Recipe: Strawberries shine, raspberries add color to versatile sauce
This is, as they say, a serving suggestion: Strawberry-raspberry compote dresses up cheese blintzes, but could just as easily work on pound cake, ice cream or pancakes. Kathy Morrison
The perfect strawberry is merely washed and eaten over the sink.
It's spring and it's strawberry time, so I hope you all do that at least once this season.
But there are many strawberries that are not quite at that level of perfection, but which can lend their lovely flavor to many spring treats.
This easy recipe is for them.
It's barely a recipe at all, but one worth memorizing for all the fresh-fruit months ahead of us. The list of uses likely is longer than the list of ingredients: Spoon it over ice cream or pound cake or blintzes, stir it into yogurt or whipped cream, pile it onto pancakes or waffles ... you get the idea. It's not too sweet, and there's just a hint of flavoring that lets the strawberries shine.
Beyond deciding whether to go all strawberries or include other berries -- I added a handful of raspberries for color -- the only decision required is how much cornstarch to use. I like a loose, syruplike compote, so stirred in just 1 teaspoon of cornstarch. Up to 3 teaspoons of cornstarch is possible, which will make the compote more like strawberry tart filling (ooo, another use!).
Easy berry compote
Makes 4 cups
Ingredients:
4 cups prepared berries, mostly strawberries plus (if desired) raspberries, blueberries and/or blackberries
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 to 3 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 to 1 teaspoon fruity liqueur such as Cointreau or kirsch (optional)
Instructions:
About 1 pound's worth of strawberries will yield 4 cups. They should be washed, hulled and halved or quartered before measuring. Wash and add any other berries desired.
Place the prepared berries and the granulated sugar in a medium saucepan.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together the lemon juice, cornstarch and flavoring(s) until the cornstarch is dissolved. Pour the mixture over the strawberries in the pan and stir gently to combine.
Bring the berries to a quick boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the temperature and simmer until the sauce reaches desired thickness, at least 5 minutes and up to 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before using. Or allow to cool to room temperature and use then, or refrigerate in a closed container until ready to serve. The sauce may thicken more as it cools. Gentle warming, on stove or in microwave, will thin it again.
Note: This compote also can be frozen.
Comments
0 comments have been posted.Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.
Local News
Thanks to our sponsor!
Sites We Like
Garden Checklist for week of May 12
Get your gardening chores and irrigation done early in the day before temperatures rise.
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions. This heat will cause leafy greens and onions to flower; pick them before they bolt.
* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters.
* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.
* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.
* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.
* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.
* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.
* Got fruit trees? If you haven't already done so, thin orchard fruit such as apples, peaches, pears, pluots and plums before they grow too heavy, breaking branches or even splitting the tree. Leave the largest fruit on the branch, culling the smaller ones, and allow for 5 to 6 inches (or a hand's worth) between each fruit.
* Thin grape bunches, again leaving about 6 inches between them. For the remaining bunches, prune off the "tail" end, about the bottom third of the bunch, so that the plant's energy is concentrated in the fruit closest to the branch.
* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.
* Add mulch to the garden to help keep that precious water from evaporating. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.
Powered by California Local
