sprinklefingers

hood strawberries. the current crown jewel of every farmer’s market in oregon. and with five (5!!!) full days of sunshine reported to be ahead, it looks like the hoods may have a season longer than the 2-3 weeks originally reported. thank god for that.

i was at the farmer’s market this morning. buying my usual flat of berries (my 4th one this season.) [i told you i stock up, and i am no joke about that. i. stock. up.]

anyways, i reserved 2 lbs of this morning’s flat and the rest i washed, hulled, dried and froze. and what did i do with the reserved 2 lbs, you ask?

fantastic question. no, really. that was a great question. seriously.

here’s your answer:

hood strawberry syrup & compote

you need:

• 2 lbs hood strawberries* - washed, hulled and roughly sliced
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup vanilla sugar**
• 2 T Lyle’s Golden Syrup
• 1 t orange zest
• glug of aged balsamic vinegar

proceed as follows:

1. place all ingredients in a saucepan large enough to accommodate them.
2. turn heat up to medium-high and keep an eye on things as the strawberries begin to break down. stir often.
3. once the mixture starts to boil, keep an eye on it so that it doesn’t boil over. reduce the heat a bit and stir often.
4. let mixture boil lightly (not a spewing boil, but a delightful active boil,) for 18 minutes.
5. watch everything very closely. if your boil is too rapid, you will need less cooking time overall. if you keep it at a happy boil, you can leave it on the heat for the 18 minutes. [DO WATCH that your mixture is not turning super dark…that means it’s burning! bad!]
6. once your time is up, remove the saucepan from the heat and let mixture sit to cool off. your strawberries should be broken down at this point, but they will not simply melt into the syrup.

next up:

1. once your mixture has cooled a bit, place a fine mesh strainer or sieve over a bowl.
2. pour in your mixture. at first a lot of syrup will flow right into the bowl, then things will slow. as they slow, press the strawberries down, extracting more syrup.
3. leave the strainer suspended over the bowl for an hour or two.
4. at this point you have strawberry compote in the strainer and strawberry syrup in the bowl. two for one! buy one, get one! i love bogo!
5. scoop the compote into a container and refrigerate.
6. pour the syrup into a container and refrigerate.

both items can be frozen, but instead i suggest you eat as many pancakes as possible in the coming weeks and use a ton of strawberry syrup. and i also suggest you buy some delicious vanilla ice cream and serve it with big scoops of compote on top.*** so good it will make you crazy for strawberries.

*this recipe really, really requires a strawberry that hasn’t been cultivated to withstand travel. read: a homegrown strawberry, NOT one grown in california and then shipped to wherever you are.

**taste your berries before making this recipe. if they are perfect, then use the amount of sugar called for. a bit tart? like things sweeter? add a bit more sugar.

***more ideas for strawberry compote & syrup tomorrow!