If a man cannot or will not cook, he is not a man. All REAL men – manly men, if you will – know how to cook, and by cook I don’t mean scurry around a studio kitchen yelling “BAM!” and cooking stuff most ordinary chefs don’t cook, like that wretched little Emeril does on his stupid Food Network show. Honestly…what kind of serious chef has his own studio band, complete with an African-American Doc Severinsen? I learned to cook because my mother – God rest her soul – was a superb cook. When I moved out and lived on my own, I had no choice but to teach myself the arcane ways of the kitchen.
In the course of the past 11 months (the first anniversary of this site will take place in less than four weeks), your humble scrivener has faithfully delivered one mouth-watering recipe after another for supper, lunch – and even breakfast – but not a single recipe for dessert. That is simply not acceptable and so, without any further ado, here is a recipe for a dessert that will knock your socks off. I call it “Cherry Parfait Supreme.” Yes, I realize that a true parfait is a frozen dessert made from a base of sugar syrup, egg, and cream. But the word has been Americanized to some extent and these days refers to
…either the traditional French-style dessert or to a popular variant, the American parfait, made by layering parfait cream, ice cream, and/or flavored gelatins in a tall, clear glass, and topping the creation with whipped cream, fresh or canned fruit, and/or liqueurs. In the northern United States, parfaits may also be made by using yogurt layered with nuts or fresh fruits such as peaches, strawberries, or blueberries.
In this case, my concoction is made with fresh cherries, Greek yogurt, kefir and vanilla ice cream. This recipe serves 4 and while it is positively divina, make sure your guests are yogurt lovers before presenting it. If they don’t like yogurt, tell them to go to Dairy Queen.
Ingredients
32 ripe bing cherries, cut in half and pitted
18 oz. Greek yogurt, plain
¼ cup raspberry kefir
1 squirt MiO “Fruit Punch” Water Enhancer
Vanilla ice cream
Grenadine syrup
Directions
Remove stems from the cherries and run a paring knife completely around the circumference of each cherry, pulling it apart. Use your thumbnail to remove the pit. Place all the pitted cherry halves in a small mixing bowl, add one short squirt of MiO, all of the yogurt and the kefir. Using a rubber spatula, fold the ingredients together until thoroughly mixed and then transfer to a suitably-sized Tupperware or similar container and store covered in the refrigerator for at least 4 but preferably 8 hours to allow the flavors to meld.
Place a single large scoop of vanilla ice cream in the center of a wide parfait glass or a small dessert bowl. Ladle a fourth of the cherry yogurt mixture around the ice cream. Drizzle the ice cream with a couple of teaspoons of grenadine syrup and serve immediately.
