Strawberries, Farm to Table!

One of the many memories I have of my grandmother is going with her to pick strawberries at Quonset View Farms in Portsmouth, RI. The rows of red juicy berries just waiting to picked seemed to be endless in my eyes at that age. I would gorge myself on these sweet treats, more going in my mouth then in our basket. When we were finished picking we'd bring the berries back to her house and go into her garden and gather fresh rhubarb and together we'd make strawberry rhubarb desserts in her cozy kitchen. 

Thirty Five years later not much has changed about the farm. There is still row after row of berries that are the sweetest strawberries you'll ever find and they still only accept cash at their rustic farm stand. What has changed is that I now live 2000 miles away in Denver, Colorado. My kids and I are very fortunate to be able to return to the island of my youth for two months every summer to stay with my parents and expierence the magic that can only be found in a small New England town. 

2018 picking with friends

Emma on our second visit this summer

our bounty

If you have never picked fresh strawberries and have only eaten store bought berries let me share with you what sets the two apart. When you get store bought berries, they are often very firm, lack juice, their color is pale pink to red and when you cut into them the depth of color does not go through to the center of the berry. Berries from the farm are very tender, extremely juicy and the color is a dark red that penetrate the entire flesh of the berry. Berries from the farm also spoil much quicker because you are picking them at their peek ripeness. 

Strawberry Basil Bruschetta with Goat Cheese 

I am always on the hunt for new recipes to try. This summer I found two strawberry recipes that are share worthy. The first recipe I found was a strawberry bruschetta with basil and ricotta that looked very good but I already have another appetizer that I make that uses ricotta so I decided that I would change a few things up from this recipe to make it my own. The main swap was switching the ricotta out for one of my favorite cheeses, goat cheese. This isn't a recipe where you need to measure everything out so I will do my best to give you rough measurements to guide you through making this delicious appetizer but feel free to adjust as you see fit. The pictures below are from a fun evening cooking with my daughter and great friends. 

          

             

Ingredients: 

1 french baguette

olive oil 

1 small log of goat cheese (softened)
1 tablespoon honey

2 cups rough chopped strawberries

Zest of one lemon (a micro plane works great)

12 basil leaves (sliced into thin ribbons) 

Balsamic reduction

Sprinkling of sea salt 

I start by taking my goat cheese out of the fridge about 15 minutes before I start cooking, usually taking it out while I get all the rest of my ingredients out is plenty of time for it to soften. You'll need to preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Take your french baguette and slice into 1/2 inch slices and lay them out on a sheet pan. I lightly drizzle both sides of the sliced bread with olive oil then put it in the preheated oven for about 6 mins till the edges start to turn golden brown. Take them out and let them cool while you get the rest of your ingredients ready. Roughly chop your strawberries and place them in a bowl, add lemon zest and basil leaves and gently stir to distribute everything evenly. In a separate bowl stir the goat cheese and honey together till combined. Spread a generous layer of the goat cheese mixture on one side of the toasted baguette slices. Next top the cheese covered baguette with the strawberry mixture. Take your pre-made balsamic reduction and drizzle it over the top of the strawberries and finish it off with a nice sprinkling of sea salt. If you are in the New England area check out my friends Matthew and Tami Mullins at Newport Sea Salt for local harvested sea salts. Plate these up and step back and watch as they disappear and your guests rave about them. 

Note: If you are using store bought berries I would add a table spoon of sugar to your berry mixture to help sweeten them and encourage their juices to come out. 

Strawberry Ice Cream

At my parents house my mom has a no frills ice cream maker with a bowl that you must first chill in the freezer over night. Summer after summer on our visits we've said we should really make ice cream but had yet to pull the machine out of the pantry to give it try, this was the year it happened. The ice cream machine can make up to a quart and a half of ice cream at a time. The recipe I found came straight out of the Cuisinart manual that came with the machine. I followed the recipe exactly but with the fresh berries that we used from the farm the next time I would have cut the sugar by a third if the berries were as sweet as the batch that we used.

Ingredients:

1 pint fresh ripe strawberries, stemmed and sliced

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 cup of sugar (divided)

1 cup whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a bowl large enough to hold the strawberries, combined the berries, lemon juice and 1/3 cup of sugar; stir gently and allow the strawberries to macerate in the juice for 2 hours. In a medium bowl whisk together the milk and granulated sugar till it dissolves. Stir in the heavy cream, vanilla and any juice from the bottom of the strawberry bowl. Following your machines instructions, start the machine, pour the cream mixture in via the ingredient spout and let it process for 30 minutes. While the cream mixture is churning, take the bowl of strawberries and using an immersion blender, blend the strawberries till they are roughly chopped but not pureed. Set this aside to add to the mixture at the 25 minute mark and let it churn for 5 minutes additional minutes. When the churning time is complete you want to transfer the contents of the ice cream freezer bowl into a freezer safe container and pop the container into the freezer till the ice cream firms up to your preferred hardness. The kids and our company devoured this ice cream that accompanies a homemade strawberry rhubarb crisp. 

I know it's not possible for everyone to pick their own strawberries but my lesson to all who do have the opportunity to pick fresh, don't hesitate to get out in the fields with your loved ones. Come home and get in the kitchen together  its worth the effort and and you'll be making fun memories with your families.