Strawberry and Rhubarb - a Classic Combination
Recently I posted about strawberry recipes, and soon after about rhubarb recipes. So it's no surprise that today I had a yen for a classic pairing of these two wonderful ingredients - Strawberry Rhubarb Compote.
Both the strawberries and the rhubarb bring their cheerful red color to this preserve. The tanginess of the rhubarb flavor brightens and combines perfectly with the sweetness of ripe strawberries harvested at peak season.
Now that I've made the compote, I have the lovely "problem" of deciding what to do with it. Spooned over ice cream or cookies? Strawberry - rhubarb tarts? Or just straight out of the jar?
Strawberry - Rhubarb Compote Recipe
Photo ŠLeda Meredith
Rhubarb Recipes and Ways
Rhubarb is a special spring treat. Later in the summer its oxalic acid content increases and it loses some of its rosy color. If it is showing up at your markets now - as it is at mine - take advantage of its brief season and put some by to enjoy in combination with the summer fruits still to come.
Here are my favorite ways to preserve rhubarb. The freezing method is especially great because it buys me some time - I can get around to making rhubarb compote or jam weeks, even months later.
Photo: ŠLeda Meredith
Morel Season is Here!
The spring mushroom season is underway, and its star is indisputably the morel. If you are lucky enough to find an abundance of fresh morel mushrooms during their brief season, be sure to preserve some of your treasure so that you can enjoy it year-round.
Fortunately, morels dry well. If properly dehydrated and reconstituted the result is very close in taste and texture to the fresh mushroom. Here are two excellent ways to dry them:
How to Dry Morel Mushrooms - Oven Method
How to Dry Morel Mushrooms - Dehydrator Method
Photo ŠLeda Meredith
Recipes for Preserving Strawberries
I love strawberry season! It is the first fruit to appear at the farmers' markets in my area after a long winter of nothing but stored apples and pears from last year's crops. I don't just run, I skip over to buy the first strawberries of the season!
Yeah, I know we can buy strawberries year-round. But I also know the non-local, out-of-season ones can't compare to peak season fruit grown near home. I also know that it's worth waiting because all of the preserved products I make with strawberries are only going to be as good as the fresh fruit I started out with.
Here are a few of my favorite ways to preserve strawberries, the first fruit of spring:
Strawberry Jam with Homemade Pectin
How to Dry Strawberries in a Dehydrator
Strawberry - Red Currant Preserves
Photo ŠLeda Meredith
Flower Power - Edible Flower Recipes
Spring is the season of prolific blossoms, and some of them are not only gorgeous, they're also edible. But most of springtime's blooms are only in season for a few short weeks, if that. Here are some ways to preserve the beautiful colors, tastes and aromas of edible flowers.
Photo ŠLeda Meredith
How to Preserve Asparagus Well
Sure, we can get asparagus year-round at the supermarket. But that out-of-season imported stuff doesn't begin to compare with the sweet, firm spears of local asparagus in season.
Have you ever eaten raw asparagus straight out of the garden, literally a second or two after you picked it? Amazing, and so different from the grocery store stuff. But even if you can't grow it yourself, there are ways to ensure you're getting the best quality asparagus. And the better the quality of the ingredient to begin with, the better the quality of your preserved product.
Check the bottom ends of the spears: do they look dried out? Not a good sign.
Now look at the pointy tips: the scale-like leaves should be tightly clasping the stalk, not starting to branch out.
Here are my favorite ways to preserve asparagus:
How to Blanch and Freeze Asparagus
Photo: ŠLeda Meredith
It Must Be Spring - Fiddleheads and Ramps
Fiddlehead ferns and ramps (wild leeks) are two early spring ingredients that chefs go crazy over. They are usually foraged from wild plants, and command a hefty price at farmers' markets and gourmet food shops.
They are also only in season for a few short weeks. Here are two recipes that will enable you to enjoy them year-round:
Photo: ŠLeda Meredith
Saving Up Spring
Springtime means flowers...and asparagus, and fresh peas, and rhubarb, and soon the strawberries will be here. We've gotten used to being able to buy these ingredients year round, but each of them is only in season where you live for a short while. Their flavors and tender textures are extraordinary then, so it's worth putting up some of spring's crops while they're at their seasonal best.
Here are some of my favorite ways to preserve these special ingredients:
How to Candy Violets and Other Edible Flowers
Strawberry Jam with Homemade Pectin
Photo ŠLeda Meredith
Just in Time for Easter - Quick Refrigerator Pickle Recipes
These refrigerator pickle recipes take only minutes to make and are ready to eat in as little as 24 hours. Start some today, and you'll have a colorful array of homemade pickles for your Easter relish tray.
Quick Refrigerator Pickle Recipes
Refrigerator Beet Salad Pickle
Photo: ŠLeda Meredith
Colorful Ferments
Maybe it's because the tree branches are still bare here and I'm starved for spring colors. Maybe it's because, as the saying goes, "we eat first with our eyes." I've been drawn to work with a rainbow of food hues lately, especially when it comes to lacto-fermenting vegetables.
Lacto-fermented radishes are always tasty, but this time I made them with watermelon radishes, and the intense pink color is wonderful. My local farmers' market had purple and white as well as the usual orange carrots this week, and I turned them into a beautiful jar of fermented carrots.
Even tried-and-true ferments benefit from some color variations: that jar of fermented green beans is more fun when you mix it up with some yellow wax beans, and why not make red cabbage sauerkraut instead of the usual white cabbage version?
It doesn't hurt that as well as providing eye candy and wonderful flavors, these fermented veggies are also rich in healthy probiotics.
Photo: ŠLeda Meredith