When you host a dinner party and Dan Macey offers to contribute something, I always answer “yes.”

While I was fortunate to know Dan prior, I had a chance to see him in action when we worked on The Fox’s Kitchen cookbook in 2017 to 2018. The cookbook is comprised of recipes from the Radnor Hunt community. Dan is an amazing cook and food stylist – his artistic work is present in all of the photographs. Check out Dan’s website, dantasticfood, to see more. 

Dan made a big batch of this cherry salsa and served it as an appetizer with tortilla chips. It’s the right balance of sweet and spicy – sweet from the beautiful summer cherries and spicy from hot sauce and hot peppers. Why both? The hot sauce blends nicely with the lime juice and provides some necessary liquid to the salsa. Consider that cherries don’t have as much liquid in them as tomatoes.

Cherries are the star of this dish, so you’ll want to find the best of the season. The hardest part about making it is pitting the cherries. If you don’t have a cherry pitter, this is a good time to invest in one. Most cherry pitters do double duty as olive pitters as well.  

It’s a perfect appetizer addition to a summer barbecue. This salsa would also pair well with grilled pork chops, pork tenderloin or chicken. 

Thank you to Dan for this collaborative post – he made the salsa and provided the recipe. One of our other guests, Julie S, woke up the next morning thinking about how delicious Dan’s salsa was. We hope you enjoy it too.

Dan’s Cherry Salsa

 

Dan’s Cherry Salsa
5.0 from 1 reviews
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Recipe type: Appetizer
Author:
Serves: 4 cups
Ingredients
  • 1-3/4 pounds fresh sweet cherries, pitted
  • ½ medium red onion, finely diced
  • ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, finely minced (see Notes)
  • 1 tablespoon (or to taste) red hot sauce (such as Tabasco or Crystal)
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (~ 1 lime) (see Notes)
  • 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
  • Garnish with two or three whole cherries
  • Serve with tortilla chips
Instructions
  1. Place cherries in the bowl of a large food processor. Pulse several times so that they are a bit chunky (you do not want them to be entirely puréed.
  2. Transfer cherries to a medium bowl.
  3. Stir in red onion, cilantro, jalapeño pepper, hot sauce, lime juice and salt.
  4. Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour so that the flavors marry.
  5. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes prior to serving.
  6. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with two or three whole cherries. Serve with tortilla chips.
Notes
* Before squeezing a lime, heat it in a microwave for about 15 to 20 seconds and then rub it back and forth on the counter top. This easy two-step process results in more juice per piece of fruit.
* In place of a jalapeño pepper you could use spicy harissa paste or other hot pepper paste.
* This salsa would also pair well with grilled pork chops, pork tenderloin or chicken.
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Source:  Recipe from Dan Macey of dantasticfood