Strawberries with wine? It's not a pairing most people ask Chez Panisse sommelier Jonathan Waters about. In fact, he can't remember anyone ever asking him to take the sweet-tart berry -- which has dotted dessert menus for much of the summer -- and combine it with a crisp, ethereal vino. Champagne, yes, but wine, no.
"It's pretty rare that somebody would have strawberries with wine," says Waters (no relation to that other Chez Panisse Waters), who has worked at the restaurant for more than 20 years.
That said, he thinks the two are a very plausible match and was up to the challenge. We caught up with him to chat strawberries, Alice Waters' practice of finishing a meal with seasonal fruit, and his thoughts on organic wine.
Do you guys ever serve whole strawberries? We do. We serve them at the end of a meal. Alice's idea is that the perfect end of a meal is a fruit. If you have ever read [David Mas] Masumoto's book about peaches ... we only serve strawberries for a very short window because it's a short season when they are perfect.
Does the restaurant serve them other ways? We serve strawberries with other things for a longer period, like macerated strawberries over sherbet or strawberry shortcake.
In all our years as enthusiastic food consumers (read: big eaters) we have never encountered a pancake we didn't like. While some of that can surely be credited to the whole "cake" part, much of our fascination with the breakfast stems from the fact that people are constantly finding creative ways to take what is basically just a simple bread and turn it into a work of art -- and a delicious work of art at that.
Case in point: these ricotta pancakes from Blog Chef. As if luscious whipped cream generously spread on each of the three cakes wasn't enticing enough, the creamy Italian cheese was added to the batter. Perfectly ripe strawberries provide bright contrast with the otherwise colorless stack and serve as a sweet, palate-pleasing antidote to another of the pancake's hidden ingredients: lemon zest. Luckily, "hidden" doesn't mean "secret," since the recipe is available online.
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Native New England strawberries offer exceptional flavor, so naturally, they should be thrown into a U-Pick Strawberry Shortcake with Egg Biscuit.
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Farmers markets are now brimming with boxes of strawberries, and most people's natural inclination -- aside from eating them all before getting home -- is to turn the berries into pies, cobblers, crumbles and strawberry shortcakes -- in other words, dessert.
While their tart sweetness makes them shining stars of the seasonal baked goods line-up, strawberries also make great supporting players in savory dishes. They pair well with cheeses, nuts, salad greens and even some meats, and can be as versatile as they are irresistible.
One way to introduce them before the dessert course is in a salad, not only as whole fruit but also as a tangy vinegar. Though you can buy bottled strawberry vinegar (as well as other fruit vinegars), it's plenty easy to make your own. It adds bright layers to the following recipe for spinach salad with toasted pecans, strawberries and ricotta -- and can be added to as many other salads, entrees and yes, even desserts, throughout the rest of the summer and beyond.
The first seasonal strawberries appear as early as April. The deliciously tart fruit we've come to know today originated in grassy woodlands all over Europe. Find out how to transform these red, ripe, sweet and succulent treats of nature into fabulous desserts.
Strawberries taste delicious eaten plain with a glass of champagne. But in a pie, their juiciness creates a distinctly bitter-sweet flavor that sits on the palate and seems to melt into the pie crust.
Strawberries taste especially rich when paired with milky desserts, like panna cotta and mascarpone. Or, simply add slices of strawberries to a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
This candy-like fruit easily creates a sweet distinctive jam without adding any pectin. Below are eight especially delicious strawberry desserts to try at home:
Tuxedo and matching wedding dress strawberries are always an elegant touch at a wedding. They are also pricey. I never really considered what it would take to make them at home until I came across a post on the subject at My Sweet and Saucy.
It turns out that they are fairly easy to make. My Sweet and Saucy has a step-by-step guide with pictures to walk you through the process. If you are hosting a wedding, you may want to check it out. Better yet, get a friend to check it out and make them for you!
She puts them in little bags and gives them away as favors. I've also seen them on a dessert table and served at the reception.
Are you an avid tea drinker looking for a different way to enjoy your tea this summer? A lot of tea drinkers go iced in the warm summer months, some even adding lemonade to their iced tea, but there is an even colder way to enjoy your tea in the summer months if you enjoy green tea: smoothies!
Below you will find the recipe for my personal summer tea concoction, which will require matcha (powdered green tea). Matcha is high in caffeine content compared to regular steeped tea, so you may not want to indulge in one of these smoothies too late in the day.
INGREDIENTS 1 tsp matcha (powdered green tea) 4 oz. cup of fruit-flavored yogurt (Light 'n Fit works well, low in sugar) frozen strawberries (or other desired fruit) frozen peach slices (or other desired fruit) apple juice
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I've got a bias against infusions. I admit it, and I feel so much better for having gotten that off my chest. Why the bias? I'm not sure. Maybe it has something to do with altering the integrity of a spirit. Maybe because everyone with a mason jar has got some science experiment going on behind the bar. Maybe I'd just rather taste the fresh flavors of the fruit/herb/vegetable rather than the vodka-soaked version.
Oh, I know. Most of them don't work. Up until about a month ago, I would have said none of them work. Then, I got to taste Tequila Por Mi Amante.
I have to thank and give credit to Paul Clarke for this one. Paul has introduced me to quite a few cocktails and cocktail ingredients, and I'm a better bartender for having read his site. He is, in my opinion, the best blogger on cocktails on the whole internet and one of the best writers on this topic in the world. Bookmark his site. Go ahead, I'll wait. . . .
Are you an avid tea drinker looking for a different way to enjoy your tea this summer? A lot of tea drinkers go iced in the warm summer months, some even adding lemonade to their iced tea, but there is an even colder way to enjoy your tea in the summer months if you enjoy green tea: smoothies!
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