Triple Berry Crisp

With this blog and simply just feeding the two of us, I have spent my fair share of time in the kitchen. Cooking is something I enjoy. It's fun, it is stress relief, and the best part is you (*usually) get to enjoy the results of your experiment. While I've cooked/baked for several years, I almost always follow a recipe. I blame the pharmacist in me. Too Type A. Too precise.

I say that to tell you this. I made this crisp recipe on a whim, mostly on my own, with only a little recipe inspiration. Certainly, it is hard to screw up a fruit crisp, but I am still excited to report that I am getting to the stage of spontaneity in the kitchen. In fact, this crisp came about because the grocery store was out of zucchini (yes, I had to buy zucchini), and the berries there were so good that you could smell them as you walked by the stand. Recently, I have made a couple more dishes where I've found myself inspired by an ingredient, and I hope to share them soon.

Back to the crisp. Who doesn't love fruit crisp/crumbles? Ripe, juicy fruit at its peak combine with a topping that is really nothing more than an oat-filled streusel. I made ours in ramekins for individual-sized servings. As much as I like crisp, leftover crisp just isn't quite the same, and a whole pan is just too much for 2 people. The fruit in question here is strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, but you can really use any fruit that speaks to you (or needs to be used up in the fridge). I'm sure peaches or other stone fruit would be wonderful here as well. So grab some ice cream (or whipped cream if you prefer) and make this before berries are gone for the summer. Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe) 

Triple Berry Crisp
Loosely inspired by Pioneer Woman

Ingredients: 
2 cups total of raspberries, blueberries, and chopped strawberries
1 tsp. cornstarch
2-3 Tbsp. sugar (more or less depending on how sweet the fruit is)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1/4-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
heaping 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
2 Tbsp. cold butter
vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease ramekins.

In a medium bowl, combine the washed berries, cornstarch, sugar, and vanilla. Stir and divide evenly between 2 ramekins. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and oats. Cut the butter into the mixture and combine until crumbs form. You can add more butter and/or more oats/flour until it is the desired consistency. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit in the ramekins. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the fruit is bubbly and the topping is light brown and crisp. Serve while still warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Fruity Coconut Chicken Salad with Berry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette

Since September hit, I have been seeing a lot of fall-themed recipes across the blogs. Don't get me wrong, I still love pumpkin, apples, soups, and stews, but I am not quite ready to give up on summer. The weather has been gorgeous here the past week since we've dropped to right around or just below 100 degrees for a high. It's also been cooling off better at night - I actually saw a reading in the 70's in my car on the way to work the other morning (granted it was 5:30AM). I haven't been able to enjoy the weather on an outdoor run yet since I've been on call this week, but I assure you that I will be out there as soon as I can.

Since stone fruit and berries have still been on sale around here, I thought this salad was appropriate to share. The inspiration for this salad came from finding this berry poppy seed dressing on Our Best Bites. I am amongst the group that enjoys fruit in my salad, and I thought that the coconut chicken would pair well with the berries to make a great lighter meal. I didn't have any pineapple when I made these, but I think that this would make a great addition to the flavors here.

One note, I actually ended up using chicken tenders rather than chicken breasts as that is what I had stocked in the freezer. Chicken breasts would work just fine. You may need to adjust the ratios of coating, and just be sure to cook them to the appropriate temperature as gauged by a meat thermometer. The dressing does need to be made ahead of time, but it can certainly be made the night before to help speed up the cooking process when it is dinner time. Overall, we ended up really enjoying it, and it's definitely a recipe I will continue to make for as long as I can get my hands on good fresh fruit this fall :)

(Printable Recipe)

Fruity Coconut Chicken Salad with Berry Poppy Seed Viniagrette
Dressing recipe from Our Best Bites

Ingredients:
3-4 chicken tenderloins
4 Tbsp. unsweetend shredded coconut (can use sweetened if preferred)
1/4 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs
pinch of salt
1 egg white
6 cups preferred salad greens (we love spinach, but a lettuce mix would work well too)
1-2 cups berries - blueberries, strawberries (sliced), raspberries, blackberries
1 nectarine, pitted and sliced
fresh pineapple, chopped (optional - I think this would be a great addition!)

Dressing:
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup honey
1-2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp. grated onion
1 tsp. kosher salt or other coarse salt
10 cracks of freshly ground black pepper (1/4-1/2 tsp)
1 cup raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries
2/3 cup canola oil
1-1/2 tsp. poppy seeds

For the dressing, combine the vinegar, honey, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and berries in a blender. Blend until smooth and then, with the blender running, add the oil in a steady stream. Turn off the blender and whisk in the poppy seeds. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

For the chicken, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray. Combine the coconut, panko, and salt; place in a shallow dish. Add egg white to another shallow dish. Dip the chicken in the egg white, then coat in the coconut mixture.  Bake for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Divide the salad greens and fruit between 2 plates. If desired, slice the chicken and add on top of the salad. Dress individual plates with the dressing. There will be extra dressing. It should keep in the refrigerator for 5-7 days. Enjoy!

Yield: 2 dinner-sized salads

May Cookie Carnival: Strawberry-Rhubarb Bars

This month's Cookie Carnival was guest hosted by Krista from Meet the Swans. I was really excited to get the recipes for this month because they both looked great. When you are choosing between these strawberry-rhubarb bars and homemade ice cream sandwiches, it can be a hard choice! In the end, I probably will not get around to making the ice cream sandwiches before the end of the month, but I am definitely saving that recipe for later in the summer!

The bar recipe is originally from Better Homes and Gardens, and I went with this one since I love rhubarb in desserts! Unfortunately, I haven't been able to locate any fresh rhubarb since moving to Arizona, so I went the frozen route and it worked just fine although I had to boil my mixture for much longer than 10 minutes to get it to thicken. I stayed true to the ingredients called for in the recipe, but used my food processor to mix the dough together because I was feeling a bit lazy. In the end, I think this "chopped" up the oats a little more than the recipe intended, but the crumb layer still turned out really well. 

One thing that is unique is that the recipe calls for ground ginger that is mixed in with the filling and into a ginger glaze that tops the bars. I sneaked a taste of the glaze before I added it to the bars and wasn't a huge fan, but on top of the bars, all the flavors melded together wonderfully. In fact, my husband's exact comment was, "Wow. These are good. Really good." Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe)

Strawberry-rhubarb Bars
From Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients:
Bars:
Non-stick cooking spray
1-1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen rhubarb, thawed
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
2 cups chopped fresh strawberries

Ginger Glaze:
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
3-4 Tbsp. orange juice or milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8 inch baking dish with foil, allowing the foil to extend over the edges of the pan. Coat the foil with non-stick spray. Set aside.

In a bowl, stir together the oats, flour, and 3/4 cup sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (alternately you can use a food processor). Remove 1-1/2 cups of the oat mixture; set aside. Press the remaining oat mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake 20 minutes.

For the filling, in a medium saucepan, combine rhubarb, 1/3 cup sugar, water, and 1/2 teaspoon ginger. Cook and stir over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes until mixture is thickened and bubbly (May take longer. Just keep going until the fruit starts to break down and the mixture begins to thicken). Stir in chopped strawberries. Remove 1/2 cup of filling. Cover and set aside. Spoon remaining filling over the hot baked crust. Sprinkle with reserved oat mixture (you may have to crunch this with your hand to make "crumbs" if you used a food processor). Lightly press the mixture down into the topping. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes more or until the top is golden and the filling is bubbly. Cool in a pan on a wire rack. 

For the ginger glaze, in a small bowl, stir together the powdered sugar, ground ginger. Add the orange juice/milk slowly until it reaches drizzling consistency. Set aside. Lift the bars from the pan using the foil and carefully pull the foil away from the sides. Cut into bars. Just before serving, top each bar with a spoonful of filling and drizzle with the ginger glaze. 

Creamy Strawberry Ice Cream

Last but not least, my final strawberry recipe for a little while around here! While this is the last strawberry recipe that I'm posting, I have to admit that strawberry ice cream is one of the first things I thought of when deciding how to use my strawberries. In looking for a recipe, I knew that I wanted to find one that included pureed strawberries rather than chopped strawberries added as a mix-in. We've tried the chopped strawberry version before, and neither of us like how the fruit turns into hard ice-nuggets once frozen.

This recipe is another from David Lebovitz's, The Perfect Scoop, but I had saved it since last summer from Annie's Eats. It is different from many other ice cream recipes in that it includes sour cream in place of some of the milk and heavy cream. While Annie noted that she couldn't taste the sour cream in the final ice cream, I noticed a little bit of tang in mine but loved the flavor that it added. A definite benefit of the sour cream was the texture of the ice cream. This is one of the creamiest versions I've made yet. 

As for our overall opinions, we are a little split. I really enjoyed it. My husband thought it was good but noted that he liked many of my other ice cream versions better. I think his exact phrase was, "The berry flavor is just too much." At least around here, I've noticed that strawberry ice cream is one of those foods that you either love or hate, and while he ate it, I think my husband may fall into the later group. If you're a strawberry ice cream fan, too much berry flavor shouldn't be a problem :) Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe)

Creamy Strawberry Ice Cream
From David Lebovitz's, The Perfect Scoop

Ingredients:
1 lb. fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and sliced
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. vodka (optional)
1 cup full-fat sour cream  
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

Combine the sliced strawberries in a medium bowl with the sugar and vodka. Stir until the sugar begins to dissolve. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. 

Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a food processor and add the sour cream, heavy cream, and lemon juice. Pulse briefly until almost smooth but still slightly chunky. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (I always chill overnight). Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

White Chocolate Strawberry Ice Cream

Since Easter is now behind us, I have decided to fully shift my attention to "warmer weather" recipes. With that idea in mind, I'm finishing up my string of strawberry posts with two different versions of strawberry ice cream. I don't think the fact that temperatures have been hanging around 90 for most of the last week has anything to do with it :) I am actually not complaining. I love it!

To be completely honest, I this is one of the first ice creams I made earlier in March before our surplus of berries. Nevertheless, it still ranks as one of my husband's favorite ice cream recipes, and it fits right in with the strawberry theme. The recipe for the base ice cream is adapted from David Lebovitz's, A Perfect Scoop, but I ran across the strawberry version here on Gimme Some Oven. In the book, David recommends either topping the ice cream (without the strawberries) with candied cherries or adding them as a mix-in. To me, the cherry idea also sounds awesome, but I also think it would be great with a swirled raspberry ribbon. I will share it if we end up making one of the variations.

As I said earlier, this is my husband's favorite ice cream that I've made to date. I changed up the ratio of milk to cream from the base recipe using 2 cups of whole milk to 1 cup of cream because I was trying to use up some milk that was getting close to it's date, and I thought that it ended up being plenty creamy in the end. One thing I would change in the future is my choice of white chocolate. I have always heard that using chips instead of bar chocolate in recipes that call for it to be melted can result in a "chalky" texture. I have never noticed this before but could definitely tell in this ice cream. Next time, I will be sure to use bar chocolate instead of white chips. My other change would be the strawberries. I wasn't crazy about the chunks of strawberries included in the ice cream because they end up as little frozen chunks after it has set in the freezer for awhile and you lose the flavor they would add. I think they would be great instead as a topping, and I would include them this way in the future. I'll include the recipe as we made it below (but written for bar chocolate), and you can adapt the strawberries as you please. Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe)

White Chocolate Strawberry Ice Cream
Adapted from The Perfect Scoop and Gimme Some Oven

Ingredients:
8 oz white chocolate (finely chopped)
2 cups whole milk
2/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups strawberries, finely diced

Put the pieces of chocolate in a bowl and set a mesh strainer over the top. Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, the scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.  

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as  you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer over the white chocolate. Stir until white chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth, then stir in the cream and vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath. 

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator (I usually leave it in overnight), then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions. Add the strawberries about 5 minutes before the ice cream cycle is completed.

Spinach and Strawberry Salad with Strawberry Dressing

I am getting towards the end of my strawberry posts. One more in line for tomorrow, and then we can return to the typical variety of recipes that find their way to my site. When I was searching for recipes to use my strawberries, I noticed that there are relatively few recipes that use fresh strawberries in a savory nature. I am not sure why this is, but I knew that I needed to find some non-baked ways to use a few berries so that we didn't end up with WAY too many baked goods.  

This recipe from Maria of Two Peas and Their Pod was my starting point. While I have heard lots of good things about spinach and strawberry salads, I had never tried one before. Many of them have a sweet poppy seed-like dressing and use the strawberries primarily as a topping, but I liked how Maria used a strawberry puree on hers. Knowing that strawberries pair quite well with balsamic vinegar, I adapted the dressing to include balsamic vinegar and added a little bit extra sugar to offset the tartness of the vinegar.  

The result. We loved it! We usually have a small salad prior to eating our main dish for supper, and this was a great way to switch things up a little bit. Since this was a spur of the moment recipe, I didn't have any almonds in the house like Maria used, but I think toasted almonds would make a great addition to this salad. It would also be great with different fruits including other berries or mandarin oranges. If you are still looking for a last minute Easter side dish, this would make a great light addition to a dinner spread. Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe)

Spinach and Strawberry Salad with Strawberry Dressing
Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients:
1 lb. fresh spinach
1 cup strawberries, thinly sliced
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted if desired
2 ounces feta cheese

Strawberry Dressing:
7 large strawberries, cut in half
juice from 1 lemon (about 3 Tbsp)
1-2 tsp. honey (to taste)
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar (more or less to taste)
salt and pepper to taste

Place the spinach in a bowl. Top with sliced strawberries, almonds, and feta cheese. 

For the dressing, place strawberries in a blender or food processor. Squeeze lemon juice into the blender. Add balsamic vinegar. Drizzle with honey to taste. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Pour dressing over spinach and strawberry salad just before serving. 

Yield: 4 servings

I am linking this to Saturday Swap

Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream

One of the "foodie-goals" that I set for myself this year was to venture more into the world of cakes and cupcakes. While cupcakes are definitely something that I enjoy eating (come on, the frosting to cake ratio is much higher than many cakes), they aren't something that I commonly make. There probably are a couple reasons for this. One being that there are only 2 people in our house to eat them, but the second and probably larger reason is that I have no experience in decorating cakes or cupcakes.

With my aforementioned abundance of strawberries, I decided that now was as good of time as any to give cupcakes a shot. After looking through several recipes, there seemed to be a fair amount of praise for a Martha Stewart recipe seen on blogs both here and here, among others, so I decided to give it a shot. The process of making the cupcakes went really smooth. As Tracey mentioned in her blog post, the cupcakes bake up with a flat top. Mine were also really fragile when I first removed them from the muffin pan due to the chunks of cooked strawberries in the cupcakes. At least we got to sample the one below that fell apart :)

Both Tracey and Annie mentioned that Swiss Meringue Buttercream can be a little temperamental to make. Basically, my impression from them is that you put everything together and beat the heck out of it with your stand mixer until it looks like a frosting. I have actually made a Swiss Meringue Buttercream once before for a SMS cake, and the frosting has always came together okay for me. Maybe I'm liberal with the mixing times? My only problem with the frosting process is that I didn't have enough. I halved both the cupcake and frosting recipes, and after piping it on a few cupcakes, I realized that I was only going to have enough for about 2/3's of my cupcakes (I told you I really liked frosting). Rather than go through the process of making more, I mixed up a different strawberry cream cheese frosting from Annie's site to see which we liked better.

 Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Strawberry Cream Cheese

The process aside, the cupcakes were really good but if I were to make them again, I would change a couple of things. The cake stayed really moist and had a nice crumb, but the chunks of strawberries made the cupcakes fall apart really easily. In the future, I think I would to try a recipe that includes pureed strawberries to fix this problem. As for which frosting we preferred, it is a toss up. We liked the cream cheese version for the taste, but the Swiss Meringue Buttercream definitely made prettier cupcakes! I even let the cream cheese version sit in the refrigerator overnight, and I still couldn't pipe anything with it. I am going to go against the mainstream here because I don't think Swiss Meringue Buttercreams are really my thing. Whenever I've tried them, I feel like I'm eating straight butter (which is prominent in the ingredient list). I just think it is too "greasy" seeming and not sweet enough for my tastes. I am still looking for a great tasting frosting that will pipe well enough to make pretty cupcakes, so if anyone has a great recipe, please let me know. Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe)

Strawberry Cupcakes with Two Frosting Choices
From Martha Stewart's Cupcakes and Annie's Eats (also seen on Tracey's Culinary Adventures and Annie's Eats) 

Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
2-1/4 cups sugar
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 large eggs plus 1 large egg white (to halve this use 1 whole egg, 1 egg white, 1/2 egg yolk)
1 cup milk
2-1/2 cups finely chopped strawberries

Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
1-1/2 cups fresh strawberries (8 oz.) rinsed, hulled, and coarsely chopped
4 large egg whites
1-1/4 cups sugar
3 sticks (1-1/2 cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/2 cup strawberries
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1-1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1-3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. Set aside. 

In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, and salt; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, sugar, and vanilla. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs and egg white one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions alternating with the milk, mixing each addition just until incorporated. Gently fold in the chopped strawberries with a spatula. 

Divide the batter between the paper liners, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake until light golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 to 28 minutes, rotating the pans half way through baking. Allow to cool in the pans a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

To make the Swiss Meringue Buttercream, place the strawberries in a food processor or blender. Puree until completely smooth. Combine the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Heat, whisking frequently, until stiff peaks for and the mixture has cooled to room temperature, about 8 minutes. (The bowl should be cool to the touch). Reduce the speed to medium and add the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, adding more once each addition has been incorporated. If the frosting looks soupy or curdled, continue to beat on medium-high speed until thick and smooth again, about 3-5 minutes or more until it comes together. Blend in the strawberry puree until smooth and completely incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip and frost cooled cupcakes as desired. Garnish with fresh berry slices if desired.

To make the strawberry cream cheese frosting, puree the strawberries in a blender or food processor. Strain through a mesh sieve to remove seeds if desired and set aside. Beat the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add lemon juice, vanilla, and strawberry puree. Adjust the amount of puree to achieve your desired consistency. Frost cupcakes when completely cool. 

Note: Half the Swiss Meringue Butter cream recipe frosted about 12 cupcakes for me. Half the cream cheese recipe would have been plenty.

Yield: full recipe makes 34 cupcakes

SMS: Strawberry Rhubarb Preserves

This week's SMS was hosted by Tracey at Tracey's Culinary Adventures. The group has made the master preserves recipe from the book a couple times, but this was my first time cooking along. With the surplus of strawberries that have been around our place lately, it certainly was a timely recipe for me! What can I say? I ended up with two of these after stopping by the market after a hard gym session. They just spoke to me =)

While I had no problem finding strawberries, the rhubarb was a tougher search. Having lived most of my life in the Midwest, rhubarb is something that I have never had to buy from the store. You can usually find someone with a plant in their yard who is begging people to take some, and while I never had a plant of my own, I usually had a bag of it hanging in my freezer. I ended up calling around to most of the stores in the area, but no one here has any fresh rhubarb yet. Thankfully, a couple of people suggested looking for it in the frozen fruit section. Success. Now, I know where to look if I can't find any fresh! 

As for the recipe, I never knew that making preserves could be this easy! Melissa's recipe uses apples as a source of natural pectin, so the recipe consists entirely of fruit and sugar. The texture ends up a little less "jello-ey" than store purchased jellies, but it still thickens up nicely. In fact, I enjoyed the change in texture as it made the preserves much easier to change. While the recipe called for a little more sugar than the master recipe, the resultant preserves did not end up too sweet. I halved the recipe and also froze half the resultant preserves. If it says anything about how much we've enjoyed it, the portion that I kept in our refrigerator is almost gone. Check out the SMS page to see how the other bakers did, and a big thanks Tracey for a great, seasonal pick!

Strawberry Sorbet

Have you ever wondered what type of a reaction you would get by calling your husband asking if he would stop to pick up a bottle of vodka on his way home from work? Not that I would know, but he may respond by asking if everything is okay. No, it wasn't the fact that I had a really bad day. I was wanting to make this sorbet with my new batch of strawberries but couldn't run to the store myself because I was already elbow deep preparing dinner.

The chemist in me finds the purpose of adding alcohols such as vodka to different recipes interesting. See, alcohol has both a lower boiling and freezing point than water. When you use it for this pie crust, it evaporates earlier than water would in the oven leaving you with more dry ingredients which creates a flaky crust. It has the opposite effect in cold recipes. Since it freezes at a lower temperature than water, it keeps this sorbet from getting too hard in your freezer. See, chemistry can be fun and delicious =) Vodka or no vodka, this sorbet is delicious! While the vodka serves the purpose of helping keep the sorbet soft, it is an optional ingredient if it is a concerning ingredient for you. Unlike my pie crust above, it will not "cook out" of the recipe since the sorbet mixture is never heated. If you leave it out, you will just want to plan ahead and set the sorbet container out at room temperature for a few minutes before serving. 

Enough about the texture. How did it taste? Absolutely delicious! We made quite a few recipes with those strawberries, and this sorbet is one of my favorites. It was the perfect way to showcase the flavor of the fresh berries and has me searching for other recipes using different fruits. One thing I noticed in searching for a recipe was the large variation in sugar content.  I found recipes varying from 1/4 to 1 cup of sugar for 1 pound of strawberries. I ended up using about 1/3 per pound of berries for our sorbet, and it was plenty sweet for the batch of berries that I had. My other change - lime juice instead of lemon juice. Strawberry-lime is a classic combination. Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe)

Strawberry Sorbet
Adapted from Group Recipes

Ingredients:
2 lbs. strawberries
1 cup cold water
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. lime juice
2 Tbsp. vodka (optional)
pinch of salt

Puree the strawberries and cold water in a blender until smooth. Strain the puree through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds if you want a smooth sorbet (I did this roughly to remove most of the seeds but not all). Stir in the remaining ingredients until the sugar is dissolved. Place in a resealable container and refrigerate until cool or overnight.

When ready to freeze, pour the chilled mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze according to package directions. Serve immediately or transfer to a resealable container and freeze until ready to use. If desired, remove the sorbet from the freezer for a few minutes before serving to allow it to soften. 

Yield: My 1 qt ice cream freezer was not full. Maybe 6-8 servings

I am linking this to Sweet Tooth Friday, Sweets for Saturday, and Melt in Your Mouth Monday.

Fresh Strawberry Pie and 2nd Blogiversary

Wow. Today is my 2nd blogiversary, and I cannot believe that it's already been two years. It all started with this post about snickerdoodles. You'll have to excuse my picture, but at least the recipe is good. Snickerdoodles will always be a classic =) 

Blogging is definitely an interesting experience as you get your first comments and start to get your first followers. I've come to really enjoy the company of the blogging community and because of this blog and many of you, I've tackled many new things in the kitchen over the last couple years including making meringue, bread dough, homemade caramels, and even the pie crust for this celebratory strawberry pie.

In choosing the recipe for my 2nd blogiversary, I wanted to make something a little bit more special than my typical range of desserts. We had a surplus of strawberries around because someone here may have gone to the market straight (hungry) from the gym, and when the new issue of Cook's Illustrated showed up last week, it was fate. Pie is not a typical occurrence in our house, so strawberry pie it was. Bonus points because it would allow me to give pie crust another shot. This was my 3rd attempt at pie crust with my 3rd recipe, and I think I finally have one that I agree with enough to give it a second try. The crust in the final pie was the perfect combination between flaky and falling apart. Despite that, my experience wasn't perfect, but I think my struggles were more user inexperience than anything with the recipe. 

Speaking of the recipe, I really wish I could share a slice of this with all of you! The combination of the berry puree with the fresh berries burst with flavor that just screams summer. While we really enjoyed the crust and filling, I wasn't quite sold on the simplicity whipped cream topping. It needed a little bit more flavor, and next time, I would definitely add some vanilla extract to give it a boost. So if you're craving some strawberries, head to the kitchen and try this out. Buy some strawberries if you need to. After buying a flat, I have some recipes coming in the next week for you!

(Printable Recipe)

Fresh Strawberry Pie
From Cook's Illustrated May/June 2011

Ingredients:
Pie Crust:
1-1/4 cups (6.25 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1/2 tsp. table salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
6 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/4 cup (1.75 ounces) chilled vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
2 Tbsp. vodka, cold
2 Tbsp. water, cold

Filling:
4 pints (about 3 lbs) fresh strawberries, gently rinsed and dried, hulled
3/4 cup (5.25 ounces) sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1-1/2 tsp. Sure-Jell for low-sugar recipes (pink box)
generous pinch table salt
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Whipped Cream:
1 cup cold heavy cream
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla (my addition)

Process 3/4 cup flour, salt, and sugar together in a food processor until combined, about two 1-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until homogeneous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 10 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds with some very small pieces of butter remaining, but there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add 1/2 cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around the bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into a medium bowl.

Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix,  pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Flatten dough into 4-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Remove dough from the refrigerator and roll out on generously floured (up to 1/4 cup) work surface to 12-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll into pie plate leaving at least 1-inch overhang on each side. Working around the circumference, easy dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with one hand while pressing into pie bottom with other hand. Leave overhanging dough in place; refrigerate until dough is firm, about 30 minutes.

Trim overhang to 1/2 inch beyond the lip of pie plate. Fold overhang under itself; folded edge should be flush with the edge of the pie plate. Flute dough or press tines of a fork against dough to flatten against the rim of the pie plate. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. Remove the pie plate from the refrigerator, line crust with foil, and fill with pie weights, dry rice or beans, or pennies. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and weights, rotate pie plate and bake for 5 to 10 additional minutes, until the crust is golden and crisp. Let cool to room temperature.

For the filling, select 6 ounces mishapen, underripe, or otherwise unattractive berries, halving those that are large; you should have about 1-1/2 cups. In a food processor, process berries to smooth puree, 20 to 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl as needed. You should have about 3/4 cup puree.

Whisk sugar, cornstarch, Sure-Jell, and salt together in a medium saucepan. Stir in berry puree, making sure to scrape corners of the pan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a heat-resistant spatula, and bring to a full boil. Boil, scraping bottom and sides of pan to prevent scorching, for 2 minutes to ensure that cornstarch is fully cooked. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in lemon juice. Let cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, pick over remaining berries and measure out 2 pounds of the most attractive ones; halve only extra-large berries. Add berries to bowl with glaze and fold gently with rubber spatula until berries are evenly coated. Scoop berries into pie shell, piling into mound. If any cut sides face up on top, turn them to face down. If necessary, rearrange berries so that holes are filled and the mound looks attractive. Refrigerate pie until chilled, about 2 hours. Serve within 5 hours of chilling. 

For the whipped cream, just before serving, beat cream and sugar with electric mixer on low speed until small bubbles form, about 30 seconds. Add vanilla if desired. Increase speed to medium; continue beating until beaters leave a trail, about 30 additional seconds. Increase speed to high; continue beating until cream is smooth, thick, and nearly doubled in volume and forms soft peaks, 30 to 60 seconds more. (I had to beat mine longer than these times). Cut pie into wedges, and serve with whipped cream.

Yield: 9-inch pie, serves 8 to 10

Fruit-Topped Angel Food Cake Squares

Well, this dessert was the destination for the previous angel food cake. It sounds (and looks) pretty simple, but the combination of the pudding part with the berries and cake ends up with something better than the individual parts. We were first introduced to this recipe from a college friend who is one of the best cooks that I know. I think that Jenna probably fed me a couple times a week while I was still living in the dorms during my last year of college.

Since then, this has became one of my husband's favorite desserts. I have to admit that it is up there on my list too =) We usually only make it once or twice per year because around here it is one of those things that is "dangerous" to have around the house. In making my own cake, it was larger than the ones that I had previously bought. The extra cubes of cake soaked up more of the pudding mixture. In this one, I missed the little pools of pudding that normally form around the cake pieces, so next time, I will probably save some of the cake for another use (like strawberry shortcakes). Either way, there aren't too many ways you can go wrong with this dessert. Enjoy!

I am linking this to Sweet Tooth Fridays!

(Printable Recipe)

Fruit-Topped Angel Food Cake Squares
From Jenna R.

Ingredients:
1 loaf (1 lb) angel food cake (12x5 inch)
1-1/2 c. milk
3 containers (6oz) fat-free yogurt (I like vanilla)
1 can (14 oz) fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1 box (6 serving size) instant pudding mix, any flavor (cheesecake is our favorite flavor)
2 c. quartered strawberries
2 c. fresh blueberries
2 c. fresh blackberries

Spray a 9x13 inch pan with nonstick spray. Cut angel food cake into 1-inch pieces with a serrated knife. Place in the prepared pan in one layer. 

In a medium bowl, mix the milk, yogurt, sweetened condensed milk, and pudding mix with a wire whisk until well blended. Pour over the cake pieces. Gently tap the dish on the counter to remove any air bubbles. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Just before serving, gently mix all the berries and spread over the top of the cake. Cut into squares and serve.

Waffles (of Insane Greatness)

I'm awake much earlier than need-be today (by my own mis-calculations), so I thought I'd share a great breakfast recipe in honor of having extra time this morning. Usually, waffles, pancakes, eggs, etc. actually aren't typical items on our breakfast menu. It is certainly not that we don't enjoy them. It is more of a time issue than anything else. I am not a morning person, and I can promise you that I typically don't get up any earlier than need-be =)

These waffles came about this past weekend when my husband woke-up craving waffles. I originally bookmarked this recipe from Finding Joy in My Kitchen, however I think it originated here from the foodnetwork.com. There are a few differences between the 2 recipes listed, and we ended up using the version from Finding Joy in My Kitchen with the exception of using all-purpose flour as that is what I had in the kitchen. I found it interesting that there was cornstarch in the batter as I have never seen this before?

It was a little difficult to wait 30 minutes for the batter to set-up, but these waffles are definitely the best homemade version that we've made thus far. We both like our waffles to be crispy on the outside and many of my homemade attempts have ended up with soggy waffles. These were nice and crisp with a great "crust" on the outside. I'm not sure if it was the downtime factored into the recipe, the cornstarch, or something else in the recipe, but these waffles just worked. If you are looking for something to fill-up your 30 minutes of down-time, try out the berry sauce that SnoWhite suggests in her post. I mixed-up some with the strawberries and blueberries that we had in the fridge and am absolutely doing this again next time we make waffles. Yum!

Are they of insane greatness? I'm not sure, but they are absolutely going into my make again file at our house. Enjoy!  

(Printable Recipe)

Waffles (of Insane Greatness) with Berry Sauce
Adapted from foodnetwork.com and Finding Joy in My Kitchen

Ingredients:
Waffles:
3/4 c. all-purpose flour (white whole wheat)
1/4 c. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. milk (I used skim)
1/2 c. buttermilk
4 Tbsp. olive oil
1 egg
3/4 tsp. vanilla

Berry Sauce:
1 c. berries (any types; can also use peaches, etc.)
2 Tbsp. brown sugar (or more depending on the sweetness of your berries; can also use honey)
2 Tbsp. water
1-2 tsp. cornstarch (I used 1-1/2 tsp.)

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well. In a separate bowl, mix the milk, buttermilk, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just slightly lumpy. Allow the mixture to sit for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Meanwhile, place the berries in a medium saucepan. Add the brown sugar, water, and cornstarch, and stir until combined. Heat over medium heat until bubbling slightly and sauce begins to thicken. Turn heat down to keep sauce warm.

Preheat your waffle iron. Ladle the batter into the waffle iron and cook according to the manufacturer's directions. Serve warm with the warm berry sauce or with butter and syrup.

Strawberries with Balsamic and Black Pepper Syrup

I love the flavor of balsamic vinegar, and I've been making quite the string of balsamic recipes lately. However, when I saw this recipe on Eats Well with Others, I wasn't quite so sure. Balsamic vinegar, with strawberries? I had some strawberries hanging in my fridge since they have been on sale, so I figured I'd give it a whirl.  

Note: I didn't make the shortcakes in Joanne's blog and the ice cream in the picture is from the store as well. In fact, it didn't matter. I could have eaten the strawberry-balsamic syrup plain. That said, this syrup would probably be that much better served over homemade ice cream! If you used white balsamic vinegar, you could even claim it as a patriotic dessert for this weekend. Simple. Delicious. Four ingredients. What's not to love?

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend! I was actually get away between rotations to visit my husband for the weekend, so I'm excited!

(Printable Recipe)

Strawberries with Balsamic and Black Pepper Syrup
Adapted from Eats Well with Others and Bon Appetit

Ingredients:
1 lb. fresh strawberries
2-1/2 Tbsp. sugar, divided
1-1/2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 small pinch freshly ground black pepper

Mix the strawberries, 2-1/2 tablespoons sugar, balsamic vinegar, and black pepper. Let macerate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Serve over ice cream, shortcakes, or just eat alone :-)

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

I was looking around at the dishes we have posted on the blog, and I could not believe this dish had not made it up yet. This is by far the most universally popular and the recipe we have probably made the most over the years. Part of its popularity might be because it is probably Derek's favorite salad/dessert (amazingly, it can serve as both), but at nearly every family gathering we attend, they ask us to bring some flavor of this recipe.

We first tried the recipe back in high school when we were over at Derek's house for dinner one night. His stepfather, Don, made us a great meal and from then on, we were hooked. It is fairly simple to make, but there are a couple very important steps in the recipe. First, it is essential to make a well-packed, solid crust. It does not change the taste, but a good crust makes this dish about perfect. In addition, we try to make it as healthy as possible by using sugar-free jello, frozen fruit with little/no added sugar, and as low fat cream cheese as possible. Stating this, the marshmallow layer does not set-up as well using fat-free cream cheese, so we use 1/3 reduced fat cream cheese instead. Finally, the cooling process for the jello layer is important too. If you pour the jello layer on too soon, it can seep through both the marshmallow and pretzel layers and ruin the entire dish. We place the jello in the refrigerator and allow it to begin to congel, then we stir it up, allow it to congel, stir it up, and then pour on top of the marshmallow layer.

The salad probably takes about an hour to make altogether, but only about 1/3 of that time is active. You can swap in different combinations of frozen fruit and jello for a change in taste. Other favorites we have tried include frozen blueberries/mixed berry jello and frozen raspberries/raspberry jello. So the next time you are heading to a gathering of any sort, try this salad. Odds are, you will not be bringing any leftovers home! 

(Printable Recipe)

Strawberry Pretzel Salad
Recipe from Don Kost
Ingredients:
2 cups pretzels, finely crushed
3 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup melted margarine
8 ounces cream cheese
8 ounces cool whip
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
2 packages sugar-free strawberry jello
2 cups boiling water
10 ounces frozen strawberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the first 3 ingredients and pat into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 15 minutes and allow to cool completely.

Combine cream cheese, cool whip, powdered sugar, and marshmallows. Spread on cooled pretzel crust and place in refrigerator.

Mix jello ingredients and place in freezer until it begins to congel. Pour over cream cheese layer and place in refrigerator until ready to serve. May top with leftover pretzel crumbs.

June Cookie Carnival: Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

I was so excited when I saw the June recipe for the Cookie Carnival! I absolutely LOVE strawberries and will eat a whole pint in one setting. But to put them in cookies? I never would have came up with this.

The recipe is one of Martha Stewart's. It's a fairly simple recipe. I had no problems making them whatsoever. I did skip the parchment paper and just baked them straight on my baking stones with no problems with sticking.

The recipe does state that these are best the same day that they are made. This is no lie. I made these in the late afternoon one day. It has been rather humid around here lately, but they were already starting to get soft after dinner. On the other hand, when I took them into work the next morning, the entire batch was gone by 10:3o in the morning =-)

If you like strawberry shortcake, I would definately recommend this recipe. A printable link of it can be found here. Enjoy!