strawberry

We've been up to our ears in strawberries these past few weeks which is fine by me.  The strawberry season is so short and even though you can find strawberries in the grocery store year round those are flavorless, rock-hard blobs compared to home grown, fresh picked strawberries in the late weeks of spring.

Mostly we we just eat them right out of the container and I toss them in my yogurt every morning but this season we tried a few new things to enjoy them even longer.  Because they are so ripe and dark red they are perfect for freezing.  I rinse them, cut off the stems and freeze them whole on sheet pans (but I am actually using a 9 inch cake pan because my dumb freezer is too narrow for a sheet pan, or a frozen pizza incidentally).  Once they are frozen, in about 24 hours, place them in a ziploc bag and enjoy them however and whenever.


We also made ice pops.  They were delish.  Here's the easy breezy recipe.

Strawberry Ice Pops
2-3 cups strawberries (hulled and quartered)
3T sugar
1 1/4 cup low fat plain yogurt

Puree the strawberries with 1T sugar.  I used an immersion blender and it worked great.
Whisk 2T sugar with the yogurt
Pour into popcicle molds alternating layers until full.  Insert sticks and freeze  until solid.


We decided to make Strawberry ice cream.  I would never normally choose strawberry as my flavor for ice cream. I mean give me chocolate, some nuts or something,  but this was so delicious.  It was not too sweet and just the right amount of tanginess and the most beautiful pink color.

We have this ice cream maker and we have been pretty happy with it but it is loud as hell so don't do it during naps or if you want to watch anything on t.v.

***recipe is now below...

Not to leave out the savory folks, I also made one of my favorite salads for several lunches and dinners.
It is nothing fancy or complicated but so fresh and delicious. I don't really measure because I just throw it all together, usually with one hand and hopefully before I hear any rustling on the baby monitor.

Strawberry Salad
Fill a bowl with your favorite greens. I like to use spinach and mixed greens.
Add quartered strawberries, chicken, turkey, or protein of choice, chopped pecans, crumbled goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette ( I do a ratio of 3 olive oil to 1 balsamic vinegar with a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper all whisked together).

Hope this might give you some ideas of what to do with all those fresh berries. Try to stock up, this week might be the last of them at the farmer's market.  So, until next year...

***Here is the strawberry ice cream recipe...
3        cups fresh ripe strawberries, stemmed and sliced
4         T freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2   cups sugar, divided
1 1/2    cups whole milk
2 3/4    cups heavy cream
1 1/2    t pure vanilla extract


In a small bowl, combine the strawberries with the lemon juice and 1/2 cup of the sugar.  Stir gently and allow the berries to macerate in the juices for about 2 hours.  Strain the berries, reserving juices.  Mash or puree half the berries.


In a medium mixing bowl, use a hand mixer on low speed to combine the milk and remaining granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes.  Stir in the heavy cream, reserved strawberry juice, mashed strawberries and vanilla.  Turn the machine on;  pour the mixture into the freezer bowl (of the ice cream machine) and let mix until thickened, about 20-25 minutes.  Five minutes before mixing is completed, add the reserved sliced strawberries and let it mix completely.  The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture.  If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the ice cream to an air tight container and place in the freezer for about two hours.   

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