"strawberries" news and stories

Young green strawberry. Photo: tanakawho, Flickr.

• Ontario farmers beat the heat challenge and find a way to grow fresh, sweet strawberries until first frost.
• "Mud to Mouth" takes 6 acres of donated farm land and shows students where food comes from.
• After financial woes, Jamie Kennedy sells the Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar.
• Toronto's Recipe for Community hopes to bring generations together and rebuild the community of Alexandra Park.
• A talk with Jen Yates of Cake Wrecks, and how her blog has become a book.
• September 24th marked the 250th anniversary of Guinness.
• Wine critic Gord Stimmel's global values cover Italy, California, South Africa, Spain and Australia.
• Recipes: Coconut Curry, Chicken and Corn Chowder, Grilled Tomato Vinaigrette Chicken, Turkish Beet Salad.

Jonathan Waters. Photo: Robert Messick.

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.

Ricotta Pancakes. Photo: Blog Chef

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.

[Via Blog Chef]

Blueberries. Photo: lepiaf.geo, Flickr

• The Press Herald looks into the marketing claims for "super berries," and learns that while they're no fruity Superman, they are good for you. Plus, blueberry recipes and the lowdown on buying and storing super fruits.
  
• Mark Beringer, a descendent of wine empire founder Jacob Beringer, is pushing his own Artesa wine line.
• Native New England strawberries offer exceptional flavor, so naturally, they should be thrown into a U-Pick Strawberry Shortcake with Egg Biscuit.
• From signings to top chefs, the notable events and news from the Portland region.
• Columnist Jeanne Jones explains how to amp up the healthy components of Date Bars.

Microplaned garlic. Photo: YumSugar

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

If you're not prone to scrapes and slices, you might want to try scraping that garlic (and not your knuckles!) against a Microplane.

Forget lemon and lime. How about garnishing your summer drinks with strawberries?

Go Green! San Francisco becomes the first United States city to require composting.

Sometimes a classic garden salad is just what the tummy needs.

Jacques Pepin discusses his way to achieve a beauteous boiled egg.

Korean Beef Kebabs -- a tower of seasoned meat and green onions.

Does roasting a whole animal make you squeamish?