strawberry shortcake Archives - 2 Sisters 2 Cities

For this week’s Fresh Produce Tuesday series, we are featuring many amazing strawberry recipes. Strawberries are my all-time favorite fruit. I enjoy them almost year-round, but the most delicious ones are the fresh, local strawberries found every June from local farms. I love that strawberries are so versatile- I enjoy them in a smoothie or with Greek yogurt in the morning, with a spinach salad for dinner, in a sweet dessert, or I just pop them in my mouth just as they are.

I’ve been noticing fresh spring produce is abundant lately at the farmer’s markets. Here are recipe ideas for Asparagus, Artichokes, Spring Onions, Peas, Garlic Scapes & Spring Garlic, Rhubarb, Fava Beans, Radishes, Lettuce, and Morels in case you missed any of the previous weeks of our series.

I made this strawberry shortcake recipe a few weeks ago and loved how it turned out. I was a little shocked how much heavy cream was used in the shortcake base alone, but it created a perfectly tasting cake to douse with strawberries and whipped cream.

Here are 9 additional strawberry recipes that I love:

Fresh Strawberry Pie from Brown Eyed Baker
Homemade Strawberry Lemonade from My Baking Addiction
Strawberry Balsamic Thyme Freezer Jam from Foodie with Family
Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream from Martha Stewart Living, February 2009
Strawberry Frozen Yogurt from Pink Parsley
Strawberry, Pistachio, and Goat Cheese Pizza from Cooking Light, May 2009
Strawberry Spinach Salad from Our Best Bites
Strawberry Shortcake Popsicles from Baker’s Royale
Strawberry Wine Coolers from Annie’s Eats

Here’s your chance to link up you favorite strawberry recipe. It would be great if you could link back to 2 Sisters 2 Cities or add our button to your strawberry post (our button can be found on the top of the right-hand column), but it is not required. Readers, please “like” the recipes below that you like the best!

Here is the Fresh Produce Tuesday schedule for the next few weeks:

Week #12- June 12th: Kale
Week #13- June 19th: Carrots
Week #14- June 26th: Chard

Photo courtesy of msandman via the flickr creative commons license

Last Friday afternoon, we decided to invite some friends over for dinner that evening. I had no meal plan for the night for even Husband M and I, so I had to quickly figure out what I was going to serve our group. Fortunately, the Copley Square Farmer’s Market was open so I decided to hit it up to see what I could think of.

For appetizers, I visited the Crystal Brooks goat cheese stand and picked up a tub of their mediterranean goat cheese. For dinner, I thought out best option would be BLTs. I picked up a pack of smoked bacon from Stillman’s Turkey Farm, some first-of-the-season tomatoes from the Stillman’s farm stand, and two types of bread from Breadsong Bakery (Rustic Italian and Sourdough). I already had lettuce at home from our Boston Organics delivery. As an alternative to mayo, I like to use step 1 of this recipe for Cooking Light for the spread (I used the sage from my herb garden…my first harvest of the year!):

Mayo/Mustard Shallot & Sage Spread

I cut up the tomatoes and washed the lettuce and put them all out on one plate. I cooked the bacon in the oven on a baking sheet at 400 degrees (approx 15-2o minutes depending on your oven). I then used the broiler to toast the bread on baking sheets right before we sat down to dinner. It was a great meal to serve to guests as I could get the majority of things taken care of ahead of time (washing the lettuce, washing and cutting the tomatoes, cooking the bacon, slicing the bread, and making the spread). I was able to enjoy the time on our roof deck watching the sunset. (Pictures of our revitalized deck coming soon…I just need a sunny weekend day to take the pics and for Husband M to make a few planter moves).

For dessert, I decided to go with my all-time favorite- strawberry shortcake. I picked up 4 pints of local strawberries from the market (I can’t remember which stand I ended up going to, but there are 4-5 stands which carry them this time of year). I had some leftover buttermilk from another dinner, so I used the recipe on the side of the carton to make buttermilk biscuits. Husband M picked up some heavy cream from the grocery store on his walk home from the bus stop (as well as a can of ReddiWip for himself…nasty!) Before our guests got here I made the biscuits and washed & cut up the strawberries. I then mixed the strawberries with a half of cup of sugar…it looks like a lot, but it tastes so good and they become really juicy after they sit in it for about an hour (or longer if possible). Right before I served the dessert, I mixed the heavy cream up with the KitchenAid to make whipped cream. The process goes a little bit faster if you put the mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the fridge for 30-60 minutes to get them nice and cold.

I really love the idea of skipping the grocery store and doing all my shopping at the farmers’ market. Not only does everything taste better, but I like to support local farmers and their awesome products. I have been going to the same market for a few years now (and grew up going to farmers markets in the upstate NY area), but it seems like it is more popular than ever. It would definitely be an interesting stat to see if farmers’ market volume have picked up at all within the past few years due to the green/local/organic movements. Granted, I did have to use some items that I had previously purchased at the grocery store and had to pick up one item that day, but I would really like to purchase as many things as possible going to the farmers market this summer.

What meals have you prepared using solely the market? Have farmers markets in your area become more popular recently?

-m