Party Recovery

Wow. The Solstice Party rocked once again. It was awesome to see everyone having a great time. The idea of having a tea was a great idea. I loved the little sandwiches and the scones were really good (I must get Michelle and Jerusha to send their recipes hither).

As planned, I brought a goat cheese tart (here's Ina Garten's version, mine was a little different -- will post soon), May Wine and some Mexican chocolate fondue. I made a stupid mistake with the dulce de leche, so that stayed home (I sort of forgot to cover it with foil, so it developed a crust). The white chocolate fondue was also good, but that's not really a "recipe" -- simply melt some white chocolate with heavy cream or condensed milk until you get the consistency you want.

Oh yeah, and then there was champagne . . . :D

As promised, here's my recipe for May Wine:

May Wine

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle of dry white or red wine. If you choose red, avoid Cabernets or anything full-bodied. Go light.
• one bunch of fresh sweet woodruff, about 1-2 cups.
• up to 1/2 c. sugar to taste. Feel free to substitute agave, reduce the amount of sugar. Play with it.
• 1 pint of strawberries, washed, hulled
• juice of one-half lime

Directions:

• Mull the wine with the woodruff and sugar for AT LEAST one-half hour, up to 2. Do not allow the wine to boil; keep the heat very low. I use a slow-cooker.
• Meanwhile, prepare the strawberries and place in a bowl that can hold all the wine. Add the lime juice.
• When wine is finished mulling, let it cool -- using the fridge is okay.
• When cool, pour the wine into the berries and let sit in the fridge for AT LEAST another few hours. I let it sit overnight.
• Strain the wine (don't be too worried about crushing the strawberries to get all the juice out. You'll run the risk of getting pulp into the wine, which makes your guests say, "Hey, what is this stuff?" The longer you let it sit, the more the strawberry juice will leach into the wine.). Funnel back into the wine bottle and serve.

Strawberry Souffles with Strawberry Mousse and Strawberries Dipped in White Chocolate*UPDATED*

Why have tired, old cake and ice-cream when you can have souffle and mousse?

The birthday surprise seems to have been a big hit. Unfortunately, the pictures really didn't come out very well, so I'll just have to entice you with the recipe.

First, I'd like to thank a couple blogs for the recipes and inspiration I used to come up with this dessert. Earlier this month, Kevin at Closet Cooking posted a delicious-looking strawberry souffle that I knew I just had to make. With all the delicious, local strawberries we were getting from the CSA and other local farms, I knew it would be good. When my sister's birthday approached, it seemed like the perfect fit

. Kevin's recipe for strawberry souffle was very simple -- but it only served 4 and I wanted to be able to serve at least 6. So, I went to the Joy of Cooking to read up on souffles (I've only made one in my life, a few years ago). The book didn't have a recipe for a souffle with strawberries, but I adjusted the quantities and some of the ingredients based upon what I read there. 

I've been watching Joanne Weir lately, and she featured cooking classes on making souffles and mousse, so the thought to combine the souffle with a mousse probably had a genesis there. I did a Food Blog Search for "strawberry mousse" and stumbled upon a sweet little blog called Tartelette. There, I found a recipe for Pistachio and Strawberry Mousse Mille Feuilles. I just extracted the strawberry mousse part from the too-cute recipe (and I mean "too cute" in a nice way!). This mousse was very light, more like a flavored whipped cream -- which made it perfect for this dessert. And can I just say that mascarpone cheese is one of my new favorite things? Yes! So light and smooth -- nothing like its usual substitutes, cream cheese or ricotta.

So, here is now my own recipe for

 Strawberry Souffles with Strawberry Mousse and Strawberries Dipped in White Chocolate:

Souffle:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup strawberries, pureed
  
• 3 tablespoons sugar 
  
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 
  
• 5 egg whites (room temperature)
  
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 2 tbs. sugar

 Directions:

1. Mix the strawberry puree, 3 tbs. of sugar and vanilla extract.
   
2. Beat the egg whites until you get soft peaks.
   
3. Gradually beat in the cream of tartar, then the next 2 tbs. sugar.
4. Gently fold the strawberry puree into the egg whites.
   
5. Pour the mixture into 6 buttered and sugared ramekins.
   
6. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until puffed and golden brown on top, about 12 minutes.
   

Mousse:

Ingredients:

8 oz mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup pureed fresh strawberries
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, kept cold

Directions:

1. Mix the mascarpone and sugar until smooth.
   
2. Add the pureed strawberries.
   
3. Whip 1 ½ c. heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
   
4. Fold into strawberry mixture.
   
5. Refrigerate until serving.
   

Strawberries Dipped in White Chocolate

Ingredients:

12 gorgeous, ripe, unblemished strawberries

6 oz. white chocolate pieces (or bar)

mint or lemon balm leaves for decoration

Directions:

1. Wash and DRY the strawberries. Chocolate will not stick to wet berries.
2. Lay out a piece of parchment paper and arrange the mint/balm leaves in sets of two so that you can place a strawberry between them and the chocolate will stick and hold the decoration together.
3. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over low heat.
4. While the melted chocolate is still warm, work quickly to dip each berry and place down on the parchment.
5. Refrigerate until serving. 

To assemble the three parts should be intuitive enough. Serve the souffles IMMEDIATELY. Plop a dollop of mousse on top (I punctured a hole in the souffle and filled it and then added more on top) and garnish with chocolate-dipped strawberries.

Happy Summer Solstice from Fiddlehead

In the month of June, everyone becomes a pagan. Even the most stern Puritan cannot deny the pleasure of the summer's first, ripe strawberry. Now, so close to the first official day of summer,  the fruitfulness of the earth begins to tell us the story of what we have planted and nurtured, what we have invested in and what has grown from our careful tending.

It's now the time for lots of greens: Swiss chard, kale, lettuce, mesclun, arugula. Having lots of greens makes me think of having lots of "green" -- money. Abundance is a wonderful thing, if it's what you want. I especially love "hot," picquant greens like arugula and mustard. Their peppery flavor tastes of good health, vigor and clarity (there's no mistaking a mustard green for iceberg lettuce in your salad!).  While some folks crave the bitter herbs, I'm not so inclined. Dandelion greens? You can keep them. I have no love for their bitter, astringent taste. They make me think of all the things that other people say are good for me. What do they know? I follow my own taste buds, and I'm never wrong. 

I look forward to a season of chard tarts, seared kale and pungent salads. 

It's also the time of the first round of berries: strawberries. Whether we turn them into jam, bake them in pies or simply eat them without adornment, strawberries are among the temperate world's most favorite foods. One of my favorite memories of Canada was eating a bowl of tiny, wild strawberries that my memere had picked herself. She is a big fan of the sweets, so the strawberries had been dusted with sugar -- and she served them in cream. Not milk. Cream. I can't say it was decadent because a breakfast so simple (only three ingredients) defies the sense of the word, but the joy of such a meal cannot be described. And, isn't this what our grandmothers are supposed to do for us -- spoil us silly with our favorite indulgences?

I am happy to say, that from the look of our farm share, abundance and indulgence are in store for us this season. What a welcome sight after such a year of economic (and personal) strife. The question becomes: what will we do with all of it? Some people express despair when they see their box of food from the CSA. They might recognize the produce, but many folks have forgotten what to do with these early vegetables. This is regrettable, since our grandparents and great grandparents certainly knew what to do with fresh, local food. With each week's box, I am reminded of the canning section in my great grandmother's cookbook. I also know that I will now have lots of greens to freeze for a dreary day in winter in need of a hot soup. I know that the compost pile at the garden will start to reap the benefits, too, producing more rich earth from all the cuttings and leftovers from the gardeners' plots and kitchens. 

What we do with our abundance is an important statement about our values and our ability to invent. Eating from the CSA box (or the garden) and not the fast food restaurant forces us to look at what we truly have, right here, right now. What if we actually had to live on it? Couldn't go to a supermarket to get more or different? Could we make it work? Make it stretch to the next week? Surely, we could with some inventiveness and will. 

Creativity, passion, intention. Clarity, discernment, hope.  These are the other green and growing things -- the intrinsic, intangible things -- I receive each week in my box. I hope I am worthy of this plentitude and use it, love it, wisely.

BTW, the image above represents only half of the share. The other half goes to Seth's mom.