sprinklefingers

i’ve had something on my mind for a while now, and i thought i’d share it with you. you are really lucky. you feel lucky, don’t you?

okay, here goes. i’ve been wondering whether or not it REALLY matters if you stir a kitchen concoction in one direction only as some recipes instruct. (clue #3429 that i have a lot of time on my hands AND clearly have no life.)

before turning to the internets, i thought i’d test the theory in my own kitchen. over the weekend i made 24 quarts of oregon hood strawberry jam…which means i was standing, sweaty and stirring for the majority of saturday. as i was stirring my 4th batch of jam, the whole ‘stir in one direction’ thing popped into my head.

slow-cooked jam making involves a lot of stirring - basically you want the fruit & sugar to boil without burning, so you want the heat to be gentle and you want to take your time arriving at the boil - which means stirring, stirring and more stirring. and the only way to make sure your jam has boiled enough is to wait until it is hot enough to boil so that stirring doesn’t make the boil go away.

here’s what i did to test the theory:

• just as the jam was about to reach the type of boil that wouldn’t go away with stirring, i stirred in the other direction a few strokes, then the original direction a few strokes.
• each time i did this, i noticed the jam would quickly reduce its bubbly/boiling action. it would take half a minute or so to come up to the boil again.

BUT, if i stirred in the SAME direction as the jam was about to reach the ‘big’ boil, it would:

• continue on its path to the type of boil that couldn’t be stirred away.

to further test the theory, i then waited for the type of boil that couldn’t be stirred away to be in full swing and i:

• stirred in one direction then quickly changed directions only to watch the boil wane a bit!

what do these tests prove? that stirring in one direction only simply stirs the pot, while continuously changing direction not only stirs but also incorporates more air - which can cool down your concoction enough to effect a rapid boil. incredible! and so scientific, right? yes, right.

just call me dr. sprinklefingers.

ps: when i finally did turn to the internet to prove my theory, there was a lot of talk about custards, dumplings & mayos, etc. and stirring in one direction. to be perfectly honest with you, i had already tested the theory for myself where temperature was concerned and didn’t really have the desire to wade through so & so’s crummy blog to find out what multi-directional stirring does (or doesn’t do, more likely) to custards.

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!