Sour cherries are too acidic to eat raw but are the best for cooking. This simple preparation amounts to cherry pie without the crust.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　1 to 2 pounds cherries, preferably sour

　　1/2 cup sugar, or more to taste

　　1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

　　Fresh lemon juice, if using sweet cherries, or to taste

　　

Step 1

Pit the cherries and combine them with 1/2 cup of water in a medium saucepan; turn the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cherries are very tender, about 20 minutes.

　　

Step 2

Stir in the sugar and the cinnamon if you are using it; taste and add more sugar or lemon juice if you like. Cool, then chill and serve the cherries cold, with their juice.

　　From Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes From the New York Times by Mark Bittman Copyright (c) 2007 by Mark Bittman Published by Broadway Books.Mark Bittman is the author of the blockbuster Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.