Tag Archives: Strawberries

This is my version of a lightened up baked brie. I guess that’s a bit of an oxymoron, because, how could baked brie ever be called a “light” dish. But it’s all a matter of relativity. When I worked in catering, one of our most popular dishes was a wheel of brie, covered in brown sugar and toasted pecans. Then it was wrapped up in a buttery white wine pastry. It was delicious but it just seems excessive to me now.

Local strawberries are abundant now. I wanted them to shine and be the star of this dish. I mixed them with honey and balsamic and let everything macerate for an hour. The berries exuded some of their juices but the flavours of the berry liquid, honey and balsamic never seemed to meld. I decided to try roasting them for a mere 8 minutes and the berries slumped ever so slightly and became one with the honey and balsamic. The magic of the brief trip to the oven really brought all the flavours together. If you like it hot, try Mike’s Hot Honey.

While the berries are cooling, pop the wheel of brie into the oven for about 8 minutes, just until it is slightly softened and warm. Top with cooled berries, basil and toasted nuts. Serve with crackers or some really good toasted ciabatta or baguette.

Click here to print recipe for Brie with Honey Balsamic Roasted Strawberries Download

Breakfast Toast with Labneh, Roasted Strawberries and Hazelnuts

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I tend to eat the same thing for breakfast everyday, for about 5 years, until I get bored of it (clearly I don’t get bored very easily!) While I haven’t totally given up on my Double Coconut Granola with yogurt and fruit, I am having a brief, but passionate, dalliance with labneh.

Labneh, also called “yogurt cheese”, originated in The Middle-East thousands of years ago. It continues to be a daily staple there, showing up for breakfast drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkling of za’atar to dip your pita into, as a spread for sandwiches at lunch and in mezze platters at cocktail hour. It is made by straining the whey off yogurt, past the point of even Greek yogurt. Thick and tangy, it is extremely smooth, delicious and very versatile.

If you have a Middle-Eastern market near you, they often sell it. In Ottawa they make excellent labneh at Damas Supermarket. If you can’t find it, you can make it easily at home. Just mix a bit of salt and fresh lemon juice into plain yogurt. Place it in a strainer lined with cheesecloth, set over a large bowl, to catch the whey. Put it into the fridge to 24-48 hours. If you are planning to use it as a dip, 24 hours will be sufficient. If you want to use it as a spread, 48 hours will give you a thicker product. I have tried straining Greek yogurt as well as regular yogurt, and I prefer the final texture of plain regular yogurt. Just use full fat yogurt. It will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks.

I decided to pair my morning labneh with strawberries, toasted hazelnuts andf a drizzle of honey. Winter strawberries need a bit of help. I sliced them in half, mixed them with a spoonful of sugar and roasted them for 30 minutes. Leftover roasted berries will keep in the fridge for a week. Toast up your bread of choice. Something dense, and seedy to hold up to the weight of the labneh would be a good idea. Finish with a drizzle of your favourite honey and get ready to face the day.

Click here to print recipe for Breakfast Toast with Labneh, Roasted Strawberries and Hazelnuts.

Halloumi, Arugula and Dried Strawberry Salad

Click here to print recipe for Halloumi, Arugula and Strawberry Salad.

Strawberry Raspberry Cobbler

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Baskets of local strawberries are overflowing at Farmers Markets all over Ontario this month. I usually exercise no restraint and buy way more than we can possibly eat. Then, I’m left with a fridge full of almost rotting fruit. I blame my mother for this. I grew up in a house where we had a storage room filled with bulging shelves because she never want to run out of anything. We had enough extra toilet paper, KD and canned white tuna (packed in water) to survive for a year without ever having to leave the house.
But this week, I showed great self-control and deliberately bought just one quart, exactly what we need for our morning yogurt, berries and double coconut granola. However, my son’s room-mate Polly arrived for dinner on Friday night, with a 3-quart basket of plump local strawberries. So sweet! We ate strawberries with every meal that weekend, but still had a quart of soft berries left over on Sunday night.

I was about to freeze the extra berries when my husband asked, “why don’t you just bake me a fruit crisp instead?” Why not indeed? Since I have already blogged about my favourite crisp recipe, I wanted to try something new. Maybe a crumble, a pan-dowdy, a grunt, a slump, a buckle, a Betty, a sonker or a cobbler.

I decided to turn them into a cobbler. I had never made one before and it couldn’t be easier. While a crisp involves stopping of flour, butter, sugar, oats and sometimes nuts, a cobbler is basically a biscuit dough that gets dropped into clumps on top of the fruit and is then baked. Large cobblestone-like nuggets of crunchy dough to soak up all that warm sweet juicy fruit. Are you with me?

I decided on a mix of strawberries and raspberries. Mix the fruit with just a bit of sugar and some thickener. I like Minit Tapioca better than flour or cornstarch. Let the berries, sugar and tapioca sit for about 15 minutes so that the tapioca can dissolve. The fruit gets a head start in the oven while you prepare the biscuit dough. The original recipe calls for buttermilk, but I never have buttermilk when I need it. I just mixed some milk with a bit of lemon juice to sour it and made my own buttermilk. Flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, melted butter and buttermilk are quickly mixed together for form a dough. The cornmeal adds a satisfying little crunch to the dough.
Divide the dough into 8 pieces and drop the clumps onto the hot cobbler. Top with cinnamon sugar and bake for another 20 minutes.
Show some restraint and wait about 20 minutes before you dig in.No one will complain if you add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or some softly whipped cream on the side. Any leftover keeps very well for a second day. Keep cobbler uncovered on the counter so the biscuits stay crunchy. You can warm it up in a 350°F oven for a few minutes if you like.

Click here to print recipe for Strawberry Raspberry Cobbler.

Strawberry, Banana, Coconut and Chia Bread

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I am now an empty nester and over a week can go by without a word from my two oldest children. I have friends whose kids call them several times a day. When I ask them what their kids call about, they say it could be for help editing their essays, choosing a brand of canned tuna to buy or even just advice about laundry. Huh?

I waver between two alternative thoughts regarding how well I did raising my own children. Either:

1. I failed miserably in creating the bond or attachment that these other mothers have done so astonishingly well with. OR:

2. I have been wildly successful in raising my children to be independent thinkers and problem solvers.

Of course the truth, as always. lies somewhere in between these two ends of the spectrum.

When my first born moved out, we only heard from him when he needed money. Now he keeps in touch with us by Spot Connect, a GPS device that sends us a message showing us where he is and that he is ok. Sort of like “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego.” To be fair, he is an outdoor educator and is often in remote spots without cell service. It gives us great peace of mind. And lately he has been calling just to say hi and catch up on the latest news.

When my second born moved out I would only hear from her if she was sick, needed money or some other horrible disaster had befallen her. However, in the past year she now calls me with cooking questions and texts me with links to great blogs, and photos of something delicious she has cooked or baked. It makes me so happy.

When the third born moved out, I moved in with him for the first week! But that’s a story for another time.

Last week my daughter called for advice on baking times. She had a recipe for a loaf that she was making as muffins instead. She needed to know how much to reduce the cooking time by. She excitedly burbled about this amazing recipe for Strawberry Banana Coconut Bread created by the charming Monique of ambitiouskitchen.com. When she was done she texted this picture.We texted back and forth about the muffins. She said they had chia seeds in them and wanted to know if I had ever heard about them. Have I heard about them?? Can you say “Ch-ch-ch-chia?” They were my very first pet! I grew up growing my own chia seeds! If you are of a certain vintage, you will fondly remember this commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzY7qQFij_M

Apparently, chia seeds are this year’s new “superfood”. According to The Huffington Post there are 11 reasons to include Chia seeds in your diet. High in fibre, omega-3, calcium, manganese, phosphorous, iron and calcium, these little seeds help fight diabetes, belly fat and heart disease and are excellent at regulating your appetite.

Truthfully the strawberry banana combo didn’t really appeal to me. It is a duo found commonly in smoothies and I am not a huge smoothie fan. I would rather eat the fruit than drink it. But her muffins and Monique’s loaf looked so pretty and I was curious to revisit Chia seeds!

The raw loaf just looks so pretty before it goes into the oven. I slightly adapted the original recipe. I substituted about 1/3 whole wheat flour for some of the all purpose flour. I also boosted the fat from 1 tablespoon coconut oil to 3 tablespoons coconut oil, as I found the first loaf I made a bit dry.It bakes up high and golden brown.

Salt and Serenity

Tales from my kitchen