Strawberries are showing up this week and next in many CSA boxes - another ubiquitous produce item that is available at any time of the year in hothouse, nearly tasteless varieties bred for durability over flavor. But the strawberries showing up in your box this week should be better than that - if you're really lucky you might find the tiny, nearly wild berries with rare sweetness and flavor.
But even if they are the usual mammoth, scarlet berries, they are fresher and riper, and it's wonderful to eat them when they are actually in season. What do you do with strawberries? Here's a few things we like...
We love Vinegar'd Strawberries With Crème Fraîche, or strawberries served with just a few drops of very, very good balsamic vinegar.
We like to macerate a bowl of fresh chopped strawberries in a little bit of sugar, a little bit of rum, and leave in the fridge all night. The resulting syrup and berries are delicious over ice cream or plain by themselves.
We love these mini strawberry cakes too, that leave the berries without too much unnecessary adornment. The same with this strawberry pie. Don't forget about drinks - a strawberry daquiri sounds great right now!
What will you do with your spring and summer berries?
(Image credit: Purdue.edu)
I just used my CSA strawberries last weekend in a huge batch of buckwheat pancakes - made for a lovely lazy Sunday morning.
view cremarie's profile
I signed up for a CSA box this year and I'm super excited, but Faith and cremarie are clearly not from my neck of the woods! We're battling snow/very cold rain over here in the Northeast. I'm close to giving up on spring.
Ah, strawberry season.
view vera in dc's profile
I got some strawberries in my produce box, but they were a little banged up, which was sad. I seem to remember seeing a recipe on Top Chef with strawberries and balsamic vinegar and bacon. And maybe also creme fraiche? I can't find it on the Web site though. Maybe it was a Quick Fire challenge thing.
Anyone else remember that?
view Joanna's profile
The strawberries with bacon was actually Strawberries with Rosemary Mascarpone & Pancetta Brunoise. I found a photo, but no recipe.
http://www.justhungry.com/2006/12/top_chef_season_2_episode_8_le.html
view Joanna's profile
I like to slice them up and add them to Greek yogurt and drizzle with a little honey.
view JenEvans86's profile
I'm with v in boston....strawberries?! We got yet another sprinkling of snow today...
view Michelle of Montreal's profile
I'm sharing a CSA box with a friend and I let her keep the strawberries. I've never been a fan of strawberries...from a grocery store or fresh from my mother's garden. If I kept them, they'd be pureed and warmed into a sauce.
view verily's profile
in nyc thinking the same...i am longing for fresh strawberries. enjoy, they look beautiful!
view universal mod's profile
I love to macerate strawberries and let them sit in the fridge, then drizzle the sugary sauce and berries on freshly baked buttermilk biscuits. Delicious!
view chels's profile
I signed up for a Boston CSA share this year too, but ours won't start until June -- it's still freezing here!
One of my favorite ways to eat strawberries is to dip them in whipped creme fraiche and then dip again into brown sugar.
view iheartveggies's profile
In NJ (Purple Dragon co-op) no strawberries as of yet either. Can't wait though!
view 2T's profile
i love to slice them up and let them sit in the fridge with powdered sugar and vanilla stirred in. When I take them out, I make fresh whipped cream with a bit of rum, vanilla, almond extract or grand marnier and top a slice of Sara Lee poundcake with the whipped cream and strawberries.
view Keisha Kornbread's profile
I slice them up and drizzle them with maple syrup, instead of white sugar. Yum. Maple is nice with peaches too.
view Rosie's profile
Any reccomendations on great CSA farms near NYC? i need to sign up.
view ForbiddenFruit's profile