strawberry – My Blog

Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream

Oregon’s berry bounty is impressive, especially in the summer. Wave after wave of variety comes into its own and it can seem overwhelming when the time comes to choose which one to work with, but after much deliberation, Nate and I think that we’ve finally decided on what our favorite is.

Is it the plentiful, tart, and quintessential Pacific Northwestern blackberry?

No.

Is it the delicate, elegant, and high-brow dessert-loving raspberry?

No.

Is it the versatile, delicious, and nutritious blueberry?

No. No it is not.

For us, the most sublime berry is the one that welcomes us into the warmer months in Oregon. Hitting their peak in early summer, their season comes and goes quickly. It’s important to get them while you can because, as summer develops, they just aren’t the same anymore, then they disappear altogether, waiting for late spring once again. We are, of course, talking about what might be the most popular berry in America: the strawberry.

One might think to oversimplify this common ingredient; after all a strawberry is a strawberry is a strawberry, right?

Noooooope.

There are so so many species of these little beauties, and they all taste a little different from one another. However, there are two that rise above the rest for us: Hoods and Seascapes. I’d be impressed if anyone went wrong with either one of them if you get them at the right time, and the time is now, but as this recipe suggests, like so so many things in this world, we believe that they should be drowned in cream and churned.

P.S. This fresh fruit ice cream proportion works magic with these strawberries, but don’t let that stop you from getting creative. If you apply the same amount of any fresh fruit into this recipe, it will work. Let this be a way for you to experience all the best fruit this summer. I mean, that’s what we will be doing…

Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream:

About 1½ cups (335 grams) fresh, ripe strawberries, tops removed (Hoods or Seascapes if you can get them)
A pint (472 grams) heavy whipping cream
1¼ cups (263 grams) whole milk
¾ cup plus 1 tsp (161 grams) sugar
Scant ¼ cup (67 grams) light corn syrup
A dash xanthan gum

Blend strawberries in a food processor or using an immersion blender, then transfer into a large bowl big enough to hold all ingredients. Whisk in the cream, milk, sugar, corn syrup, and xanthan gum.

Ready your ice cream maker (if you have a freezer bowl type make sure the bowl is completely frozen! This usually takes at least 24 hours.), and begin churning immediately. Churn for 25–30 minutes, or until the mixture resembles thick soft serve ice cream. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container, but before putting on the lid, cover it with a layer of plastic wrap, allowing it to stick to the entire surface of the ice cream. Seal the container and place in the back of the freezer for at least 4 hours prior to serving. For best consistency, freeze overnight.

Temper about five minutes before devouring.

June 22, 2016

Strawbanero Sorbet

Sorbet gets a bad rap.

“Why would you want to eat that when you could have ice cream?”

“That‘s gross, no thanks. I’ll take the good stuff.”

“Aww, I’m sorry that’s all they have for you…”

Rude.

I’m going to make something clear here. If you think that sorbet is gross, it’s because all the sorbet you’ve had is garbage. It’s simple as that.

I can understand the aversion; lots of commercial sorbet can be incredibly icy, resembling more of of a sad popscicle that got crammed into a pint container, but know this: it doesn’t need to be this way. Real sorbet is light and bright, harnessing the pure and unadulterated essence of the fruit it was made with. In a way, it’s like a little time capsule, keeping the fruit at the peak of its ripeness so you can revisit it every time you open your freezer. Good sorbet outshines any alternative no-fat, low-carb, low-sugar, high-protein, “guilt-free” bullshit on the market today. We tried some just to see for ourselves what the fuss was all about (for science!) and let’s say that we won’t be returning to that arena any time soon. Or ever.

While Nate and I love almost everything about ice cream (eating it, making it, designing it) we understand that it’s a sometimes food. So, in an effort to find a dessert lower in fat that would be a little easier on our bodies and also rid ourselves of the ungodly amount of strawberries we purchased at the farmer’s market this week (they were just so pretty) we came up with this little recipe. Using amazing strawberries make it bright and floral while the habanero lends its own sweetness to the mix along with something a little extra.

Strawbanero Sorbet:

2 pounds ripe strawberries, tops removed
1 small(!) habanero
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup water
¼ cup light corn syrup or tapioca syrup
2–3 tablespoons lemon juice (to taste)

Put the sugar and water in a sauce pan over high heat and allow the mixture to boil, dissolving all the sugar in the solution. Once it resembles a syrup, remove from the heat and let it cool to room temperature.

Spear the habanero on a fork and flame the skin over a gas burner (or with a blow torch) until the entire body of the chile is black. Remove the habanero from the fork and place in a plastic bag for 10 minutes or so, allowing the chile to sweat and its outer skin be very tender. Rub the char off the habanero, then remove the stem and the seeds, discarding them.

Put all of the strawberries and the processed habanero into a food processor and blend until completely smooth. Strain it, if you like. Transfer the very fine strawberry habanero pulp to a large bowl and whisk in all the simple syrup and corn syrup. Chill in an airtight container until cold, at least an hour (we recommend overnight as it will allow the subtle flavor of the habanero to develop further).

Prepare your ice cream/sorbet churner (if you using a freezer bowl make sure that it is completely frozen—this typically takes up to 24 hours). Remove the sorbet mix from the fridge and add the lemon juice, then pour into the churning machine. Churn for 15–20 minutes, or until it becomes thick and almost smoothie-like. Transfer into an airtight container like a large tupperware; cover in plastic wrap, allowing it to stick to the entire surface of the sorbet, lid it, then chill in the freezer for at least 4 hours.

Serve in cups, cones, or maybe even in a spritzer for a zippy float.

June 18, 2016

Strawberry Jam

When we bought the strawberries at the farmer’s market for our strawberry caprese salad, we had a pint and a half of strawberries left over. They were so ripe they left juice stains on the pint boxes. I said, “How about we make jam?” And Jon agreed. What else are you going to do with that many strawberries? (I will admit I was tempted to split the spoils with Jon and just sit down and eat them. Jam was a much better idea.) We looked online for a recipe, and found this one from Ina Garten. We love Ina, but there was too much sugar and lemon for us, so we went to Sauvie Island, here in Portland, and determined to get more strawberries (and raspberries!). We ended up with around 7½ pounds of strawberries bursting with sweet juice.

After adapting the jam recipe for our own tastes (like we do), we ended up with our favorite strawberry jam ever. It’s sweet, but not overwhelming. It’s floral and the strawberry flavor is bright, but not cloying. It’s perfect on toast by itself, and it’s even better with a savory element, such as peanut butter or chèvre. We’ll be making this for many summers to come.

Strawberry Jam

7 lb (3.2 kg, about 9 pints) ripe strawberries, hulled and halved
5 cups (2.2 lb/1 kg) white sugar
zest of 4 lemons
juice of 3 lemons

Cook sugar, lemon juice and zest over low heat stirring constantly until sugar is completely melted, about 10 minutes. Add strawberries and stir until combined. Let simmer on low heat for 20–30 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Jam is done when the juice gels when you put it on a cold surface (we used a plate in the freezer for this). Remove from heat. If strawberries are too chunky, use an immersion blender to achieve desired consistency. Use a canning funnel to put in pint jars. If not using immediately, you will need to preserve it. If canning see instructions here. If freezing, put into freezer-safe containers (most wide mouth canning jars will work for this, just leave room at the top to account for expansion), and freeze after cooling completely.

Yields a little more than 7 pints.

June 20, 2015

Strawberry Caprese Salad

We aren’t entirely sure how to classify this dish…
Is it a salad?

Is it a dessert?

Is it a cheese plate?

We don’t know. We really don’t. Do we care?

Nope. No we don’t.

We tried to come up with something that would feature strawberries since we keep seeing amazingly ripe ones floating around these days. We were getting strawberry envy. So we decided to do something about it. We hauled ourselves to one of the farmers markets in Portland and took home some gorgeous Mt. Hood strawberries, dark as rubies, and ripe enough to stain your fingers with their juice. They were small, sweet, and completely melted in your mouth when we ate one (or four).

We put our heads together and applied some knowledge we had that suggested strawberries and tomatoes have almost an identical flavor pairing list. So, we decided to cycle through some of our favorite things to eat featuring fresh tomatoes and see if we could plug in fresh strawberries instead. Balsamic vinegar was the key. What we ended up with was this thing.

We played with two ideas to make this: one tomato centric, one strawberry. Most of the inspiration came from caprese salad, but we opted to use whipped chèvre instead of fresh mozzarella to mimic strawberries and whipped cream. Complete with good olive oil and a thick but quick balsamic reduction, this thing left us speechless. If you play your cards right, it’s ready in five minutes.

Now go get yourself some strawberries, damnit.

4–6 achingly ripe strawberries, halved
Note: We prefer smaller strawberries for this recipe, but if you can only find larger ones, use about 4 and quarter them instead of halving.
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
2 oz chèvre
1 tsp. milk
2–3 basil leaves, chopped
good olive oil
freshly cracked black pepper
sea salt

In a small bowl, mash the chèvre with a fork until it becomes soft, then add the milk. Whip it as best you can until it resembles fluffy cream cheese. Set aside.

In a small sauce pan on medium low heat, reduce the balsamic vinegar until it resembles a syrup. Remove from the heat and let it cool slightly. Not too long or it will be slow as molasses. (If it becomes too thick, just pour a splash more balsamic in and it should loosen it up a little bit). Set aside.

Plate the chèvre, halved strawberries, and dot the plate with some balsamic reduction. Drizzle the plate with olive oil and finish with the chopped basil leaves, pepper, and sea salt.

Serves 1–2

June 9, 2015

Tag: strawberry

Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream

Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream:

Strawbanero Sorbet

Strawbanero Sorbet:

Strawberry Jam

Strawberry Jam

Strawberry Caprese Salad