nuts, and cumin. Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat olive oil in a non-stick sauté pan over medium-high heat. Place salmon in the pan, coated side down, and cook 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Turn salmon over and cook for 1 minute.
- Move salmon to the side of the sauté pan and pour in half a jar of Peach Cherry Salsa. Cook for an additional 4 minutes until salmon is just done.
- Remove salmon from pan, place on a serving plate, top with warm Peach Cherry Salsa and sprinkle with additional parsley and nuts as desired.
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A rainier cherry coated in the darkest of dark chocolate followed by a touch of pepper heat.
Our medium heat salsa packed with whole cherries, peach chunks, and jalapeños. Delicious on halibut tacos, chicken tostadas, and black bean corn chips.
Posted in Cherry Recipes, Chukar in the Northwest | Tagged Savory Sauce, Washington Wine Country |
Orange + Chocolate + Cherry
April 23, 2013
When you visit Chukar’s store in Prosser, on very special occasions you might be invited to taste a potential new product and fill out a feedback card. The cards are then collected, the information compiled, and the adjustments made. That is just one step among dozens that has been taken to create Chukar’s newest product, the Tangerine Cherry.
The Tangerine Cherry is a dried Montmorency Tart cherry covered in citrus-flavored dark chocolate. The morsel is dusted in cocoa.
In creating this new product, Ma Chukar decided to play with a classic flavor combination, orange and dark chocolate. Orange is generally recognized as a flavor enhancer. Here, it draws out the intensity of dark chocolate and the zing of tart cherries.
Like all of Chukar’s products, the Tangerine Cherry is kosher certified and is made exclusively from natural ingredients.
Posted in About Chukar Products | Tagged Chocolate Cherry, Dark Chocolate, Tart Cherries |
April 23, 2013
The new packaging is all about practicality. Although online customers can search for specific products with ease, Ma Chukar and our sales team members realized that in-store customers had difficulty navigating the rows of similarly packaged Chukar products.
Thus, Ma Chukar, in close collaboration with our Pike Place Market manager, Nicole, and our assistant manager, Alyson, decided to redo the packaging of our bags of chocolates, dried fruits, and energy mixes (”energy mixes” is another name for dried fruit and nut combinations).
Here are the main advantages of the new packaging:
- the vertical window shows off more of the product inside (previously, the viewing window was horizontal)
- the color scheme and design helps to differentiate between dried fruits, chocolates, and energy mixes, as well as their different flavors
- product names are bigger and more readable
You’ll notice how the bags feature the artwork of Jim Hays, the creator of the iconic Chukar bird illustration at the center of our logo. Jim’s hand-drawn illustrations of fruit and nuts characterize the new packaging and help to capture the essence of Chukar — whole and natural foods, preserved and prepared with care.
Posted in About Chukar Products, Artisanal Cherry Gifts | Tagged About Chukar, Prosser |
Guess our newest product's name!
April 15, 2013
Update: We have a winner! The lucky winner’s name and the name of our new product will be announced on Monday, April 22nd, 2013 on Chukar’s Facebook page.
Welcome to Chukar Cherries’ new product contest! At the end of this week we’ll be giving away a bag of our newest chocolate variety to the first person who correctly guesses the name of our new flavor.
To enter, leave a response at the bottom of this post specifying what you think the new flavor is called. New clues will be posted to Chukar’s Facebook and Twitter pages daily. One entry is allowed per person per day, so enter daily and share with your friends!
Contest ends Friday, April 19, 2013 at midnight PDT. Winner will be announced Monday, April 22, 2013 via email and on Chukar’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Winner must reside in the USA.
Posted in Chukar |
Growing up in Ma Chukar's Kitchen
April 12, 2013
Growing up as the daughter of Ma Chukar meant inheriting a set of values about food and cooking. For Mom, an ideal meal was healthy, natural, and easy. In her culinary repertoire there were a handful dishes she made from scratch, like her chicken soup with veggies. There were easy fixes, such as taco night. Like many working mothers, there were also occasional dinners of ready-made ingredients, like mom’s ”signature” roasted pork covered with all natural tomato sauce. For dessert, Ma Chukar’s original thick n’ gooey homemade chocolate sauce (the inspiration for Chukar’s Chocolate Cherry Dessert Sauce) was the house favorite.
Like my mom, I favor simple and healthy foods. My ideal day-to-day meal can be prepared in 20-30 minutes and served family-style. Muesli, a Swiss breakfast cereal of sorts, is one of those delicious and nourishing meals. The mix of oats, dried fruit, and nuts can be traced back to a Swiss physician from the early 20th century. Here in Switzerland where I now live, it is still a common breakfast choice on restaurant menus.
Muesli, unlike granola, contains raw oats. The original recipe calls for the oats to be soaked overnight in water. Alternatively, the oats soften when mixed with milk and yogurt 20-30 minutes before breakfast. Muesli is also a healthy choice vis-à-vis granola. The latter is often toasted in honey and oil, which adds extra sugars and fats.
Swiss Muesli
By Aleida
Published: April 12, 2013
Growing up as the daughter of Ma Chukar meant inheriting a set of values about food and cooking. For Mom, an ideal meal was healthy, …
Ingredients
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- a splash of soy milk substitute: milk, water
- ⅓ cup plain yogurt substitute: flavored yogurt
- ⅓ cup Chukar Triple Cherry Nut Mix substitute: other Chukar dried cherries, berries, energy mixes
- 1-2 pieces seasonal fruit
- honey optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix the oatmeal, soy milk, and yogurt. Let it sit for approximately 30 minutes. If you prefer more cereal-like muesli, add additional milk/water. Top oats with the energy mix and fresh fruit. Sweeten if desired.
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Posted in Cherry Recipes, Inside Chukar's Kitchen | Tagged About Chukar, Fruit and Nut Mixes, Healthy Recipes, Mother's Day |
Recipe from Chef Frank Magaña
April 4, 2013
Last year on Good Morning Northwest Chef Frank Magaña, the “Rockstar Chef of Wine Country,” gave a tutorial on making wine-infused chocolate cabernet cupcakes with a surprise chocolate center, vanilla buttercream frosting, and a chocolate/cherry/chipotle finish. Magaña used Chukar’s chocolate sauce and chocolate Chipotle Cherries, along with Cabernet wine from Alexandria Nicole Cellars in Prosser, where Magaña is Executive Chef.
This month, Chukar got back together with Chef Magaña to learn the secret to infusing cupcakes with wine. It’s quite simple: just replace whatever liquid is called for in your favorite cupcake recipe with cabernet.
We made our cupcakes using this recipe (sans the filling and frosting) and substituted wine for the coffee. We then scooped the middle out of the cooled cupcakes and spooned in a tablespoon of Chukar’s Chocolate Cherry Dessert Sauce.
To top the cupcakes, we used a basic vanilla buttercream frosting and crowned them with an ultra-dark Chipotle Cherry.
Chef Magaña recommended pairing these cupcakes with ANC’s Cabernet Sauvignon, which is made from grapes grown in the Horse Heaven Hills that border Prosser.
If you’re interested in getting more culinary tips from Chef Magaña, he’s currently holding cooking classes at Alexandria Nicole Cellars.
Posted in Cherry Recipes, Chukar in the Northwest | Tagged Cherry Dessert Sauce, Chocolate and Wine, Prosser, Washington Wine Country |
