Strawberry Season

Post and images by guest blogger, Rebecca White, of A Pleasant Little Kitchen. 

Visit her full blog or find out more about her here. 

When strawberries start popping up around Market Street, I do a little jig. It’s hard not to get excited when shades of red and pink fill the aisles at my favorite local grocer.

Market Street is celebrating this early strawberry season with Berry Patch. From freshly baked treats to prepackaged goodies, Market Street knows how to embrace this delicate sweet fruit.

To join Market Street in their celebration of this sweet season, I’ve rounded up some of my favorite strawberry recipes. Whatever your craving, this feed will provide you with recipes to inspire and satisfy.

Chilled Strawberry Soup

Serves 4-6

Author note: This recipe is a slightly reworked version of a Strawberry Soup found in Food and Wine Magazine. It is delicate, rich and perfect as a starter or finisher for any luncheon or dinner.

3 pounds strawberries, tops removed

1 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean, sliced in half (lengthwise)           

5 cardamom pods        

10 mint leaves, torn     

fresh strawberries, chopped, for topping

mint whipped cream, see recipe below

mint leaves, for topping

Place strawberries and all their juices into a medium-sized glass (or stainless steel) bowl. Stir in the sugar, vanilla bean and cardamom pods. Place plastic wrap over the top of the bowl and seal well.

Fill a small sauce pan with water to a depth of 1/2 inch. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Place the bowl on top of the sauce pan to create a double boiler (make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl). Stew the strawberries for 1 hour. Stirring only once halfway through.

Carefully remove the bowl from the pan. Place the bowl into an ice bath and stir in the mint leaves into the strawberry mixture. Let the strawberries cool for 15-20 minutes.

Strain the strawberry soup into a container. Continue to let the strawberry soup come to room temperature and then place in the fridge.

Place the chopped strawberries into a small serving bowl. Top the strawberries with the soup, mint whipped cream and a mint leaf. Serve chilled.

for the Mint Whipped Cream

1/2 cup crème fraiche  

1 cup cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract       

1/8 teaspoon mint extract        

3 teaspoons sugar

Strawberry “Pop-Tarts”

Author Notes: Use your favorite pie crust recipe. If you don’t have the time or energy to make crust, a store-bought dough works well. Market Street has pre-made dough available in their refrigerated dairy section. If you like to be generous with frosting, double the recipe. I use a ravioli stamp to make the pop tarts. A pizza cutter could also be used to make the 2 1/2 inch squares.

2 pounds strawberries, leaves removed and quartered

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon dry marsala

1/2 cup sugar

1 cinnamon stick

zest of 1 orange

pinch of kosher salt

pie crust

frosting, see below for recipe

In a medium sauce pan combine the strawberries, vanilla, marsala, sugar, cinnamon stick, orange zest and salt. Stir and cover. Cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes.

Uncover and stir. Increase heat to medium and cook for 20 more minutes, stirring frequently.

Once the strawberries have reduced to a jam-like consistency, remove from the heat and bring to room temperature. Store in an airtight container overnight in the fridge.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough. With a ravioli stamp, press the dough into 2 ½ inch squares. Lay each square on a parchment lined rimmed baking sheet.

Place a small spoonful of strawberry jam in the middle of each dough square. Cover the jam with another dough square.

Using a fork, press to seal the edges of the pastry. Then, prick the top of each pastry with the fork (this will release air during the cooking process and will prevent the pop-tart from “puffing” up).

Place in the oven and cook for 20 minutes, or until the edges of the pop-tart are golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let cool.

Once the pop-tarts are at room temperature add the frosting and serve.

for the frosting

1 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoons heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon orange extract

Place the sugar into a bowl. Add the cream and extract. Stir well to combine.

Arugula and Strawberry Salad

servings vary

Author note: There are no measurements on this salad recipe. The amounts should be adjusted to how many are being served and the desired preference for each ingredient. Let the arugula to spinach ratio be 1 part to 1 part. Add grilled chicken to this recipe to make it an entire meal.

arugula

spinach

strawberries, quartered

shallot, finely diced

honey poppyseed dressing (use your favorite store bought or homemade variety)

pine nuts (optional step: toast the pine nuts)

zest from an orange

Add the arugula and spinach into a mixing bowl. Toss to combine. Add the strawberries, shallots and dressing to the greens mixture. Toss to combine.

Plate the salad and then top each serving with pine nuts and orange zest.

Strawberry S’mores Tart

Author note: This recipe requires a candy thermometer. Save time with this recipe by using store bought marshmallow fluff.

for the tart

graham cracker pie crust

chocolate ganache filling, recipe below

strawberry jam

marshmallow crème “fluff”, recipe below

Fill a graham cracker pie crust with the warm chocolate ganache. Place in the fridge and chill until the filling is hardened, about 2 to 3 hours.

Remove the tart from the fridge. Spread a generous amount of strawberry jam on top of the chocolate ganache almost covering the entire top of the tart. Leave a little bit of space between the jam and the top edge of the crust.

Spread a generous amount of marshmallow fluff on top of the jam. Serve chilled.

for the chocolate ganache filling

12 ounces unsweetened chocolate, broken into pieces

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/8ths

pinch of salt

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Place the chocolate, butter and salt into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

Place the cream into a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Immediately remove the cream from the heat and strain into the mixing bowl over the chocolate.

Stir until the chocolate and butter is melted and smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract. Use as directed in recipe. (For the s’mores tart pour the chocolate ganache into a graham cracker pie crust. Place into the fridge and chill until hardened, about 2-3 hours).

for the marshmallow crème “fluff”

1 cup sugar

1 cup corn syrup

1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon water

4 egg whites

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the water, sugar and corn syrup into a saucepan. Stir to combine. Cook over high until the mixture reaches 240 degrees (about 15 minutes). Do not stir while the corn syrup mixture is cooking.

Meanwhile, with an electric mixer on high whip the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large stainless steel bowl until stiff peaks form, about 3-4 minutes.

Add the vanilla extract to the egg whites.

Once the corn syrup mixture has reached 240 degrees, remove it from the heat. Lower the mixer speed to low and slowly pour the corn syrup mixture into the egg white peaks. Once the syrup has been poured into the egg whites, increase the speed to medium high and continue to whip until the marshmallow crème is fluffy, about 7 to 8 minutes.

Let the marshmallow crème “fluff” cool. Place in airtight containers and store in the fridge up to two weeks.