Strawberry Delight

Expect the unexpected. It’s not a motto i live my life by, but it certainly has it’s place in the context of the weather we’re experiencing right now, and i have no complaints. Our higher than average seasonal temperatures and prolongued days of sunshine have ensured our strawberry season has arrived with gusto. We’ve waited patiently for some color in our urban garden, and like the first glimpse of sunshine after a storm, were rewarded with these rich red, textured, heart shaped fruit nesting in their foliage. A good percentage of home grown strawberries are popped straight into the pickers mouth. For any which make it into the kitchen, try this no-bake Strawberry Cheesecake using some tangy, creamy, fresh Michigan Cream Cheese.



Strawberry Cheesecake

Serves 4-6 depending on glass size

Ingredients

• 6oz Graham Crackers, crumbed
• 2oz butter, melted
• 12oz Michigan Cream Cheese
• 2oz confectioners sugar
• ¼ tsp vanilla essence
• ⅔ cup/5 fl oz heavy cream
• 8oz (approximately 10 medium) strawberries
• 2tbsp confectioners sugar

1. In a bowl, mix the melted butted and the crushed graham crackers (you can do this in a processor or by hand by putting into a plastic bag and using a rolling pin)
2. Press into the individual glasses for serving and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. In a bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the heavy cream and combine.
4. Spoon the cream mixture onto the individual cooled biscuit bases and refrigerate.
5. Puree half the strawberries with the 2tbsp sugar and seive.
6. Slice or dice the remaining strawberries and pile onto the cheesecake bases, then drizzle

          with the puree

 

Green City Market Pickings

Saturday mornings are usually a leisurely affair in our household. I'm the one who stumbles into the kitchen bleary eyed and bed-headed in my pj's desperately seeking out the coffee pot. I'm grumpy and i communicate in grunts. Once i have my hands tightly wrapped around that steaming mug of freshly brewed french press, i become human again. We are definitely not the family who comes to the breakfast table all sparkling clean and new. Last weekend was an exception, because we didn't convene around our usual breakfast table, but chose instead to head to Green City Market "early doors" to snaffle the best fresh produce and enjoy coffee and fresh pastries. There are folks who do this weekly and without a doubt i understand its appeal. When residing in France we find a different local outdoor market to frequent every day, and a little place to drink a small black coffee and eat the occasional croissant au beurre. At Green City, not only did we get to feast on Monkey Buns (like a croissant but folded differently and topped with a sprinkling of sugar), fresh wholewheat pancakes and buttery brioche, but we came home with a small collection of rather fine ingredients. Ah, and the coffee, Chicago's very own Intelligentsia, a homely cup of freshly brewed medium roast just topped off with milk. The "rather fine ingredients" included (amongst other things which i will wax lyrical about in a future post but think fresh cheese and interesting coloured vegetable variations) spinach and a boule of sourdough bread enveloping small buttery sweet chunks of Yukon Gold potatoes. The spinach along with 2 crushed garlic cloves became a soft frittata made with a half dozen free range organic eggs. I volunteered for the extra special wibbly wobbly soft bit in the middle, and spread it onto my bread, a very satisfying end to our Saturday morning.

Spring has Sprung

Right now is the perfect moment to embrace the seasonality of cheese. The explosion of spring brings delicious fresh cheeses back to centre stage. It’s easy to overlook the fact that our animals produce milk essentially to feed their young, so it follows that fresh sheep or goat milk cheeses are seasonal. Those skipping spring lambs and goats signify the best time to start eating fresh, un-aged goat and sheep milk cheeses. An urban spring is unlike a rural one in that the reality of these images is unlikely to frequent the lives of seasoned cityfolk, other than for a sporadic jaunt into the countryside. By cultivating and nurturing our own small parcel of shared land tucked away in our urban landscape, we’re connecting ourselves with our neighbors and immediate physical environment in the best way possible. It’s the 2nd growing season for Merchant Part Community Garden and we’ve added 6 new plots. Folks are busy planting seeds and anything incubated over our cold but milder-than-usual winter is bursting forth with gusto, akin to those little lambs after taking their first clumsy, tentative steps. Self seeded lettuces are popping up unexpectedly and plants usually categorised as annuals are making their second appearance on the spring stage. Nature has a way of taking taking us by surprise. Rather than meddle with these delicate cheeses, i have a simple suggestion. Choose a fresh cheese, serve it alongside hot toasted seeded bread oozing with melted salted butter and some pickled fennel to add a tangy anise crunch. I have used fresh Mozzarella for this recipe.

Makes 1 pint

1 fennel bulb, trimmed, split down the middle vertically and chopped into ¼ inch thick semi circles
2 cups of white wine vinegar
⅔ cups sugar
⅓ cup water
1 tspn salt
½ tspn each of fennel, caraway and mustard seeds

1. Combine the vinegar, sugar, water and salt in a pan and bring to the boil
2. Add the chopped fennel and cook for 5 minutes
3. Toast the seeds in a dry frying pan and drop into the bottom of a sterilized jar
4. Pour the pickling liquid and fennel over the seeds in the jar leaving ¼ inch at the top.
5. Seal the jar and leave to cool.

This will keep for 1 month, if you want it to keep for longer then process the sealed jar in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.