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Berry,
Berry Bountiful Chesapeake Foodie grapples with
the enviable problem of a bounty of berries and cherries. From every
farmstand, they beckon like…tarts. Favorite U-pick places like Lockbriar Farms, Godfrey’s and Redman Farms must have some kind of magnetic wave emanating from their signs and flags. It’s summer. Fresh berries and cherries are everywhere, and
some of us are severely ill-equipped to resist the siren’s call. If you somehow wind up with more than one of
those weeny plastic container of berries from the supermarket — to the point where you really don’t know how to
handle all the goodness — here are some quick suggestions.
Cathy
Redman of Redman Farms sends along this recipe from Barbara Silcox at Brooks Tavern. Brooks is a popular Chestertown restaurant
that highlights local, seasonal produce. Check here for the Chesapeake Foodie article.
Brooks Tavern Strawberry Shortcake
Get yourself a couple-three quarts of Redman Farms Stawberries,
Wash, stem and slice them in half. For the shortcakes, sift 6 cups of flour. Resift it with 2 Tb. plus 1-1/2 tsp. (7-1/2
tsp. total) of baking powder, 1 Tb. salt, 3 Tb. sugar. Cut in about 6 oz. of cold butter. when it is evenly dispersed and
the mixture sort of looks like coarse corn meal, add 2-1/4 cup of cold milk all at one time. Stir it until mixed, and then
knead for about 30 seconds until the pastry is smooth.
Roll it out to a thickness of about 3/4 inches. Cut with
a biscuit cutter for individual shortcakes. Or you can pat the pastry into two 9” cake pans for large shortcakes. Bake at 375° for about 15 minutes for the individual cakes, a little longer for the large ones.
About
an hour before serving, sugar the berries and let them sit to develop a nice syrup. Split the shortcakes (you can reheat the
short cakes a little before serving if you wish, or use them fresh from the oven). Spread some soft butter on the cut edges,
spoon some of the sweetened berries in between the layers and more over the top. Serve with plenty of sweetened whipped cream
(Lewes Dairy heavy cream is almost a must for this! ) Yum! Brooks Tavern supports our local produce growers.
Roasted Strawberries. These
are ideal for freezing and bringing out in the winter.
2 lb. strawberries, washed and hulled
1/4 c. granulated
sugar
3 Tbs. balsamic vinegar (optional)
Set the oven temperature to 450°F. Toss the strawberries in a
bowl with sugar. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. (I line the baking sheet with aluminum foil to line capture the juices.)
When the oven is ready, roast the berries, stirring every 5 minutes, until they're soft and fragrant, about 15 min. total.
The juice is delicious and syrupy. When cool, you can freeze berries with juice. Great for topping cake or ice cream.
Cherries: I scored pounds of cherries
when friends of ours invited us to raid their trees. What a great time, and I was overjoyed with the bounty. Then what? That’s
when I read up on brandied cherries, cherry pies, and asked my friends what they do. Hence the recipes to follow.
The thing about cherries is the pitting. Fortunately, Bon Appétit had two recommendations for whole
cherry pitting: using a chopstick to push the pits through or buying the $12 to $14 Oxo cherry pitter. I tried both. Recommendation:
Use the chopsticks, hon.
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| It's available, but try the chopsticks |
Cherry Sour Cream Pie
1
c. sour cream
1/2 c. sugar
2 Tbs. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups fresh cherries, pitted
1 unbaked (9-inch) pie shell
3 Tbs. flour
3 Tbs. butter, softened
1/4 c. chopped pecans or walnuts
Combine sour cream, sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, salt, egg and vanilla
in mixer bowl. Beat at medium for 5 minutes or until smooth. Fold in the cherries. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 400° for
25 minutes. Combine flour, butter and nuts in a bowl and mix well. Sprinkle over the pie. Bake for 10 minutes. Let stand until
cool. Chill, covered, until serving time.
Brandied Cherries 2
lbs. fresh sweet cherries, stemmed and pitted
2 c. granulated sugar
4 c. brandy
Dissolve
sugar in brandy. Pour into a sterilized 2-quart glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Add cherries. Cover jar and store
in the refrigerator for 6 weeks. To serve, pour some of the brandy into a small glass and add a few cherries. Cherries will
keep, refrigerated, for up to 1 year.
Raspberries:
One easy recipe
seems to be popping up in several forms and across several sites: Berry Jam. The recipe couldn’t be simpler, especially
if you opt out of the canning part. Without canning, the jam lasts for several weeks in the fridge.
Berry Jam
2 quarts of berries
2 cups of sugar
2 Tb. lemon juice
Rinse and lightly dry on paper towels. Mix in a large bowl with sugar
and lemon juice, let stand for an hour to macerate. Place mixture in large sauce pan and mash. Bring mixture to a boil over
medium-high heat until sugar has dissolved, then reduce and simmer on medium for about 20 minutes. Skim any foam. Mixture
is done when a tablespoon put on a small plate in the freezer for a minute “wrinkles” when tilted.
Remove
from heat and ladle into clean jars or advance to canning. Interested in canning jam? Check here or here.
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