Eating Outside the Box - Take 2

 
Summer is being its usual, furtive self here in the Pacific Northwest.  While the rains shower, the chilly breezes blow, and clouds roll over us, we keep hearing that ever-so-hopeful saying:  "Summer starts on the 5th of July."  And it looks like that may be the case this year.  Again.  Sigh.

But.  Here and there we spy a few glimpses that summer is upon us, contrary to all atmospherical evidence.  Check these beauties out:

The loveliest of lovely summer fruits, in this gal's humble opinion, straight from our CSA box.  Almost too pretty to eat.  Almost, but not quite.

With the bounty of strawberries we received, I decided to make my first attempt at jam, a new move for me.  And I am so happy I did.  Now we'll be able to savor these gems for months to come.  (Provided I can stash away the jars, before they get devoured.)

I found a marvelous recipe on Food in Jars for a vanilla-infused strawberry jam, with just a little bit less sugar in it, than the standard recipes.  Don't worry, it's still shockingly sweet, you'd never know the jam is a couple of cups shy of the usual amount.  There is a delightful hint of vanilla in the background, as well as a wee tease of tartness, from fresh lemon juice.  And Oh.  My.  Word.  It's some damn fine jam.  Not wildly different from ordinary strawberry jam, which would possibly offend the Mister, as that's his favorite kind...but just different enough to make it perfect.

I did have a time getting it to the setting stage, it took way longer than the suggested amount of time in the recipe.  But then I went here, and learned some good things about getting jam to set properly.  The main key for me, was to bust out the thermometer, and wait until the temp read 220 deg F.  And Voila!  That was it.  Perfectly sweet, perfectly set, jam.

I'm feeling just a teensy bit proud, I must admit.  And ever-so-slightly hopeful that I can manage to successfully can a few other goodies this summer.

Go visit Food in Jars, and make this jam.  I'm telling you.  Damn fine jam.

Pancake Tuesday

As usual, my timing is...well, less than impeccable.  Yesterday afternoon, I had word that it was Shrove Tuesday...which we celebrate, UK-style, as Pancake Tuesday.  Good planning, as ever, on my part, of course.  You know the saying "A day late, and a dollar short?"  My mom loved that one, when we were kids.  I wasn't quite a day late for the pancake delivery, but this post?  Definitely late, alas.  Oh well, so it goes.

The history behind Pancake Tuesday is that you get to gorge on what's left of the food stores that get restricted during Lent...eggs, flour, sugar, butter, and milk, being the applicable foods in this case.  Most of the folks we know who dig in and fill their bellies on the pancake feast don't actually do it for religious reasons, but it's such an ingrained tradition, and a pretty sweet deal to stuff yourself full of pancakes and delicious fillings...even if you're not going to be fasting for the foreseeable future.

Pancakes are to us Americans, crepes.  Those tasty delicate little treats, that are perfect stuffed with any number of fillings, savory or sweet.  I generally favor a savory crepe, over a sweet one, especially for dinner.  Last year, I made a mushroom and asparagus filling.  And while I actually had mushrooms and asparagus in my fridge last night, I quite simply couldn't be asked with it.  Not when we arrived home at close to six, and had to whip up the crepe batter, let it rest, and then get started on filling prep.  Nope.  I phoned it in a bit, and went for sweet.

I have to confess to buying out of season strawberries for these.  I don't know what possessed me, and truth be told, they weren't very tasty.  Even after being sprinkled with some sugar in a thwarted attempt to coax some sweetness from them.  If you're making these outside of strawberry season, I'd recommend doing it with a preserve, or perhaps a compote, instead.

Along with the strawberries, I scrounged a bit of this and that from the fridge and spice shelf, and came up with a cream cheese-based spread, with a dash of cinnamon, and a squeeze of Meyer lemon, and it was darn tasty.  Lovely, actually.  Reminiscent of a blintz filling, but without the egg, because I wasn't bothering to cook it.

The Mister generally does the crepe batter, and makes it sans recipe, throwing it all together in the blender.  I used an Alton Brown recipe I found on foodnetwork.com.  Which I tweaked, of course.  Not that it needed tweaking necessarily, but it called for 3/4 cup of milk, and 1/2 a cup of water, and since we usually just do milk, I went with 1 1/4 cups of milk.  And it was delicious.  

Here you go:

Crepes with Strawberries and Sweetened Cream Cheese

Ingredients

for the Crepe Batter
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup flour
3 Tbs melted butter
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp sugar
pinch salt

Give all the ingredients a whir in the blender until smooth, then leave it to rest in the fridge for at least an hour.  It will keep up to 2 days.  The recipe is easily doubled to make more crepes, should you feel particularly inclined to gorge.

To cook:  Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat, and brush a small amount of butter around the pan, just enough to barely coat the surface.  You will need to keep an eye on the heat as you go, and possibly adjust.  To be sure the pan is ready for the first crepe, flick a bit of water in the pan, and if it dances immediately, you're good to go.

Pour out about 1/4 cup (ish) into the pan, and immediately swirl the batter around to get your pancake as thin as possible.  Cook for 30 to 45 seconds, then loosen with a spatula, and flip.  Cook the second side for another 30 seconds.

You can cook these ahead of time, if you all want to sit and eat together, and keep them in a very low-heated oven, around 200 deg F.  If you're the civilized, organized type.  If you're like my family, the Mister will be at the stove, the Kiddos at the table, and I will run back and forth, filling and refilling, and taking bites in between.  What can I say?  It was getting late, and it works.

for the cream cheese filling
2 oz, 1/4 package, cream cheese (the kind in a brick) - at room temp
2 or 3 Tbs plain Greek-style yogurt
1 tsp Meyer lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp sugar

Thoroughly mix all ingredients together until smooth.

To serve:
Spread a bit of the cream cheese mixture on one quarter of the crepe, and top with strawberries, or preserves.

Fold the crepe in half...

Then in half again, to make a triangular packet.  Dust with powdered sugar, and serve immediately.

Happy Belated Pancake Tuesday.

I just thought of another good saying, like my mom's classic above.  When the Mister arrives at the beach, board tucked under arm, and sees the expected swell is flat...someone will invariably say:  "Shoulda been here yesterday, mate."  (Or dude, depending on your continent.)

You should have been here yesterday.  It was some good pancake eating, my friends.

That's How We Roll

 

Ahhh...here's to summer.  At long last.

Had a lovely bike ride and picnic today, with the Mister and the kiddos.  And yes, my bike is pink, and certainly not intended for the mountains where it gets ridden.  But, whatever.  She's pretty.  And well, yes, I may be rocking the flip flops and skirt as my biking gear of choice.  That's just how I roll.  

There is absolutely nothing serious about my biking adventures.  Often there may be a bit of huffing and puffing, and possibly some cussing, because of those unavoidable hills.  But not today.  Today was my favorite kind of biking day.  A flat day.  Yes indeed, merrily we rolled along, and nary a drop of sweat to be seen.

Perfect day, really.

The mountains, my favorite people, good food...

Oh yes, and the CSA box today!  Among all the loveliest of lovelies, we had another amazing cache of strawberries.  Tonight, after a seriously massive salad and fresh loaf of bread, I made up a quick whip cream/yogurt mix, while Tyler prepped the berries.  I have a recipe for a Blueberry Fool, in my Williams' Sonoma Outdoor Living Cookbook, which combines plain yogurt with whipping cream, and layers that much lighter treat with a spiced blueberry puree.  To honor these strawberries, I saw no need whatsoever to mess with cooking or seasoning them.  So, here's our very quick, very delicious dessert:

Strawberries with Yogurt Whipped Cream - serves 4

1 1/2 pints fresh strawberries

1/2 pint heavy whipping cream

2/3 cup plain yogurt

1/2 tsp pure vanilla

1 Tbs confectioners' sugar

In a large bowl, beat the cream and yogurt together, until it thickens, but not as far as forming stiff peaks.  Add the confectioners' sugar and vanilla, and beat another minute or two.  Layer the yogurt cream with the berries, and luxuriate in the fact that it's only half naughty for you.  And wholly nice.

That's how we roll.  Have a good one.