Nurtured by the long hours of sunlight, strawberries arrives in mid to late June to announce that summer is here.
Their bright color, yielding texture and, above all, sumptuous flavor abound with sweetness. Kneeling in a field of strawberries to pick them is one of summer’s most sensuous experiences.
I’m torn when it comes to cooking with strawberries in season. The child in me wants to eat them unadorned out of the box; they really don’t need any additional ingredients.
The cook in me wants to experiment with their sweet flavor — to make something new and different with this amazing fruit.
The housewife in me wants to preserve the berries’ flavor by freezing them or making jam or strawberry vinegar.
When you are done popping those juicy, sweet globes in your mouth as is, and you have some left over, you might want to try one of these recipes.
I love salsa — and I hate waiting for tomato season to make it. This strawberry version is easy to put together, looks spectacular and tastes fabulous.
Juice of 1 lime
½ teaspoon salt (more or less, to taste)
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
3 to 4 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
A handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
2 cups strawberries, chopped fairly small
In a bowl stir together the lime juice and the salt. Stir in the pepper, the onion, and the cilantro until blended; then add the strawberries.
Refrigerate the salsa for a couple of hours for maximum flavor. Serve with tortilla chips, over chicken or fish, or with crackers and cream cheese. Makes a little over 2 cups.
This recipe has many steps so technically it takes a lot of time. Most of the time is spent waiting for portions of the tart to cool, however, so it’s not hard. And it’s a showstopper. I tend to make it the day before I serve it.
Yes, you may use a store-bought crust, but this one isn’t hard. You may also use lemon juice instead of key lime.
For the tart shell:
½ cup (1 stick) sweet butter, softened
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
⅓ teaspoon salt
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
for the filling:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
¼ cup key-lime juice
for the topping:
2 tablespoons cornstarch
½ cup sugar
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons key-lime juice
4 tablespoons cold water
3½ cups halved strawberries, divided
Begin with the crust. In a mixing bowl cream together the butter and the sugar until they are just blended. Add the flour and the salt, and stir until the mixture seems crumbly. (It will be dry.)
In a small bowl whisk together the egg yolk and the vanilla; drizzle this mixture over the flour mixture. Combine until the flour mixture is evenly moist; it will still be crumbly.
Grease a 9-inch tart pan. (You may use an 8-inch pie pan if you’d rather, but the tart is just beautiful.) Place the dough in the pan. Press it evenly over the bottom and up the sides of pan. Prick the bottom of the crust a bit to keep it from puffing up too much.
Put the crust in the freezer, uncovered, for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes or until it is golden brown. Cool it completely before filling it.
To make the filling beat the cream cheese until it is soft and smooth; then beat in the condensed milk and the key-lime juice. Spoon this mixture over the cooled crust, and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours before proceeding.
Finally, make the topping. In a heavy saucepan whisk together the cornstarch, the sugar, and the salt. Slowly whisk in the liquids. In a bowl, mash 1½ cups of the berries. Add them to the cornstarch mixture. Let the mixture sit in the saucepan for 1 hour to juice up.
At the end of the hour bring the berry mixture to a boil, and boil it for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove it from the heat and let it sit until it reaches room temperature. Stir in the remaining uncooked berries.
Spoon the topping over the tart filling. Refrigerate the tart until you are ready to serve it. Garnish with additional strawberries and mint leaves if you wish. Serves 8.
Food writer Tinky Weisblat of Hawley is the author of “The Pudding Hollow Cookbook” and “Pulling Taffy.” For more information about Tinky visit her website, www.TinkyCooks.com.