Strawberry Jam from the Archives

This Jam truly was the best I have ever had....so I must re-post it while the berries are still in season.

The recipe uses green strawberries, some lemon rind and seeds for pectin...so you don't need any special ingredients to make it. Herbs like Thyme, Basil or Verbena make the Jam really delicious and special! Enjoy!

Click Here: Strawberry Jam

Farmers' Lemonade - Great for Strawberry Season

The idea of adding cream to lemonade is a seriously bizarre concept I know. But this strawberry lemonade is delicious, unusual, and refreshing, a real special treat, and a great use of strawberries which are in season now. I have brought this to numerous picnics, parties and strawberry festivals and it is always a big hit!

I first came across this drink at City Bakery in NYC about 10 years ago, and have been making it ever sense. I love the strawberry version but it works great as a straight up lemonade as well.  Just for fun, I made one jar with cream and one without, the farmers' version with cream won out hands down! 

You don't really need to follow a specific recipe to make this, you basically add some cream to a fresh made lemonade. It's ok if you add a little more or a little less sugar, lemon juice, cream... just make it how you like it.

Strawberry Farmers' Lemonade

6 lemons (about 1 cup lemon juice)

1 pint strawberries

1/2 - 1 cup sugar (or to taste)

1 cup cream

6 cups water

1. Puree strawberries with two spoonfuls of sugar. Strain out seeds.
2. Squeeze juice from lemons and strain out seeds. Mix in remaining sugar, stir until dissolved.
3. Combine lemon juice and strawberry juice. Add six cups of cold water. Taste and adjust sweetness as desired. 
4. Stir in 1 cup of heavy cream and mix well. Pour over ice and enjoy. 

Note: you can use agave, stevia, honey or other sweeteners to make lemonade if you like. I didn't have cream when I was making this last batch of lemonade, so I used half and half, and it worked just fine as well. 

If you missed this other great lemonade recipe from last summer, check it out:

Bitter Lemon or Limeade

Any ideas for other delicious summer drinks, please share...

Strawberry Season Has Arrived!

The warm weather has brought the first berries of the season a little early this year and I can't wait to get out picking. The few rows of strawberries in my backyard are still mostly green, and I'm not sure that I'll beat the squirrels to the ripe ones (they seem to have finally discovered them this year). Whether it's a few strawberries from my yard, or 10 pounds picked at a local 'pick your own' farm, the taste of fresh strawberries, still warm from the sun is so exponentially better than the ones trucked in from California or Florida, that we eat the rest of the year, that I just can't wait to get to the fields this weekend! Check pickyourown.org for locations near you, and if you are in CT, you can also check out buyctgrown.com for info on local farms. I called Jones Fmaily Farm in Shelton, one of my favorites, and they are open for picking starting Thursday May 31, 8am-5:30pm. Call before heading you to check on picking conditions and weather.

I got lucky yesterday. While at a work meeting, wondering how I was going to fit berry picking into my busy weekend, not to mention the challenge of the impending rain, I got invited up the block to the Yale Farm to pick strawberries! What a fantastic gift! Food grown right where we live, a gift that we need to keep spreading around this city! (more on that in another post...)

Recently I submitted this recipe to the folks at BuyCTGrown to help them promote locally grown ingredients. It will be printed on their "Very Berry Cards" this season.

Strawberries with Lemon Verbena Cream 

Serves 6

1 quart strawberries*

3 tablespoons sugar (or honey)

4 lemon verbena leaves (mint or tarragon can be used as well)

1/4 cup sugar 

10 lemon verbena leaves (mint or tarragon can be used as well)

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup plain Greek yogurt (or other strained yogurt)

1. Wash and slice strawberries. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons sugar or other sweetener. Crush verbena leaves with your fingers, add to strawberries and sugar, stir and set aside.
2. Combine ¼ cup sugar with lemon verbena leaves in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until leaves are very finely chopped. Alternately, use a knife or a mortar and pestle to very finely chop leaves into sugar.
3. Mix heavy cream, yogurt and verbena sugar together. Using a whisk or electric mixer mix until thick whipped cream has formed.
4. Serve a small bowl of berries with a generous scoop of yogurt and verbena laced whipped cream.

Additional serving suggestions:  Toast slices of brioche or challah bread and spoon strawberries and cream on top of each slice for a fun and healthier alternative to strawberry shortcake.

 

* one quart is about 1 ½ pounds of strawberries

This recipe is also great served in homemade chocolate cups.

Want to get out picking? Find a location near you:

PickYourOwn.org - for national listings

BuyCTGrown.com - for CT listings

Have fun and please share your favorite strawberry recipes or photos of you picking!

Shakshuka

photo credit: Shiksa in the Kitchen

I have to tell you that this lovely picture is not from my kitchen, but borrowed from a fellow food blogger. My photo(see below), taken in bad light as I was rushing to serve dinner does not do this fabulous dish justice. However, Shakshuka is so delicious I just couldn't delay in posting it, so thank you Shiksa in the Kitchen for the great photo, and thank you to my Jewish heritage for exposing me to this great dish!

Shakshuka is eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce, it can be eaten at any meal of the day, and you can adjust the spices and the spiciness to your liking. Generally it is made with some fresh hot peppers sauteed with onion and garlic, and some cumin and paprika. This time around, since my coriander and cumin weren't ground and I was rushing, I grabbed some already ground black pepper, cardamom, caraway, and a little sambar curry powder, the result was fabulous as well...so get creative, you can take the seasoning in any direction you like and have a fabulous and easy meal. I also added some kale to the tomato sauce before cracking the eggs on top, and served this with some toasted whole wheat ciabatta bread brushed with olive oil. Rice would make a nice accompaniment as well.

Shakshuka is typically served in Israel for breakfast, and it's origins are said to be from Lybia. In the wonderful and fun cookbook: New Haven Cooks/Cocina New Haven,  I developed for CitySeed a few years back, Amalya Brownstein, a local Jewish Day School teacher contributed her Shakshuka recipe from her mother who is originally from Yemen, and I was so happy to be able to share the joy of this dish with others through that book, and Amalya's family recipe.

If you are near New Haven and interested in learning more about the cookbook New Haven Cooks/Cocina New Haven, come to the Peabody Museum this Thursday May 10th, from 5:30-7:30pm (contact the museum to make a reservation). I will be speaking on a panel with two other local cookbook authors, Jason Sobocinski of Caseus and The Big Cheese and Claire Criscolo of Claire's Cornercopia. Food Tasting will be happening... but probably something a little less messy than shakshuka..

Shakshukah

(my adaptation...)

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

fresh or dried chili pepper, to taste

1 tsp. ground cumin (or curry, or other spices you like)

1 tbsp. paprika

1  28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes,

   undrained 

Kosher salt, to taste

1 1/2 cups kale (or spinach, broccoli, or zucchini) chopped

 6 eggs

1 tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley (optional)

Warm whole grain bread, for serving

1. Heat oil in a 12" skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, chili pepper, cumin, and paprika, and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is soft, about 2 more minutes.

2. Put tomatoes and their liquid into a medium bowl and crush with your hands. Add crushed tomatoes and their liquid to skillet along with 1/2 cup water, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 20 minutes. About half way through simmering, add the kale or other vegetable, stir, cover and continue to simmer until vegetable is tender. Season sauce with salt.

3. Crack eggs over sauce so that eggs are evenly distributed across sauce's surface. Cover skillet and cook until yolks are just set, about 5 minutes. Using a spoon, baste the whites of the eggs with tomato mixture, being careful not to disturb the yolk. Sprinkle shakshuka with parsley and serve with whole grain bread or rice. Enjoy!

Eating Wild

Onion grass - picked form my front yard and washed, looks a lot like scallions, but free!

As the weather has turned warm and life has begun to move outside, my urge to eat from the earth right outside my back door has emerged with force. My little garden is not growing much of anything yet, just a few seedlings started indoors, but as I wandered along the sidewalk and yard thinking of dinner, I started to notice food growing wild underfoot. New spring dandelions with their tender green leaves, perfect for a salad, and clusters of potent onion grass just waiting to be dug up from my unkept "lawn".  I hear people talking about foraging for ramps or wild mushrooms, but both of those involve a trip to the woods, (a welcome adventure, don't get me wrong), but not as convenient as my front stoop. So, I rallied my kids and we started digging and cutting, first showing them how to identify the dandelion greens with their distinctive jagged edges, and then the onion grass with it's unmistakable smell. They had a blast picking with me, and were so excited to share the food with our extended family for a special dinner that night.

Dandelion greens - still small and tender - (above)

Onion grass sprouting up in my front yard, the hollow stem and strong onion smell are unmistakable (above + below)

When picking wild plants be sure that you are 100% certain that you know what it is you are harvesting, so that you don't eat something poisonous. These two plants are pretty simple to identify, but please always know what it is you are putting in your mouth before you eat it! Also, be certain that the soil where you are picking is not contaminated or been treated with pesticides or toxic fertilizers.

For dinner we made Broiled Wild Salmon on a bed of french lentils and roasted wild onions, topped with super local dandelion greens and a dijon dressing. Delicious!

Dandelion Greens Salad

Dandelion Greens - large salad spinner full

1 clove garlic

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

3 tablespoons vinegar

1 teaspoon honey or sugar

1/2 teaspooon salt

pepper to taste

1/3 cup olive oil

1. Wash and dry dandelion greens.
2. Finely chop garlic clove. Whisk garlic, mustard, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper together. Slowly drizzle in oil, whisking continuously. 
3. Toss over greens just before serving. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Roasted wild onions

1 handful of wild onion grass, including bulbs.

olive oil

salt and pepper

1. Trim roots from onion bulbs and remove any brown or tough parts of stem and grass. 
2. Toss onions with a drizzle of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Place onions in a single layer on a baking sheet directly under the broiler for a very brief time until browned but not burned. 
4. Roughly chop roasted onions and add to any dish.

Note: The french lentils in the photo above were simmered in a large pot of water with a little salt. Once tender, drain the excess water, and toss with roasted onions and a drizzle of olive oil. Adjust seasoning as desired. The salmon was rubbed with olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice and cooked under the broiler, until cooked through but still moist. The fish was prepared about one hour before the meal and served at room temperature. 

Have you found any good wild edibles this spring?

Passover Reflections on Slavery and Racism

I just looked back at what I'd written last year for passover, and thought I'd share The Post with you again. The focus of this piece is not the food, but rather the subject matter of the Passover Seder. Many friends and family told me that they read parts of this post about racism and trauma as part of their Seder last year.  Good food for thought this year again.

And, there are some lovely recipes there as well....

Blessings to all,
Tagan

Passover a Time for Reflections on Slavery and Racism

Chocolate Cups for Birthday, Passover or Easter

This fun dessert created for my daughter's birthday last weekend could serve double duty as an excellent Easter or Passover dessert. My little girl has been dreaming up every kind of birthday cake she could think of for her 4th birthday. I knew however, that for all the long hours of baking and assembling I would do, she would just lick off the buttercream, pick the fruit out, and not even touch the cake.  So to make up for the lack of a big cake and all of the birthday dreaming she had been doing, I decided to make these fun homemade chocolate cups filled with whipped cream and berries, a desert perfectly crafted for her.

The cups are made by dipping small blown up balloons in melted chocolate ( I used those tiny water balloons). You can either dip them in straight like I did with the first batch, or dip them in on a diagonal repeatedly to make a tulip shape like the second batch. You can melt your chocolate by chopping it and setting it in a bowl set over simmering water. If you want to learn how to melt your chocolate so that it has a glossy finish check out this video on tempering chocolate.

This project is a little messy. The first two ballons popped a few seconds after we dipped them exploding chocolate all over us. I have no idea why they popped, but the rest were fine, and it just added to the fun of it all.  After dipping, put the balloons in the fridge to chill for 10 minutes, then cut a tiny hole in the top of the balloon, let it deflate and carefully pull out the rest of the balloon.

You can fill the cups with anything you like. I macerated some blackberries and raspberries with a little sugar, and made some flavored whipped cream by blending lemon verbena (one of my favorite herbs) with some sugar and them whipping it into the cream. Mint, vanilla bean, cinnamon, mashed berries, orange zest, even a little thick yogurt and honey would all make delicious additions to whipped cream. This is a desert to have fun with....somewhat remeniscent of easter eggs, and a flourless treat perfect for passover.

A glimpse at the rest of the birthday party:

Quiche for the grown folks

 Fancy decorate cookies my girl had been scoping out in a cookbook for months 

and fresh popcorn, a favorite family snack.

 apple slices with cinnamon & tea sandwiches

 veggie kebabs and a fun paper doll project (or paper ninjas)

 Yes, we covered these lovely treats with gaudy paper umbrellas, and she loved it!

What fun holiday or b-day foods you are making?

Happy Passover or Easter to those of you who celebrate!

Back (or front) Yard Gardening

It's that time of year again...time to get some seeds started, or start thinking about where you can grow a little food on your stoop, in a window box, or in your front or backyard. Lettuce and strawberries grow wonderfully in a window box, tomatoes, herbs, cucumbers, eggplants and many other things grow well in large pots, and without too much effort or money, you can set up a raised bed over a small plot of yard in the front or back of your home or apartment building. A raised bed allows you to plant above the existing soil, so you don't have to worry if there is lead or other soil contamination, and if your beds are at least 12 inches deep, you can grow just about anything.

 Before: 

After:

Growing food is much easier than you might think, and there are tons of online, and local resources to help you. Community gardens, master gardener programs, and local schools and organizations teaching people about urban agriculture and offering assistance to people wanting to grow food. I started out with a few pots, then some mounds of dirt in my yard (when I finally lived somewhere with a yard) and now have 6 small raised beds. Start small and try something new each year, don't be afraid to ask questions, and before you know it, you will be harvesting your own cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes and so much more...

Here is a link about how I built my raised beds a few years ago with detailed instructions to help you get started. And, a little info on starting seedlings as well.

Are you going to try growing some food this year? Let me know if you have any questions!