Strawberries
WHAT a wonderful fruit! Sweet, bright red, shaped almost like a heart, exuding an intense fragrance, the queen of spring fruits beckons to us at all markets and supermarkets. Cream and usually be found nearby. Strawberries and cream belong together! To really bring out the unique strawberry flavour sprinkle a little sugar over the sliced berries.
Whether large ‘fresones’ or smaller ‘fresas’ - strawberries only have a short shelf life and very sensitive to pressure. Therefore transporting and storing them for long periods and only buy as many fruits as you want to consume in about two days - you should not keep them longer in the refrigerator.
Use your sense of smell when choosing your strawberries because the ripe fruits exude an intense fragrance. Choose preferably smaller specimens that are uniform, bright red. Beware of packaged strawberries! Mouldy or mushy specimens can easily be found at the bottom of the plastic tray.
At home, strawberries should be unpacked immediately and stored spread out in a shallow bowl in the less cold part of the refrigerator. Wash the fruits just before use: as they are, with stalk and stem, immerse them in cold water in a sieve - just don't expose them to the hard water jet from the tap. Then simply pat them dry and they are ready for further processing.
Sugar is also added just before eating so that the strawberries do not lose too much juice.
Lemon mousse with strawberries
Ingredients for 4 pers. 2 egg yolks, 100 g icing sugar, 250 g quark cream cheese, 100 ml milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar, juice of 3 lemons, 4 sheets gelatine, 150 ml whipped cream, 2 egg whites, 6 or more strawberries, kirsch.
Whip the egg yolks and icing sugar until foamy. Stir in the quark, milk, vanilla sugar and lemon juice, add the previously soaked gelatine sheets, cook over a low heat while stirring in the cream, and chill the mixture until it begins to gel. Do not let it set too firmly, as you still need to add the whipped cream and the stiffly beaten egg whites.
Pour into glasses and chill again. Marinate the strawberries in sugar and kirsch and arrange on top.
Strawberry minestrone
Ingredients for 4 people: 500 g strawberries, 200 ml good cava or prosecco, 2 heaped tablespoons sugar, fresh fruit (whatever is available: kiwi, mango, etc.), 1 scoop of lemon ice cream per person, basil leaves.
Wash and dry the strawberries, clean them, cut them in half and puree them finely with a hand blender. Don't forget to set some aside for the garnish. Add the prosecco or cava and the sugar, stir and keep in the fridge until ready to use.
Before serving, finely chop fresh fruit such as kiwi, mango or whatever is available. Pour into glass bowls; add the strawberry puree and a few whole strawberries for decoration.
Now you can add a scoop of lemon ice cream. A clever trick is to mix one scoop per person with four leaves of basil cut into fine strips and add two tablespoons of sparkling wine. And pop it in the freezer until ready to serve.
Strawberry Margarita
For 1 aperitif: 4 cl tequila, 2 cl Cointreau, 2 cl lemon juice, 4 strawberries, crushed ice, garnish: 1 strawberry, 1 straw.
Put all the ingredients with crushed ice into a blender or electric mixer and blend well until you have a creamy drink. Strain into a cocktail glass. Decoration: Stick a strawberry on the rim of the glass and serve with a short drinking straw.
If you don't have an ice crusher, you can use the "hammer method": To do this, wrap ice cubes in a tea towel and smash them with a hammer.
Strawberry mozzarella with ice cream and sweet pesto
Ingredients per person: 6 to 8 sliced strawberries, 2 tbsp strawberry puree, 80 g buffalo mozzarella, sliced, 1/2 scoop yoghurt ice cream or ‘leche merengada’, 1 tbsp sweet pesto: 100 g basil, 20 g mint, 50 g pistachios, 5 g lemon zest and 50 g sugar, 150 ml olive oil, cinnamon, vanilla, bitter almond oil.
Spread the strawberry puree on the plate, alternate slices of strawberry and mozzarella on top in a ring, drizzle with sweet pesto. Place the yoghurt ice cream in the middle and garnish with fresh basil.
For the pesto, puree the basil, mint, pistachios, sugar and lemon zest in a blender. Add the olive oil gradually, as for mayonnaise, and season to taste. Pour into a jar and keep refrigerated. Stir before serving.
Quick strawberry sorbet
Freeze 300 g strawberries, put them in a blender and puree with three tablespoons of cream cheese and one tablespoon of fine sugar until it reaches the consistency of a sorbet. Marinated strawberries 500 g strawberries, 2 tbsp icing sugar, 2 tbsp good balsamic vinegar, juice of an orange.
Wash the strawberries, pat dry with kitchen paper, and remove the stalks. Cut them into pieces. Squeeze the orange and mix the juice with the icing sugar and balsamic vinegar. Pour the marinade over the strawberries and leave to marinate in the fridge for half an hour.
Strawberry cream
Serves 4: 600 g strawberries, 4 tbsp lemon juice, 4 sheets gelatine, 100 ml whipped cream, 2 egg whites, 50 g icing sugar.
Wash the strawberries, pat dry and remove the stalks. Cut 350 g of them into pieces and puree with 1 tbsp lemon juice in a blender. Pass the strawberry purée through a sieve.
Soak the gelatine in cold water. Heat the remaining 3 tbsp lemon juice, dissolve the squeezed gelatine in it and mix immediately with the strawberry mixture. Cover and chill for about 40 minutes.
Beat the egg whites until stiff, gradually adding the icing sugar. Whip the cream until stiff. First, mix the strawberry cream carefully with the cream, and then stir in the beaten egg whites.
Fill the remaining strawberries in layers with the cream into a bowl, cover and chill for three hours.
Strawberry parfait
Ingredients: 400 g strawberries, 1/2 l cream, 4 egg yolks, 250 g sugar, 2 tablespoons kirsch; for the sauce: 150 g strawberries, white wine, sugar, lemon juice, kirsch
Wash and clean the strawberries and purée in a blender. Pass the mixture through a sieve.
Beat the egg yolks until creamy. Add the sugar and continue to beat until it has completely dissolved and the egg yolk has become a light, thick cream. Pour in the kirsch.
Mix the egg mixture with the pureed strawberries. Stir in the whipped cream. Pour into a suitable mould and place in the freezer overnight.
A sauce would be delicious with it now. So we chop another 150 g of strawberries and boil them in a little white wine until a thick compote, press the whole thing through a sieve and season with sugar and a good amount of lemon juice.
Boil down to a syrup-like consistency. Add a dash of kirsch if desired.
Strawberry gratin
Ingredients: 500 g strawberries, 200 g sweet cream, 2 shot glasses Cointreau or Grand Marnier, 50 g (1/2 dl) orange juice concentrate, 4 egg yolks, 2 heaped tablespoons icing sugar
Wash and clean the strawberries briefly, divide them among four plates (quarter the larger fruits) and drizzle with a little liqueur.
Whip the cream until stiff, stir in the sieved icing sugar.
Whisk the orange juice concentrate with the egg yolk and the remaining liqueur and carefully stir into the cream. Spread this orange cream over the strawberries. Brown for two to three minutes under the grill or in the oven at maximum heat.