I don't like chocolate-covered strawberries, but maybe sweet bean paste and glutinous rice cake-covered strawberries are better. Go to Instructables to learn how to make Japanese ichigo (strawberry) daifuku. [via Craftzine.com blog]
Photograph taken by Gwen Turner-Juarez
Look at that turtle go! His expression of happiness and determination is simultaneously cute and maniacal. That strawberry is so dead.
Photograph from Clarity on Flickr
I don't need to remind anyone that it's strawberry season, do I? Don't be fooled by the oversized yet tasteless beauties you'll find at the big grocery stores. Buy them local and in season, and you're less likely to be disappointed. Want to pick your own? You can find a farm near you at pickyourown.org.
Found yourself with more berries than you can eat in one sitting? According to strawberries.com, the best way to store strawberries for 3 days or less is to place them in layers separated by paper towels inside a plastic container or sealed bag. If you need to store them longer than that, freeze them in a sealed plastic bag. Either way, don't wash the strawberries before you store them. Rinse them off right before you eat them. Here are a few recipes we think are worth trying this strawberry season:
Last weekend I picked up some strawberries at my local farmers' market (McCarren Park in Brooklyn, New York), but they weren't nearly as beautiful as the ones Lelo picked on Sauvie Island outside of Portland, Oregon. Read more about her day of strawberry picking on her blog, Lelo in Nopo.
Related
The Great Strawberry Ice Cream Debate
Essentials: Strawberry Shortcake
Let's Talk Strawberries... What's your favorite recipe?
Are strawberry ice cream lovers doomed to Neapolitan packs for their berry fix? Photograph from Wikimedia Commons
There's a fiery internal debate concerning strawberry ice cream going on here at Serious Eats World Headquarters that we'd like the Serious Eats community to settle. I am a huge fan of strawberry ice cream. When it's good, strawberry ice cream is as good as ice cream gets. That means it has an intense strawberry flavor, is magnificently creamy and smooth, and avoids the classic strawberry ice cream pitfall of having too many frozen chunks of not-very-sweet strawberry.
The other serious eaters in the office beg to differ.
"Spring is so fleeting."
I thought this to myself this weekend as I came back from the San Rafael Farmers' Market. I live in San Francisco, so let's be honest: it's not like I just survived through a long, hard winter. Not as long and hard as some of you have. Through the shortest days, we still have lettuces and citrus, year-round markets, and quite a variety of fruits and vegetables. But even the heartiest locavores among us get a little weary of butternut squash and stored apples and canned tomatoes.
Enter spring.
The first signs of spring came about a month ago with the grand entrance of Delta asparagus from the Sacramento area. And now, we are in the midst of spring abundance complete with fava beans, artichokes, spring lettuces and strawberries. There is something about springtime to me that is extra special.
While we see the arrival of some crops that will stick around for many months—strawberries, for instance—many last just mere weeks. Spring is a series of short bursts of flavor. Miss a couple of weeks at the market, and entire crops will have passed you by.
First it was watermelons; now our strawberries aren't safe from anthropomorphization. One day Randy found a mad face staring at him after biting into a strawberry. What's the next step in strawberry evolution?
In New York City, at least, the local strawberries at the farmers' markets are absolutely delicious this year, sweet as candy. I have heard the same is true about the berries in California this year. So how do Serious Eaters like to eat their strawberries?
Last night at Esca, they told me they had local Tri-Star strawberries for dessert macerated in pork with a side of zabaglione cream. I asked for my strawberries plain, and they were so good it was scary.
That said, the thing I love to do with strawberries is put a little bit of high-quality balsamic vinegar on them, add a few grinds of fresh black pepper roman-style, and then top the whole affair with a scoop of Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream.
Makes me wish I still lived somewhere with strawberries in the backyard.
With all the jam and jelly talk today, of course my thoughts turned to my experiences making strawberry jam with my grandmother. Less than three months 'till the berries will be ready for picking again. And that means more jamming, and more family memories. I can't wait!
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