Strawberries and Booze Part 1

Jello shots are not just for college kids

Hey we do have Spirits in our title and it is Wednesday, so let’s get to it.

Strawberry Shooters

• 1 pint strawberries
• 1 package gelatin
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup vanilla vodka
• 2 ounces Chambord

Wash and hull strawberries. Use paring knife to cut a small hole in the top of each berry, about a teaspoon for bigger berries, half that for smaller. Save the cut-out portions. Position the berries cavity side up in a cookie sheet. Set aside. Blend reserved berry chunks with Chambord. Add vodka and set aside. Strain to remove berry bits, if needed. In a small saucepan, combine gelatin and water, stir until just combined. Add sugar and then add the gelatin mix to the vodka mix and stir to combine. Fill each strawberry with the booze mixture. Place any reserve mix into ramekins. Refrigerate for 2-4 hours, until set.

Aren’t berries and booze a great combo? That’s rhetorical. Here are some of our other favorite pairings.

Strawberry lemonade with or without a kick

A little rum never hurt either

Sangritas

Taco night is alright with me

Strawberry Bubbly (and a few others to boot)

Yeah baby

Chocolate and Strawberry Combos

This is not a drink post

The bubbly is optional, dental floss is not.

Chocolate-Filled Strawberries

• 20 medium strawberries
• 4 ounces dark chocolate
• 2 tbsp finely chopped almonds
• 1.5 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp Amaretto

Wash and hull strawberries. Scoop out about a teaspoon of the top, leaving a little cup to put the chocolate in. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt chocolate and butter. When almost melted, add Amaretto, whisking until smooth. Remove from heat and quickly fill the strawberries. Once filled, stand the berries in between the metal bars of a cookie rack to dry. Sprinkle with chopped almonds before popping in the fridge a few hours to solidify.

Here are some of our favorite ways to combine chocolate and strawberries:

Chocolate and Strawberry Tall Cakes

That is a single serving

Balsamic Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

Strawberry season has arrived

Stuffed strawberries with chocolate and ricotta

They look like soldiers in formation, yummy little soldiers

Strawberries First

The dressing can also be tossed with all the salad

The secret to this salad dressing is of course really fresh, ripe strawberries. Increase the amount as much as desired, this will keep refrigerated for at least a week.

Strawberry Vinaigrette

• 1 1/2 cups strawberries, hulled
• 1 tsp balsamic
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp mint leaves cut into thin ribbons

In a blender add strawberries, sugar, salt and balsamic. Blend until smooth. Pour into a bowl and whisk in olive oil. Add mint and refrigerate for two hours before serving.

Want some other ways to make strawberries a first course? Here are some of our favorites. The balsamic strawberries are great alone, as a side dish or dessert, or on a tossed salad with toasted pecans and blue cheese.

Strawberry Caprese Salad

All aboard the soul train

Strawberries with balsamic and basil

Add as much liquor you want

Strawberry Bruschetta

So good they can be eaten in a single bite

Ushering in Strawberry Season

We’ve had a weird spring, which makes us even more giddy to see strawberries at the farmers market. It’s hard to feel springy when you’re using your fireplace to stay warm on May 4. The temperature dropped from the 80s to the mid 40s that week. But berries always let us know summer is just around the corner.

We’ll be featuring strawberry recipes all week — salads, booze, desserts! — and highlighting a few of our old favorites. Here’s a look back at some of our favorites:

Strawberry Cobblers for Two

It is a little slice of heaven. Sinful heaven

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Such a healthy use of fresh strawberries

Spiced Strawberry Shortcakes

Just imagine what our 50th wedding anniversary dessert will look like

Strawberry Balsamic Granita

Like something from a dinner on True Blood

Strawberries Romanoff

Each layer could be eaten alone if you really had that kind of time

Sunday Suppers: Fire Up the Grill

Summer is just around the corner and we want to get in as much grilling as possible before it gets here. Grilling in the summer, which we do often, is far more miserable than grilling in the winter. Grilling in the 40s can be a little brisk. (Winters here aren’t all that harsh, normally.) Grilling in triple digits will put hair on your chest, which will only make you that much hotter.

Cilantro turkey burgers with Mexican slaw

There’s a fine line between toasted and charred

Grilled Zucchini

Works well for eggplant also.

Sweet Potato Fries

They looked fried, but looks are deceiving

And to wash it all down…

Lemonade with mint and honey

Add liquor instead of water to the base for an adult sized glass of fun

What you figured we’d suggest one of these, didn’t you?

Give me mint or give me death.

Garden Update

Just waiting on a tomato and salad will be served

Spring’s final full arrival has brought the first of hopefully many harvests of arugula, carrots and spinach.

There are a few things I like to do when it comes to picking what to take and what to leave in to get bigger. For greens I remove only the best leaves from the bunches, letting the rest of the plants mature instead of pulling the entire thing. At least in the early stages this helps to extend the amount of production per plant and keeps them from flowering to quickly as well. I find that arugula and spinach keep in the refrigerator for a week after picking. When it comes to carrots the easiest way to pick the ones that need to be pulled first is by the width of the top sticking out of the ground. If the carrot is about the size of a quarter it should be ok to pull. Fresh carrots will keep for a couple weeks in the fridge as well.

The garlic has not sent up scapes yet, but I am looking forward to them and how to cook them. I have also begun pruning the tomatoes. For information on how to do that go here.

Tahini Marinade

Spoon the extra sauce into my tummy

This is a great way to use up tahini. It works well with pork or chicken and can be made up to a day earlier. Use meat with the bone in for this dish. The longer the meat is in the marinade, the juicer it gets. Serve this with rice to soak up all the remaining sauce after cooking.

Tahini Buttermilk Marinade over Chicken Legs 

• 6 chicken legs, skin removed
• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 lemon juiced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• Cayenne pepper sauce
• Salt/pepper

Mix everything together in a large bowl. Taste for seasoning adding more hot pepper sauce for more spice as needed. Pour marinade over chicken legs in an oven-safe dish and let sit for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator and up to 24. Place in an oven at 365 degrees and bake until browned and cooked, about 45 minutes.