strawberry granita

What to do when it's a thousand degrees outside and there are strawberries in the fridge? Why not make some granita! I did a quick Google search, and came up with the following recipe. It is super easy, deliciously refreshing, and so much easier than making ice cream. It has all the freshness of perfectly ripe strawberries, in an icy-cold refreshing dessert!

fresh strawberry granita
Bon Appetit, May 2005

1 cup hot water
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 cups sliced hulled strawberries (1 pound whole berries) plus additional berries for garnish

Stir first 3 ingredients in small bowl until sugar dissolves. Blend 3 cups strawberries in processor until smooth. Add sugar syrup and blend until combined.

Pour mixture into 13x9x2-inch nonstick metal baking pan. Freeze until icy around edges, about 25 minutes. Using fork, stir icy portions into middle of pan. Freeze until mixture is frozen, stirring edges into center every 20 to 30 minutes, about 1 1/2 hours. Using fork, scrape granita into flaky crystals. Cover tightly and freeze. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep frozen.) Scrape granita into bowls. Garnish with berries and serve.

muffin tin pies

this project has been lurking on my to-do for the past couple of weeks after i saw some girls in dolores park selling little mini pies. of course instead of buying pie from them i stole their idea and made my own. it's a little bit time consuming with the rolling and cutting and assembling, but kris was out of town last weekend so i had plenty of time to dedicate to the task. plus i wanted to have little pies to feed him when he came home from his bachelor party to show him what a good wife i can be.

i went to the farmer's market on sunday to buy fruit for the innards and everything looked so good i couldn't decide on just one filling. so i made two - strawberry rhubarb and peach nectarine with ginger. i don't think i can pick a favorite, they are both yummy! the strawberry has a little tartness from the rhubarb and the orange compliments both flavors nicely. i didn't add any sugar to the peach and nectarine filling because my peaches were already very ripe and sweet. the ginger adds a delicious little hint of spice.

to make these, start off with your favorite trusted pie crust recipe. i used the basic pastry crust from veganomicon. the recipe is for a single (12 inch i think) pie crust and i made three of them and had dough for 18 little pies.

strawberry rhubarb pie filling
(makes filling for 9 mini pies)
ingredients:
2 stalks of rhubarb, diced
1 heaping cup strawberries, sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
zest of 1/2 orange and a squeeze of juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch

gingery peach and nectarine
(makes filling for 9 mini pies)
ingredients:
2 ripe peaches, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 ripe nectarine, peeled and cut into small chunks
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, diced


once you have made your pie dough, make the fillings by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside for a few minutes.

preheat the oven to 400 and lightly grease your muffin tin.

roll out your dough and cut circles for the bottom crust and slightly smaller circles for the top crust. i used a can of pineapple and the top of a small glass...which translates to roughly 4 inches for the bottom and 3 inches for the top (who needs cookie cutters? actually, i would love some).

fit the bottom crust into the muffin tin, carefully pressing along the sides and the bottom to make sure it lays flat. fill almost to the top with filling. place the top crust over the filling and pinch along the edges to form a seal with the bottom crust. cut a little x in the top. repeat until you have filled your muffin tin.

bake for about 30 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

if you don't plan on eating all your pies at once, they freeze really well! wrap them up nice and tight and reheat at 350 for about 20 minutes.

-d

strawberry apricot jam

I have no idea what came over me, but the other day I got home from an afternoon of hanging out with a friend and felt the need to make jam. Maybe it was the dreary weather, or the multiple quarts of fresh strawberries lurking in my kitchen (I eat as many in-season strawberries as is humanly possible to make up for all the tasteless ones I consume throughout the rest of the year). So I made jam.

Now, as a child, I helped my mother make dozens of jars of strawberry jam, after intensive strawberry-picking sessions. We would come home with flats and flats of berries, and since four people could not possibly eat that many pounds of berries, my mom made jam. Lots of it. And stored it in the freezer. It was bright red and sweet and delicious and is still my favorite jam of all time. And this jam, the one I made the other day, comes pretty close to the flavor of that jam.

I worked from a Barefoot Contessa recipe and adapted liberally. The apple adds natural pectin, the goo that holds jam together and gives it that nice glossiness. I threw in the apricot for a bit of tang to off-set the strawberry sweetness. And it's delicious. I might start eating it straight from the jar with a spoon. And am now scheming up a few dessert ideas to use it in, so stay tuned!

Strawberry Apricot Jam
adapted from Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics
make 3 cups

3 pints fresh strawberries
3 ripe apricots
3 cups superfine sugar (I used plain old granulated and it was just fine)
1/2 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and finely diced
zest and juice of 1 orange

Rinse the strawberries. Drain and hull. Cut the larger ones in quarters, smaller ones in halves. Cut the apricots in half, remove pit, and cut into half-inch or so chunks. Place berries and apricots in a deep, heavy-bottomed pot and toss with sugar. Let macerate for 10 minutes or so.

Bring the berry mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring often. Add the apple, orange zest and juice, and continue to keep the mixture at a rolling boil, stirring occasionally, until the jam reaches 220 degrees on a candy thermometer. This should take 25 to 35 minutes. Skim and discard any foam that rises to the top.

Allow mixture to cool to room temperature, then store covered in the refrigerator. The jam will keep at least 2 weeks. If you would like it to last a bit longer, pack and seal in canning jars according to the manufacturers instructions.

Enjoy!

- e

Strawberry Muffins

Almost every morning, I have yogurt with some kind of fruit, maybe a bit of homemade granola. And I confess, I can be a tad picky about my yogurt. While I would love to eat the full-fat French yogurt every day, it might be a detriment to my waistline and overall well being. So I have found a compromise with Stonyfield Farm. They make a very nice, creamy, fat-free plain yogurt that you can gussy up with fruit, jam, honey. And last week, there was this recipe in the lid. I am not, in general, a big fan of fruit in my muffins. Throughout my childhood, my mother made what were certainly delicious blueberry muffins in the summer months, but I would not eat them. No, I would only eat the blueberry-less blueberry muffins she made just for me. Picky child, I know. But now, I LOVE the blueberry muffin (and, in fact, cannot wait for farmer's-market-fresh blueberries so that I can make a batch to share with you!) and decided that strawberry muffins might not be such a stretch. While they cannot hold a candle to the blueberry muffin, these were tasty, not very sweet - and definitely healthy. If you want to make them a little more special - or just want a healthy dessert - slice them in half horizontally, pile fresh berries and a dollop of whipped cream on the bottom, pop the top back on, and enjoy!

Strawberry Muffins
from Stonyfield Farm

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup plain yogurt (*I used fat-free)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped strawberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl, mix together flour, sugar, and baking soda. In another bowl, mix eggs, yogurt, butter, and vanilla. Toss chopped strawberries into the flour mixture. Then pour yogurt mixture into flour mixture and stir. Spoon batter into buttered muffin tins (or you can use muffin papers, if you like!). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the tops are puffed and golden brown. Makes 12 muffins.

- e

strawberry-vanilla swirled frozen pops

several years ago i came across a recipe for sangria popsicles. they sounded too good and i just had to make them. i went on a search for the perfect popsicle molds and decided on these cute star shaped ones. and then? never made the sangria popsicles. not only that, i never made any popsicles at all. these babies have been tucked away, moved from apartment to apartment and never once filled with a delicious frozen treat. until now!

i saw this strawberry-vanilla pop recipe in the latest gourmet and.....i had to make it! strawberries have been perfectly sweet lately and when paired with the creamy vanilla? oh my goodness these are delicious. the only problem? my popsicles are stuck in the molds. the stick comes out but the popsicle? not a budge. maybe the molds are getting revenge for neglecting them for so long. luckily there was quite a bit left over after filling the molds so we have been enjoying this in a bowl, regular ol' ice cream style. it might not be as fun, but it's tasty nonetheless!


strawberry-vanilla swirled frozen popsicles
(from gourmet, may 2009)
ingredients:
1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved
1/2 cup sugar*
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 pints premium vanilla ice cream**

Equipment: 12 (1/3-cup) ice pop molds or 12 paper cups and 12 wooden sticks***

mash strawberries in a large bowl with a potato masher or a fork. transfer to a 12-inch nonstick skillet along with sugar and lemon juice and boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. transfer to a bowl, then freeze, uncovered, until cold, about 10 minutes.

transfer ice cream to a microwave-safe bowl and microwave at 30 percent power in 10-second intervals, stirring, until softened, about 50 seconds total. spread evenly in a 13-by 9-inch baking dish and freeze while strawberry mixture chills. if making your own ice cream, you can place it in the baking dish straight from the ice cream maker and freeze for a few minutes.

dollop tablespoons of strawberry mixture all over ice cream, then swirl it gently through ice cream with a spoon. spoon into molds (or into cups) and add sticks. freeze until firm, about 1 1/4 hours (and up to 4 days, covered).

*i only put in about 1/4 cup of sugar (cause i ran out) but i think that was a good thing because the strawberries on their own are so flavorful and sweet they don't really need sugar to help them out.
**i whipped up my own batch of vanilla soy ice cream but...ya know...whatever works for you
***or six popsicle molds and a tupperware for leftovers in case your pops get held hostage

-d