Sunday, June 10, 2012

Strawberry Love - Of Mousse and Margaritas

From Queen Anne's Farmer's Mkt, Seattle
Like a fragrant bouquet of red roses, a basket of ripe, plump strawberries can set my heart aflame. And, when we are unmercifully teased with out of season, imported, picked green and tasteless baskets in the grocery, the arrival of truly ripe and luscious local fruits makes me downright giddy.

As a child I was lucky enough to be able to freely wander in the local fields and forests. Idyllic.  Pretending, immersed in fabulous stories that lasted for hours as we imagined, improvised and made them exciting in our childish minds. My friend and I mixing up climbing trees, catching polliwogs and when we were very lucky, picking wild strawberries. Teeny, tiny little gems hardly bigger than your pinky fingernail and so few each one found was like a treasure. Hardly a bite, and barely enough juice to stain your fingers as we gently pulled the berry from the vine, eagerly searching for yet another.

Just picked wild strawberry
The central coast of California is blessed with an incredible environment for agriculture. The Salinas Valley has it's lettuces, Castroville their artichokes and the Pajaro Valley their strawberries -- world renown, for premium gourmet fruit. With modern delivery infrastructures these delicacies can be delivered within a day or less to famed restaurants who require the finest. Santa Cruz County plants over 3,300 acres of fruit resulting in a 2010 harvest of 129,330 tons. Strawberries are taken seriously here. The name Driscoll is sought after when farmers seek planting stock. For over 100 years this collection of farmers have been naturally breeding the optimum strains for quality, appearance and taste.

One of my dearest friends in the world's father ran the Kobara Family Farm, raising the famed Driscoll berries on the fertile banks of the Pajaro River and within miles of the Monterey Bay. Once a year, when the season was at it's height we were told to wait for the call. In a time before texting, twitter and cell phones (or even ubiquitous answering machines and voice mail) that meant being near your phone -- yeah, wired and corded. The large flatbed farm truck would be loaded with flats of berries that were just too ripe for shipment, but ready to eat, now! Frantically and systematically, she would make call after call, "I am coming your way in two hours, be there." If you were fortunate to connect,  the rendezvous was set with the coordination and rapid pace of a covert op. You had to be ready to drive halfway across the county, meet at a cross roads for the rapid exchange and a quick hug. Then zoom off she went in her loaded Volvo wagon for another drop. Driving home we were made slightly heady by the intoxicating and uncommonly rich, honey sweet smell of the ripened berries in the back seat. What to make?

Oh my the concoctions and preparations available. Other than just rinsing and eating I am a sucker for simple strawberry shortcake like my Dad made. Sweetened biscuits still warm from the oven with a dusting of sugar, light and fluffy until soaked in the rosy red juices of the macerated fruit and topped with mounds of whipped cream. On a recent warm weekend my darling son surprised me with a half flat of local ripe berries. I had about a pound and a half of fresh rhubarb waiting for me so I combined the two into this pretty, pretty mousse. Recipe adapted from Rhubarb-Mascarpone Mousse Cake by Shelley Wiseman on Gourmet Live.  I will save the complete recipe for a special occasion, it looks just spectacular.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Mouse
The tang of the rhubarb paired with the innate sweet strawberries plus the high butterfat of the creamy mascarpone with whipped cream give this mousse indulgent richness -- not for those dieting for sure. Unless you can restrain yourself to only a spoonful.

Later in the week with the afternoon temperatures rising, motivated by a really long day at work resulted in evening cocktails on the deck. Ahh, strawberry margarita time!

Cool and refreshing on a warm afternoon -- Strawberry Margaritas anyone?
Links
I split the quantity of fruit 50/50 for the mousse portion of the recipe and followed the directions as written (don't be surprised, I can do that!) The mousse easily makes 8 servings in pretty glasses.

For a great margarita recipe I went with Guy Fieri's, but there are many out there that will work just fine. 

To get you started with even more ideas check my friend's take on this berry:


What will you make?

I hope you find something deliciously strawberry to make while they are around, bright, fresh and sweet.  

Cheers!

11 comments:

  1. Robin, what wonderful memories. I only discovered strawberries as a grown up. Nowadays I look forward to the season and then I just live and breathe strawberry. I have a lovely roasted strawberry recipe which I got from the lovely Gastroanthropology blog (http://www.gastroanthropology.com/gastroanthropology/2010/05/hazelnut-flan-roasted-strawberries.html) - I'm in love with the mousse recipe. Just printed it. Incidentally it's my niece'birthday tomorrow and she had asked for a strawberry cake.

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    1. Ohh that roasted strawberry hazelnut flan looks so delicious! Thank you for sharing Valentina! Happy Birthday to your sweet niece too!

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  2. Lovely, as always, Robin. I grew up going with my dad and my siblings to the fields across the river to pick our own strawberries and have incredibly fond memories of both the experience and the flavor of those perfect berries. I am happy to live in a part of France where strawberries - the best - grow so ours are local, sweet and juicy. And I need to use them in desserts more often before the season ends. I love your Mousse with the tartness of rhubarb added. Perfect! And pretty! And thanks for including a link to my (favorite) pie! x

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    1. I would love to go strawberry picking with you Jamie! Imagine the fun we would have in the kitchen ;-)

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  3. Such sensational memories. As soo as they are in season we spend many afternoons picking our own strawberries at our pick-your-own fields. I also love the combination of strawberries and rhubarb - my favorite summer mix!

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    1. I hope you don't have to wait too long for berry-picking Meeta! I know you'll whip up something so delicious and beautiful. Can't wait!

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  4. I love reading your rich and resonant California food memories as part of your posts, Robin--they give such sweet context to your culinary creativity in the present! Strawberries and roses do seem kin in lush sweetness...

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    1. Well, I guess at a certain age, all things become related and spin off another story to tell. The longitude of time just means more to pull from, but at whatever age, a storyteller is born when someone listens. Thank you for listening dear Jenn!

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  5. This look refreshing and healthy too !

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  6. Strawberries just remind me of summer, that smell only.... love it! Nothing better than fresh strawberries on toast, or with some fresh whipped cream. Love your memories and how gorgeous does that margerita look! If only the Dutch weather would be a bit better, I would love to have one right now. It's 5 o'clock somewhere, you know;)

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    1. Delicious Denise, you are quite right about the time... perhaps just turn on the lights really brightly and induge pretending the weather is warm and sunny!

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