Mediterranean Women Stay Slim, Too Cookbook
Strawberries, strawberries, and more strawberries! Holy cow the strawberries are abundant and amazing this year. I have just harvested our 3rd batch and there were twice as many today as there were earlier in the week! We sat around this evening eating strawberries with a dollop of whipped cream. Our kitchen and refrigerator smells like strawberries. In the past week and a half we've had strawberry shortcake, strawberry and rhubarb pie, strawberry sauce (strawberries and dab of honey cooked in a small pan until soft) on vanilla ice cream, and sliced strawberries in goats milk yogurt with maple syrup and granola. Heaven doesn't taste any better than this. I've also frozen a few batches and used a dehydrator to dry a batch. We'll see how that tastes once the season is a sweet memory. To freeze just put the cleaned and dry whole berries on a cookie sheet and freeze for an hour or two. Then pop into freezer containers. Easy as that. And when you need them they are whole and easy to remove.
This is year 3 of our strawberry patch and I'm noticing that some berries are a bit smaller than last year. Once this season ends it'll be time to work on the strawberry patch. I will post to let you know what I do and how it goes. To be honest I'm not quite sure what to do. I've been reading about maintaining a strawberry patch but I haven't yet decided what route I'll take. I guess we're just too busy eating strawberries!
The past few nights I've been reading one of the best cookbooks I think I've ever come across. It's written by Melissa Kelly, the chef and owner of a small restaurant on the coast in Rockland. Her restaurant is known for having great food and for serving extremely fresh foods. They have their own organic garden and raise some animals. Her book is titled: Mediterranean Women Stay Slim Too. An odd title I think, but an amazing cookbook! As I was reading tonight I noticed a recipe that I just have to share - Garden Strawberries with Fresh Sheep's Cheese and Balsamic Syrup. Once you grow strawberries or go to a Pick Your Own strawberry farm you will understand the succulent flavor that fresh, ripe strawberries have. Nothing like the boxes of strawberries you get in the grocery store that are shipped from California. My son ate a strawberry in the garden when they first were ripe and he asked why they taste so amazing. It's really quite simple; they ripen on the vine and then we eat them. They don't get picked before they are ripe and they don't get shipped many miles away. That's why local, garden produce tastes so darn good.
**Garden Strawberries with Sheep (or Goat) Cheese and Balsamic Syrup:
- 1/2 lb fresh sheep or goat cheese
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 Quart vine ripe, fresh, local strawberries
- Balsamic Syrup - recipe to follow
1)Scoop the cheese onto four plates
2)Sprinkle each scoop of cheese with pepper
3)Divide strawberries between four plates, arranging them around cheese
4)Drizzle the cheese and strawberries with balsamic syrup
5)Slowly appreciate and enjoy the scrumptious treat!
**Balsamic Syrup
- 1 Cup balsamic vinegar
-1/2 Cup sugar
1)Mix vinegar and sugar together in a small saucepan. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until boiling
2)Reduce heat to medium and continue to cok until the mixture thickens to the consistency of syrup, stirring occasionally. This should take 10-15 minutes. Store in glass jar for up to 1 month.
I can't wait to try this tomorrow for lunch! I'll keep you posted.
Other garden news...we picked our first shell peas yesterday and had them in a salad! They were fantastic. We've been eating pea pods for over a week now and it's nice to now have shelling peas. Time to get some mint ready for peas tomorrow evening. Swiss Chard continues to be picked and used - it's been delicious this year as well. We've had several full heads of Buttercrunch lettuce - Love the stuff! I spaced the plants out more this year and they seem to really appreciate the space. This type of lettuce seems to share its best flavor when allowed to develop into a full head. Cilantro continues to be the queen of the garden! I'm having a hard time keeping up with all of it. I'm putting it in everything that I eat. Make another batch of pesto with it tomorrow. This will be our 4th batch this season. Although it'll be our first batch without garlic scapes. Let's see if it's as delicious without the scapes. We've been making ice tea almost daily. Apple mint, lemon balm, and chamomile seem to be the main ingredients as that's what I have a lot of right now. It's delicious with a spoonful of honey. Spinach is on its way out. Maybe one more harvest. Started thinning carrots so got our first batch today. They are about 6" long and the width of a large Sharpie marker. Will thin beets tomorrow and try a recipe that's on Lisa's Facebook page: Beet greens - slightly steamed, extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, black pepper and fresh mozzarella; sounds delicious. And finally, sweet basil is almost ready to use. Can't wait!
Happy gardening and eating from your garden!
Mary
No comments:
Post a Comment