Strawberries

I will admit it.  I've been known to buy strawberries in the winter.  I've even convinced myself that they taste good.  But they don't. 
Not compared to the lightly sugared local strawberries I ate last night on a pillowy little vanilla cupcake with whipped cream.  Not compared to the quart of strawberries I ate in the car on the way home to make the strawberry shortcake.  I love driving up the mountain from Morse's in Somerset, doling out one perfect berry at a time to the little strawberry lovers in the backseat.  By the time we get home, there are stems and stains everywhere, and we really don't care.  It helps that my car just reached the 300,000 kilometer milestone and that we live on a road so dusty that no one who lives there bothers to wash their vehicle.  Right about this week, strawberries will be everywhere in the Valley.  They will be lined up for sale from the back of pickup trucks and farmstands. They will be available, cheap, for those willing to spend the morning at one of the great U-Picks. But they may not be in your local grocery store.  All last season, our store had California berries for sale.  Wahhhhhhh.
I suggest totally pigging out on strawberries while they're at their best because frozen or imported just ain't the same. I love seeing the hand lettered posters advertising a "Strawberry Supper" at local church halls.  I imagined that it would be all-you-can-eat strawberry shortcake when I was little, but have since learned that a more sensible meal usually precedes the dessert.  That doesn't mean that I won't be making a meal out of it at home, though!  At the Cafe, we'll be offering them in fresh salads, in a beautiful little Strawberry Cream Pie, and in Strawberry Shortcake. 

Vanilla Cupcakes for Shortcake
Usually I make biscuits or scones for shortcake, but these are easy and delicious! 
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 C. oil
1/2 C. water
1 1/4 C. flour (go ahead and use whole wheat if you like!)
1/4 t. salt
1 1/8 t. baking powder
1 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Beat sugar and eggs, than add remaining ingredients and beat for 1 minute. Evenly divide between 12 muffin cups. Bake about 15 minutes, until skewer inserted in middle comes out clean.
Split each cupcake in half and top with lightly sugared sliced strawberries (how many is completely your call) and a little whipped cream. Repeat the layers, lick the spoon and serve!


Strawberry Cream Pie
Once you've eaten your fill of strawberry shortcake, try this. It's a little more complicated, but it's worth it. It's inspired by a recipe from the now-defunct Gourmet magazine.

1 baked graham crust in a pie pan
2 lb strawberries, hulled
1/3 cup sugar (use Just Us!)
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/2 C. whipping cream, lightly whipped

Select 20 large strawberries as close to same size as possible and set aside. Cut remaining berries into 1/4-inch dice and toss with sugar and lemon juice. Let stand, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Drain berries in a sieve set into a large glass measuring cup. Add enough water to measure 2 cups. Transfer liquid to a medium saucepan and reserve berries.
Sprinkle gelatin over strawberry liquid and let soften 1 minute. Bring to a bare simmer, stirring until gelatin has dissolved. Add diced berries, then transfer to a metal bowl set into an ice bath and stir frequently until mixture begins to mound, 20 to 30 minutes. Fold in the whipped cream.
Spoon 1/2 cup filling into piecrust and arrange reserved whole berries, stem ends down, on filling. Spoon remaining filling over and between berries. Chill pie until filling is set, at least 4 hours.

Rhubarb

On the drive down the North Mountain, I can see a whole field of rhubarb that lies untouched. Every year I watch the giant flower stalks emerge, turn brown, and wither away until the next spring. I have climbed over the barbed wire fence that rings the field and stealthily picked huge bunches. Shaded by a parasol of rhubarb leaves, I snuck back to my car, threw the whole thing into my trunk and zoomed off to my Cafe kitchen. Since then, I have found out who owns the field and can now pick, without looking over my shoulder, for just 20 cents a pound. Rhubarb can often be found in a neighbour's yard, on roadside tables and in stands, and at farmer's markets. Pick the slenderest, reddest stalks for the prettiest results and dirty looks from other customers. Rhubarb is inexpensive and versatile. It keeps for weeks wrapped in plastic in the fridge, and freezes very well just chopped up and thrown in a bag. It is also unbelievably sour! Fairly large amounts of sugar are required to soften its bite, but this can be reduced by mixing rhubarb with other sweeter fruits. Strawberry is the classic rhubarb partner, but I also love raspberries with it, or even apple.

For years we served Wild Salmon at the restaurant, pan seared and topped with this simple and delicious chutney. It lasts for months in the fridge, and is good wherever chutney is used: as a topping for Curries, in a little dish beside a platter of Cheese and Crackers, or on a Chicken Sandwich.

Rhubarb Chutney

1 ½ C. Diced Red Onion

1 T. Grated Ginger

1 T. Oil

1 C. Dried Cranberries

1 C. Sugar (we use Just Us!)

1 C. Cider Vinegar

½ C. Apple Cider

½ t. Cardamom

½ t. Ground Coriander

½ t. Salt

4 C. sliced Rhubarb

Saute the onion and ginger in the oil until onions are softened. Add the remaining ingredients except rhubarb and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, then add the rhubarb. Cook until rhubarb has softened and broken down and chutney has thickened somewhat. It will thicken more as it cool.

My sister Meagan is a master Crisp Baker. On Sunday, she brought this amazing Rhubarb Crisp to my potluck. The recipe is adapted from Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe.

Rhubarb Pecan Crisp

6 C. sliced Rhubarb

1 C. Raspberries or sliced Strawberries (optional)

1 T. Unbleached all-purpose Flour

¼ C. Sugar

Toss the rhubarb with the flour and sugar until fairly evenly coated. Place in an ungreased 9 or 10 inch pie pan. Place the raspberries on top. Use the same bowl for the topping:

¾ C. Rolled Oats

¼ C. Oat Bran (or Wheat Germ)

1 T. unbleached all-purpose Flour

1/8 t. Salt

2 T. (packed) Brown Sugar

¼ t. Cinnamon

3 T. minced Pecans

3 T. melted Butter

Preheat oven to 350. Mix ingredients with a fork or your fingers until uniformly moistened. Crumble the topping mixture over the fruit and pat into place. Place the pan on a cookie sheet and bake in the centre of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until browned on top. Cool for 15 minutes before serving (with Ice Cream, if you're lucky!)

Fiddleheads and Beet Greens

Fiddleheads have always been a bit of a mystery to me. Although I consider my mother The Best Cook on Earth, there are a few local specialties we never ate. I don't remember eating Mackerel as a child, or Beet Greens. I probably would have hated them. It was really only after opening the Cafe that I started cooking with them.

Fiddleheads taste like spring; earthy, vegetal and green, and they are available for only a minute in May. I usually serve them simply sauteed in butter as a vegetable side, and they are welcome in creamy pasta dishes. I have found beautiful fresh fiddleheads right at Save Easy in Berwick, and my friendly Armstrong's representative, Will Mounce, brought me a pristine bag picked from his property last night. If the ends have browned, trim them a little and rinse them to remove any of the brown papery covering. Heat a little butter and oil over medium heat in a pan, then throw in the fiddleheads and saute for a minute or two. Add a splash of water, then cover the pan for a minute to steam (this will help them cook through without burning). Remove the lid and cook until the water has evaporated. Sprinkle with salt to taste and serve. Apparently fiddleheads have recently been found to contain twice the antioxidant value of blueberries!

Beet Greens are not nearly so fleeting, but they are available early and are amazingly popular around here. At the Cafe, we've made an annual pot of Beet Green and Sausage Soup, cooked them into lasagna fillings, and cut them raw into salads. Of course, they are best just steamed or sauteed with maybe a splash of vinegar. We have been buying amazingly fresh greens from Den Haan's in Middleton.

Last Thursday, I combined the two of them into yummy quesadillas.

Fiddlehead and Beet Green Quesadillas

1 T.Olive Oil

1 Onion, diced

2 cloves Garlic

1 Lb. Fiddleheads, trimmed and rinsed

1 bunch Beet Greens, chopped

2 C. Shredded Mozzarella

2 C. chopped Chicken (leftover roasted chicken is perfect, or leave it out for veggie quesadillas)

6 large Whole Wheat Tortillas

Preheat oven to 350. Oil a large baking sheet. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large frying pan. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Stir in the garlic and fiddleheads and cook for a minute. Add a splash of water, cover and cook for a minute, then stir in the beet greens. Toss until greens are wilted. Season to taste with salt and mix in the chicken. Lay out the tortillas and sprinkle with the cheese. Divide the filling among the tortillas, placing it on the lower half of each and spreading it out evenly. Fold top half of tortilla down to cover the filling. Carefully transfer the filled tortillas to the baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, then flip the quesadillas over and continue to bake another 5-10 minutes, until the outside has browned and the filling is hot. Cut into 4 pieces each and serve with sour cream and your favourite salsa.

Asparagus and Arugula

It seems perfect for me that the beginning of this blog is also the beginning of the fresh local eating season.....spring has exploded around us! My asparagus has been bitten back by frost a couple times this spring, but has produced enough to have several meals of it already. I've noticed that local Vermeulen Farms Asparagus is available in the grocery stores and looks gorgeous. There may be many fancy ways to prepare it, but the simplest and tastiest is the following:

Roasted Asparagus (maybe 4-6 servings, or enough for 2 Asparagus Lovers)

2 lb Asparagus
2 T. Olive Oil
1/2 t. Salt

Preheat your oven to 400. Wash the asparagus and break off the bottom of each stalk (usually it breaks at just the right point where the toughness ends). Spread it out on a cookie sheet and drizzle the olive oil over it. Use your hands to rub the oil evenly over, especially the tips. Sprinkle with salt and roast for about 20 minutes, until the largest stalks are just about tender and have started to brown. You be the judge, start checking after 10 minutes and decide how you like them. A healthy squeeze of lemon is nice if you have it!

We've also been enjoying greens from Taproot Farm in Port Williams both at home and at the Cafe. I've known Taproot's Patricia Bishop since high school and I love buying from her. If you haven't heard of her and husband Josh Oulton's Community Supported Agriculture Program (a subscription gets you a weekly year-round supply of local organically grown produce and other goodies), check out their link! Last night, one of our pasta specials featured their Arugula.

Arugula Pesto

1/2 lb. Arugula (Patricia's was beautiful, but my arugula always has flea beetle holes. This is a perfect use for imperfect arugula)
2 cloves Garlic
1/2 C. Almonds or Sunflower seeds (toast first for more flavour if you like)
1 C. Olive Oil
1/2 t. salt or to taste
1 C. grated parmesan cheese (We use Holmestead Parmesan, made in Factorydale near Berwick)

Pulse the arugula in a food processor with the garlic and nuts until the garlic is chopped. Leave processor on and add the oil in a slow stream. Sprinkle in the cheese and salt and pulse a few times until combined.

Toss with hot pasta and chicken or shrimp if you like, or combine with equal parts sour cream and mayo for a delish veggie dip or sandwich spread! Also great as a pizza sauce.