Strawberry Fields (And Pies) Forever

It happens every May. That longing, the uncontrollable need for some truly luscious fresh fruit. That longing for fruit that doesn’t deceive me with its beautiful outside only to find its insides white and tasteless. Yes, I am talking about Strawberries, folks. That wonderful spring delight that is often displayed in grocery stores using imposters or, shall I say more kindly, beautiful pale ghosts of the real thing.

Let me explain myself. I grew up on a farm in Maryland and, since my childhood, I have been a bit of a produce snob. My brother is a farmer with pick-your-own strawberries as one of his crops. I come by my snobbery naturally.

Each spring, I wait as patiently as I can. I see the gorgeous California strawberries in the grocery store in early May and they are tough to ignore. The local strawberries are still in their flower state, not yet berries. In Maryland, berries ripen nearer to the end of May.

Today I got to pick! It’s still cool outside, but some of the berries have ripened and are ready. Picking in cool weather is ideal for comfort, but one of things you miss is the experience of standing in a warm field with the scent of strawberry jam filling your nose. It is almost overwhelming. I was sad to miss it, but happy to not be sweating.

There are a few hints to finding the best berries.

Always walk as far into the patch as you can. Almost everyone who picks starts at the very first ripe berry they see. Few make it to the far end of the patch.

Gently push the leaves aside to find the mother lodes. The berries on the outside are the first to ripen but the ones on the inside tend to be in huge bunches.

Always turn the berry over before picking it from the stem. Nothing is more disappointing than seeing a perfect berry, picking it and finding it is white on the underside. Resist picking berries that are light pink. They will taste like grocery berries. Go for ones that are almost purple in color for the maximum sweetness.

And, lastly, stop picking when your box is about 3/4 full. In my experience all of the best berries are found when leaving the field.

Now that you have the berries, what do you do with them? Eat them, I know, but you will have approximately 10 pounds of berries to work with. If you pick them at peak ripeness, they go bad quickly.

So, besides eating them plain – no sugar needed – I recommend a glazed strawberry pie. It is very quick, easy and, for the most part, the strawberries are left to their natural goodness. Only a small amount are cooked, the rest are just arranged in the pie shell. This recipe comes from a cookbook my sister made for my mother of all the family recipes that have been handed down through the years.

 

Quick Glazed Strawberry Pie
I like to use a graham cracker crust, but it’s messy to eat, no pretty cut pieces. Use any pie shell you like, pre-made or make your own, just make sure it’s deep to hold all those berries.

My favorite pie in the whole universe is this pie made with black raspberries. Put a thin layer of cream cheese over the bottom of the crust before adding the whole berries and you have reached pie nirvana!

Ingredients
one deep pie shell, baked or pre-made
1 quart strawberries (or raspberries)
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water

Blend and reserve 1 cup of the berries.

Combine the sugar, cornstarch, salt and water in a medium saucepan until thickened, about 10-15 minutes, stirring to keep from burning on the bottom. Add blended berries. Put the rest of the whole berries into the pie shell. Pour the cooled syrup over the berries to coat them.

Chill for four hours. Serve with whipped cream.

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Dear Diary

I Love You More Than Pickles … Maybe

Pickled strawberries sound like the marriage of two of my favorite things. I love strawberries and I love pickles. But together?

I never even thought to try this until I happened upon it while in a Pinterest hole one day. Other than stuffing them one-by-one down my gullet, what would I even do with these? Bon Appetit suggests using them as toppings on salads and sundaes, muddling them into rum and soda cocktails or adding them to gazpachos and salsas. Also, eating them on their own is pretty OK too.

Along with the usual jamming process, pickling is a great way to preserve your strawberries when you have too many on hand. Say you pick to many or you buy too many at the farmer’s market. If you find yourself with a bunch on hand, before they go bad, this is a super quick way to preserve them for a little longer.

We’re in full on strawberry season in the Northern Virginia area. I was extremely excited, but a bit overwhelmed, to find that virtually every produce stand at my farmer’s market in Manassas had oodles and oodles of fresh local strawberries. I had to just settle on one – pick a quart and go with it. I tried to pick the container with the reddest, the ripest, most fragrant and smaller berries. I find the smaller ones have the most tastiness. I have a bit of FOMO about strawberries … which is why the pick-your-own makes me feel a bit better. But don’t get me twisted! These in-season, local quarts are way better than what I could get at my grocery store a few months ago.

The sweet, tangy little berries add a little extra umph to pretty much anything you add them to. And, even after you use up the berries, the vinegar pickling liquid can be used for a vinaigrette or marinade.

Pickled Strawberries

Most pickled things like this call for sugar, but this can be substituted for agave nectar or honey … any natural sweetener of your choosing. Note, reserve the pickling liquid for adding to a vinaigrette or cocktail.

1 pound strawberries, hulled, larger ones halved
1 1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
2/3 cups water
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons kosher salt

Place the strawberries into a heat proof jar. Bring to a boil the water, vinegar, sugar and salt over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt. Pour over the strawberries in the jar. Allow to cool, then cover and refrigerate. Make five days in advance.

Tagged with: , , , , , ,
Posted in Dear Diary

Peanut Butter & [Strawberry] Jelly… With A Twist

Few foods deserve their own big day, but if there was ever a comfort food that did, it’s the marriage of peanut butter and jelly.  It should be no  surprise, then, that this humble concoction is honored on April 2nd each year.

The earliest references to peanuts date to about 950 BC in South America, where the ancient Incas ground them into paste. In the late 1800s, a St. Louis doctor reportedly ground peanuts into a paste for elderly, toothless patients. But the PB&J phenomenon didn’t really take hold until the 1940s, when American soldiers who had mixed individual rations of peanut butter and jelly together abroad during WWII returned home.Now, the pairing is synonymous with lunch across the United States. Although many schools have banned the sandwiches due to peanut allergies, a survey published in a 2004 issue of the Journal of Food Distribution Research estimated that the average American will eat 1,500 of these sticky wonders by the time they graduate from high school.

I’m not the most particular eater, but I do like my peanut butter and jelly a certain way. Grape is a way of life for most doe-eyed, pig-tailed little girls. No thanks — I’ve always preferred strawberry. And never jelly. Only sweet, chunky strawberry preserves for me. I like the “jam” side of my bread buttered, and with a peanut butter to jam ratio of about two to one. But as I grow older and my taste buds mature to appreciate the finer things in life, I’ve discovered that — sometimes — I appreciate the things I loved as a kid … with a twist.Or in this case, a spin.

I’ve decided to introduce my favorite PB&J to the love of my kitchen life — my Vitamix. I shop at TJ Maxx and Marshall’s, where I never pay full price for a BCBG summer dress or Tahari shoes. I buy Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware furniture at a substantial discount on Craigslist. My point is, I am a bargain shopper. I want what I want at the lowest price possible, but…

This. Thing. Wasn’t. Cheap.

That said, I adore my Vitamix. While my food dehydrator and my food processor lurk in the depths of my cabinets or on shelves just at tippy-toe reach, my Vitamix lives in its own little house in a place of prominence in my kitchen. So, I thought I would pull it out to give it a little exercise.

That doesn’t mean you need one to make this easy recipe. Any old blender will do. Have some berries leftover from last week? Pull them out of the fridge and let’s make lunch!

Or breakfast, as the case may be …

Protein is a great way to start your day. This will keep you going until the lunch hour, so bottoms up!

PB&J Smoothie

1 cup almond milk
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 small banana
2 tablespoons peanut butter

Add all ingredients to blender and spin. Yes, it’s that easy.

This is much better cold, but since ice can make things a bit watery, try freezing the banana or strawberries. If you are using a blender, cut them up a bit first. A Vitamix can handle a whole frozen banana (in fact, ever tried banana “ice cream“? OMG!) but most regular blenders can’t. You can also play around with the ratio of ingredients, depending on your tastes. This makes enough for one smoothie, but doubling is easy and encouraged — though it’s much better fresh.

Save

Save

Save

Save

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Dear Diary
photo credit to Aaron Otis Photography 2014


July
Watermelon is the perfect summer food. It hydrates, it cools, it's sweet and juicy. We have some great ideas for your table, including a salad, ceviche cups, popsicles and cocktails. Get ready to beat the heat with us!