The Garden Apartment

Strawberry Granita. . . frozen fruit inspiration

This refreshingly simple dessert pays full respect to the main ingredient. Though strawberry season is nearly over, this recipe inspires one to create other summer fruit granitas. . . inspiration is included in this post.

When strawberries first arrived at farmers markets a month ago, I could hardly contain my excitement.  Now that the season is coming to a close, I look forward to the arrival of peaches and melons with equal anticipation. To bid a farewell worthy of the ever delicious strawberry, I made this simple fruit granita-- which will preserve in my freezer longer than the berries fresh shelf life-- if I don't eat it all immediately, that is. 

Most of us are familiar with sorbet. Sorbet is nice. . . if you have an ice cream maker. Given that I live in a small apartment, I only have shelf space for the bare kitchen necessities. For all of you who thought frozen goodness home creations were exclusively reserved for foodies owning ice cream makers, meet the Italian granita. Granita is similar to sorbet, but its texture is less smooth since it is not constantly stirred while it is freezing.

All you need is a blender, a 9 x 13 inch cake pan, three ingredients, a fork, and enough patience to open the freezer every thirty minutes to stir the mixture a few times. I found this recipe at Epicurious.  The formula is easy: a simple syrup is combined with blended fruit, then frozen. 

Strawberry Granita

• 1 Cup hot water
• 2 TB lemon juice
• 3/4 Cup sugar
• 3 Cups strawberries, hulls removed

Combine water, lemon juice, and sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves.  Blend the strawberries until smooth.  Add the water and sugar substance to the strawberries and blend again.  Pour the mixture into a 9 x 13 inch cake pan.

Put this in the freezer and chill for thirty minutes. Remove from freezer.  Have a fork standing by.

Move the frozen bits from the outer edges of the pan into the center.  Return the mixture to the freezer.  Chill for 30 minutes.  Remove, and scrape frozen bits to the middle again. Repeat this process one more time.  If the mixture seems adequately frozen at this point, scrape it out with a fork into a bowl. If you can resist eating strawberry heaven right then and there, cover the bowl and return it to the freezer.

Inspiration

So, if I can combine any simple syrup with blended fruit that means. . . I have a whole summer of delicious frozen fruit concoctions to look forward to. Here is my own recipe for another granita:

Cherry and Honey-Balsamic Granita

• 1 Cup hot water
• 1- 2 TB balsamic vinegar
• 3/4 cup honey (I used a delicious local Virginia honey) 
• 3 cups of cherries, pitted

Use the same freezing and stirring process explained in the strawberry granita recipe. 

And more inspiration. . .

Try substituting a dessert white wine or fruit juice for the water in order to make the simple syrup.

Here's another mouthwatering recipe I found at Epicurious for Honey-Dew and Sake Granita. Given that we are due for melons in July and August. . . well, let's just say that my freezer and belly will be full of granita.

And, for the fall, how about a Green Apple Granita?

The possibilities are endless, simple to create, and delicious.

Cherry Clafoutis

A lovely French dessert: simple custard-like batter is baked with fresh cherries.  Delicious served warm, cold, with ice cream, or all on its own.

 

A few months ago, I stumbled upon a recipe for clafoutis at Foodbeam. I had never heard of clafoutis, but I was intrigued.  It looked simple, yet delicious.  And it was French!  Meaning, it must be delicious. Though I had no cherries at the time, I substituted some frozen strawberries and served up the results at a brunch for my friends.  It was a hit.

When cherries appeared at the market last Wednesday, I knew I would be making this lovely dessert again.  Though these sweet cherries are delicious all on their own, they worked very nicely in the clafoutis.

This weekend, I prepared Julia Child's version of clafoutis for a friend's party. I liked some aspects of her dessert. Her version requires a thin layer of the batter to be baked for a few minutes before adding the cherries.  At this point, an extra helping of sugar is doused upon the fruit before adding the remaining batter. While this step certainly improved the clafoutis, the recipe at Foodbeam had a smoother and creamier texture. 

In a moment of genius last night, I made the clafoutis again. This time, I combined my favorite aspects of both recipes, and added a little almond flavoring to the batter. My husband and I agreed that this version was the best yet.  I look forward to making this again when I go home to Michigan in a few weeks, where black cherries will be in season. I'm sure they will lend a deeper flavor to the recipe, and I look forward to comparing the two.

Here's my recipe. Note that I have adjusted it for farmer's market eggs. The eggs I buy at farmer's market are so large that I only used one for this recipe. If you are using smaller eggs, you may need to use two for this recipe.

Cherry Clafoutis for Two (maybe three) people

This recipe can easily be doubled for a larger crowd.  Simply increase the bake time to about 45 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 Cup Whole Milk
• 1/4 Cup Flour
• 1/3 Cup Sugar, divided into two equal parts
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)
• pinch of salt
• 1-2 TB butter, melted
• 1 extra large egg (or two smaller eggs)
• 1 1/2 cups of fresh cherries, pitted
• powdered sugar, to sprinkle on top

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In the meantime, combine milk, flour, half of the sugar, vanilla, almond extract, salt and butter in a blender.  Blend until smooth.  Add the egg and blend again until thoroughly mixed.

Butter a small baking dish.  Pour a thin layer of the batter into the dish.  Bake for a few minutes until a firm layer begins to form on top of the batter.  Remove from the oven.  Spread the cherries on top of the batter, then top with the second half of the sugar.  Pour the remaining batter on top.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.The clafoutis is ready when it is puffy with a light brown crust on top.  The inside can look a little wobbly. Allow the clafoutis to cool slightly, then sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Enjoy this warm with ice cream or served cold. It is delicious either way!

Di(sh)patch with a Mission: Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

I usually trot off to the market with an open mind and a free spirit.  After all, the fun of the farmer's market is how meal ideas emerge while visiting various producers.  This Sunday, however, thanks to my Fresh Farms newsletter update I had the insiders scoop on two things I was going to find at the DuPont Circle market: strawberries and rhubarb.  I had also promised my mother-in-law that I would make a strawberry rhubarb crisp for Mother's Day dessert.  As a newlywed wanting to please, I knew I needed to deliver.

Not surprisingly, people were not pushing each other over for the rhubarb. I found beautiful bunches of it immediately at the Sunnyside Valley Farm stand. 

I have never made anything with rhubarb (of course) so I really didn't know what to look for.  Another market goer, who seemed to be a rhubarb veteran, was also buying these.  She said that the red ones were good, but it was okay if there were a few green parts.  I did see rhubarb at a few other stands, but these were really the best looking of the bunch. 

The strawberries were an entirely different story.  I only found one stand that had them and it seemed that every market shopper in all of DuPont Circle was in line for them.  I was reminded of going to Safeway on Sunday afternoons as I stood in line for ten minutes to get my coveted strawberries.

Now, before I discuss the end product, I must give credit to the other items I bought.  I was most excited to find goat cheese and herb pierogies from Highfield Dairy (they seem to sell out quickly).  I also got an abundance of vegetables, including asparagus, carrots, spring onions, and swiss chard.  Having enjoyed their Italian sausage in the past, I bought some more from Cedarbrook Farm.  I also found Poussin (whole baby chicken) which I will attempt to make delicious later this week.

This week's market abundance.

With all this in tow, I headed home to create strawberry rhubarb crisp.  My inspiration for this came from Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal Vegetable Miracle.  You can find their recipe   here.  The only changes I made were:

1) I added some cinnamon, vanilla extract, and nutmeg to the strawberry- rhubarb mixture.

2) I added some extra spice to the crumble as well.

The strawberries and rhubarb await the chopping block.  Cooks note: one stalk of rhubarb roughly equaled one cup chopped.  I bought eight stalks meaning that I will be making a pie with my leftovers.

chop chop chop

just add some crumble to the top and bake

Voila!  A perfect Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp to serve as a Mother's Day dessert.

A Short and Sweet Di(sh)patch: Strawberries!

Ah, the market just keeps getting better and better. 

I was surprised to find strawberries at Wednesday's Foggy Bottom market.  When I approached the market stand, I asked how they were at the market so early (I hadn't thought they would appear until late May or early June).  It turns out that this particular grower from southern Maryland has an early varietal that she places on elevated beds so that they come a little earlier.  Apparently hers will be around for a few weeks, and then the later varietals will become available from other farmers.  Oh joy!  One whole month of juicy red sweet strawberries.

Well, what could be better than a short and sweet little recipe for strawberries and cream?  For the sweet tooths in our house, this recipe makes enough whipped cream for two bowls of strawberries. 

Short and Sweet Strawberries and cream

Total Time: 5 Minutes

Serves: 2 people

Ingredients:

• Strawberries (however many you'd like!)
• 1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

Begin by slicing the strawberries, then placing them in two serving bowls. 

Pour the whipping cream into a small bowl and whip until heavy peaks begin to form.  Add sugar and vanilla, whip until combined.  Place a few dollops of cream on top of the strawberries.  Enjoy every last bite (and don't forget to lick the bowl from the whipped cream)!