In Season & Fresh from the Garden, the Fields, the Orchards & the Woods
I first encountered really fresh cherries when I was 15 – a defining age to meet a flat of just picked sun-gorged brilliant cherries, I can tell you. On the tropical island where I grew up, cherries do not fruit – they grow, but without …
Flavor Magazine is a regional publication focusing on the Capital Food Shed, Virginia, Maryland, DC. I started to write the Seasonal Table column in January 2011. The June/July issue is out with 10 seasonal recipes. 8 are extremely easy but nonetheless flavorful. No surprise indeed …
I don’t do pies. I just don’t. Maybe you have to grow up with pies and learn to make them with your mother or your grandmother…
Tarts, however, that’s another story. Maybe because they are easier to make than pies? I mean, you certainly can gussy up a tart, but as its most basic it’s fruit, a bit of sugar and one layer of pastry shell. The pastry can be an all-purpose short crust, a sweet short crust, or puff pastry. or whatever you can get together. The filling is nothing more than fresh seasonal fruit sprinklered with sugar and baked, or a slim layer of fruit jam or fruit compote baked and topped with fresh fruit. You could even use custard or creme patissière that can be flavored ad infinitum (That’s getting into gussying it up, by the way). The fruit can be cooked or uncooked. The dough can be prepared well ahead… You can even turn them upside down! How flexible is that? Continue reading Fresh Strawberry and Ginger Rhubarb Tart
In 45 minutes, I can pick 9 pounds of sour cherries. It’s a pleasant 45 minutes, in the orchard, with views of the pasture and the hills. It’s relaxing even if it’s hot. If I am lucky the gnats are on the other side …
For the next few days, starting Thursday June 2, the blog may look funky as it’s getting revamped. After much (much!) foot dragging I am switching theme. As much as I like the clean simplicity of the current one, I picked it 3 years ago …
Time to make more strawberry liqueur! The 2009 batch is almost all gone – the liqueur gets a little darker as it ages.but retained its fragrance. It’s a nice drink to sip by the wood stove in winter or – slightly chilled – on the porch in summer, watching the fireflies.
The original entry was made in May 2009, the recipe is just repeated below
Homemade Lemon-Verbena Strawberry Liqueur.
In a large lidded glass jar, combine all 4 ingredients. Stir well. Cap. Stir daily for 2 weeks until the sugar is fully dissolved. Then place in a cool dark place for 6 weeks and let age. Strain strawberries through a clean butter muslin cloth. Let drip for several hours. Discard solids. Repeat straining to have liquid as limpid as possible. Bottle. The cloudy part of the liqueur may settle. Decant into new containers. The cloudy part is fine to cook or drink – it’s just not as pretty.
* Note: in those states that allow the sale of pure grain alcohol (180 – or so – proof), you may replace the 3 cups of vodka with 1.5 cup of grain alcohol. After aging and straining the liquid, add 1.5 cup distilled or unchlorinated well water.
Or maybe it’ll be “A Year In Rhubarb”, given the voracity with which I am acquiring stalks for the kitchen. I can’t help it: there are so many plump juicy stems for sale… I have to make up for years of deprivation, you know: there …
It’s been a good year for morels… they are even reported to be growing in people’s front yard or back yard or back door. Not mine though. Keith has to go hunt them in the woods. It’s such a good year in fact that our …
