Strawberry Balsamic Chutney

 

 Our friend Nick is a local caterer and he delighted us at a recent event with a delicious appetizer. It was a crustini made from slices of toasted baguette with a smear of goat cheese topped with a balsamic strawberry chutney. I couldn't get enough! Luckily, Nick was kind enough to explain to me what it was and how he made it so now I have the skills to recreate it at home. We are only eating for two around here now that all the kids are away at school and college, so fortunately SP knows how to make lovely toasted baguette slices! 

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 shallot, chopped thinly

1 clove garlic, minced

1 large container strawberries, diced

2 teaspoons honey

pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon ground thyme

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

a couple of grinds of fresh black pepper 

2 Tablespoons Balsamic vinegar

a couple of dashes or dribbles of Balsamic glaze

Process

1. In a medium pan, heat the olive oil over a low medium heat. 

2. Add the shallot and garlic and saute until soft  and not browned. 

3. Add the strawberries, honey, salt and spices and saute. 

4. You can turn the heat up a bit, and when softening,  start mashing with a potato masher.  

5. When it becomes one blended pot, add the vinegar and the glaze and simmer for a while on lower heat as it reduces just a bit. 

6. Remove from heat and spoon into a glass jar to cool in the fridge. 

7. Serve on crustini on top of a slathering of goat cheese.  Yum!

Strawberry Tart

 

This recipe screams to me that it is from Merry Meeting Farm as there were thick rich berry patches all around. 

Ingredients

 1 quart strawberries (can add peaches, raspberries, blueberries)

4 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup red wine

Process

 "Heat on the back of the stove and do not boil..."

well that just screams a wood heated stove!

"...Pour off juice and boil to reduce.

Pastry Ingredients

1 & 1/2 cups rice flour, sifted. 

I cup butter, chopped fine

cold water 

 

"Mix with hands 1 and 1/2 cup rice flour, sifted, with 1 small cup butter until very fine. Add 2 dessert spoons of cold water. Put into a ball and throw back and forth for about 5 minutes. Roll out to the size of a pie plate. Fill with beans and bake in a hot oven for 25 minutes. Take out the beans. Sprinkle pastry lightly with powdered sugar. Just before serving put in berries. Pour juice over and sprinkle with powdered sugar. "

Individual Jam Cakes

This is another Martha Stewart recipe I have loved for years. She calls is Individual Strawberry Jam cakes. This recipe was one of those pull out recipe cards from Martha Stewart’s Living in November of 2003. This HM (high Maintenance) muffin recipe is a superb use of time, particularly when looking for a breakfast option when your house is full of men heading out to go hunting or fishing in the early morning hours, which is what I did, that fall of 2003. I was also very pregnant with Daughter, so I remember a lot about that houseful! You can make this any time of the year, for breakfast, snack, or dessert, and use any kind of ham or jelly you can think of!  

 

Ingredients (Yields 6 cakes)

 1 stick unsalted butter, room temp 

3/4 cup sugar 

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest 

2 large eggs, separated

 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1/4 cup milk 

6 Tablespoons (or more) jam or preserves 

1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar 

1/4 cup orange juice  

Process 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Butter standard muffin tins and set aside. 

3. In a mixer, beat butter with sugar and zest until light and fluffy. 

4. Beat in egg yolks one at a time until creamy. Set aside in new bowl and clean mixer bowl. 

5. Into another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. 

6. Add flour mixture and milk, in alternating batches to butter mixture and set aside. 

7. In a clean mixer bowl, whisk egg whites to soft peaks and fold into batter. 

8. Divide half the batter among the muffin cups. 

9. Make and indentation in the middle of each and fill with 1 Tablespoon jam. Top each with remaining batter. 

10. Bake in preheated oven about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

11. Turn the cakes out of the muffin tins and transfer to a wire rack, over parchment paper, to cool.

12. In a small bowl whisk together confectioners sugar and orange juice. Drizzle cooling cakes with glaze. 

Kid Snacks

Strawberry Tart

This recipe was written as a cooking lesson from my Great grandmother Baba.

Ingredients
1 quart strawberries (or peaches, raspberries, blueberries, etc.)
4 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup red wine
1.5 cups Rice flour
1 cup butter, softened
dried beans

Process

1. Preheat oven 300.
2. Heat strawberries, sugar, and wine on back of stove. Do not boil, pour of juice, and simmer to reduce.
3. Meanwhile to make the pastry, mix flour and butter with hands.
4. Add two dessert spoons cold water.
5. Pat into balls and then throw back and forth from hand to hand for 5 minutes.
6. Roll to the size of a pie plate.
7. Put in pie plate and fill with BEANS.
8. Bake in hot oven for 25 minutes.
9. Remove beans
10. Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar.
11. Just before serving put in berries and pour juice over.
12. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Easy to make and perfectly delicious!