The first day of spring was last week and daylight saving time
starts tonight. The remaining flowering fruit trees in our valleys
are giving up their blooms for the beginnings of cherries, apricots
and other summer fruits.
The first day of spring was last week and daylight saving time starts tonight. The remaining flowering fruit trees in our valleys are giving up their blooms for the beginnings of cherries, apricots and other summer fruits.
And available now and through the summer: the beautiful, versatile strawberry.
We are fortunate in this area to have a variety of berries grown nearby. The Salinas and Pajaro Valleys account for roughly 40 percent of the nation’s strawberry supply, and small local growers abound as well.
As the Watsonville-based California Strawberry Commission points out, strawberries are extremely nutritious, full of fiber, vitamin C and other antioxidants while low in calories and carbohydrates.
Mainly, though, strawberries are just plain delicious. Strawberries are one of my favorite treats, vying with chocolate for First Place in the dessert category. In fact, rather than have to choose between strawberries and chocolate, I did some research on a treat that combines the two: the chocolate-dipped strawberry.
I was curious about the process of tempering chocolate. The purpose of tempering chocolate is to make melted chocolate harden with a glossy finish and a smooth texture.
I found a simple method in my 1997 edition of The Joy of Cooking, and I believe my experience, if not actually simplifying it further, should remove any anxiety you might feel when trying it. The whole effort probably took less than half an hour, and will go faster next time since I’ll know what to expect.
The process is essentially to melt chocolate, then cool it back down to 90 degrees F by adding some un-melted chocolate.
I used two packages of semisweet chocolate chips, one Ghirardelli and one Guittard. I didn’t want to use really highfalutin’ bar chocolate because I wanted to keep this squarely in the “try this at home” category.
By the time I got around to my experiment, both packages of chips had been opened and nibbled on, so I don’t know exactly how many I had – let’s say most of two big bags.
The only possibly unusual piece of equipment you need is a quick-read thermometer.
You also need two glass bowls or measuring cups, one large and one small, and a microwave oven.
I started by pouring about 2/3 of one bag of chips into a 4 cup measuring cup. I meant to microwave it for 2 minutes at 50 percent power, according to The Joy of Cooking’s instructions.
However, when I looked back at the timer on the oven, it said “17.23” so I must have set it for 20 minutes!
I quickly pulled the chocolate out. Some of the chips still held their shape, a good sign. I stirred until all were melted and read the temperature: 100+ degrees.
The instructions say to add hard chocolate to bring the temperature back down.
I added the reserved part of my first bag, with little impact, so I started dumping in the second bag. By the time most were in, the temperature was about 90 degrees, and I was ready to dip.
Since chocolate in which strawberries have been dipped contains berry juices and can’t be reused, I poured off about a cup into another glass measure, and saved the larger portion for another use.
I kept my smaller amount liquid by placing the cup in a bowl of 100 degree water.
This amount was enough to dip nine large strawberries. I placed them on a wax-paper lined pizza pan.
I then followed the other really great suggestion in The Joy of Cooking: use the small amount of remaining dipping chocolate to coat nuts or other crunchy treats.
I dropped three almonds at a time into the chocolate and dropped them onto the wax paper next to the berries.
Was it worth it? After two hours in the refrigerator, the chocolate was indeed glossy and smooth.
The berries, stems intact, looked festive in their chocolate coating, and the nut clusters looked pretty elegant, too. Best off all, they were both delicious and would make a perfect light dessert after a rich meal.
Here is another dessert recipe for strawberries.
Strawberry Cream
(Serves 2 to 4 depending on size of appetites)
1 pint strawberries, rinsed, hulled and cut into grape-size chunks
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup brown sugar
sprigs of fresh mint
Step 1: Mix the sour cream and brown sugar.
Step 2: Stir in the berry chunks.
Step 3: Refrigerate one to two hours. Remove from refrigerator at beginning of the meal so it comes to room temperature.
Step 4: Spoon into individual dishes and top with sprigs of fresh mint.
Finally, some of the same ingredients join strawberries at the breakfast table:
Strawberry Oatmeal Breakfast
(adapted from marthastewart.com)
(Serves 4)
1 pint strawberries, rinsed, hulled and thinly sliced
1 to 2 Tbl. dark-brown sugar, firmly packed
1 3/4 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 Tbl. sour cream
Step 1: In a small bowl, toss the strawberries with the brown sugar. Let sit at least 5 minutes to bring out the juices.
Step 2:Â In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm 1 3/4 cups water, 1 3/4 cups milk, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Step 3: Stir in 2 cups quick-cooking oats; cook, stirring occasionally, until thick and creamy, 5 to 6 minutes.
Step 4:Â Ladle oatmeal into bowls. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream and some of the strawberries; sprinkle with brown sugar.
