Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Simple Summer Strawberries


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I love strawberries and I prefer to eat them fresh than to use them in a cake or muffin when I can. As summer fades, though, so decreases the availabilty of good fresh strawberries.
Balsamic vinegar makes a great contrast to sweet fruit. This isn't a breaking trend, but that doesn't make it any less true. Though you can certainly do this with perfect, incredibly ripe strawberries, I actually prefer to use slightly less than pristine fruit. The balsamic flavor boosts the sweetness of the berries. Use 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar per cup of sliced berries. Let the mix marinate in the fridge for a few hours, then spoon over yogurt or ice cream.
Use any balsamic, but the best choice - my opinion, of course - is a berry flavored vinegar, like the strawberry balsamic at Trader Joes or a berry balsamic from the St Helena Olive Oil Company.
Nic, 9:56 AM


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10 Comments:

i love strawberries mascercated in rasberry vinegar! mmm!
I haven't seen fruit balsamics before
Blogger Clare Eats, at 11:22 PM  
I was hesitant to try strawberries with balsamic vinegar, but you know what -- the combination really works!
Blogger Lori, at 11:56 PM  
The combination of strawberries and balsamic is addictive...I wonder what balsamic strawberry ice cream would be like...? Any thoughts?
Blogger Jennifer, at 6:22 AM  
I was also pretty hesitant to try something like this a few months ago but when I did it was such a surprise hit. Great idea to have over ice cream!
Blogger Joe, at 7:19 AM  
Nic,
Balsamic vinegar was so foreign to me with strawberries until I met my hubby. The good stuff is syrupy and costs 50-150 for 4-8 ounces. It is said that a small barrel of vinegar is stored away when a female child is born and given to her husband as a dowry when she is ready to get married. The old stuff can be 20+ years old. I have yet to travel to Modena to find out for myself but I know that different families use different kinds of wood barrels which gives their vinegar a particular characteristic.

Here in Italy there are alpine strawberries, the size of a small thimble and they taste like no American strawberry ever has. I will post photos if I find them at the market.
Blogger Gia-Gina, at 1:20 PM  
That looks amazing.
Emily
http://madmommychronicles.typepad.com/biscuits_and_blues/
Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:59 PM  
Hi Nic - I've been enjoying summer berries as much as I can - you can't beat this combo, looks great!
Anonymous keiko, at 2:20 AM  
I love St. Helena Olive Oil Co.!! We went to Napa for our anniversary. We had planned to go wine tasting and ended up there. We had so much fun that we didn't want to taste wine when we were done!
Blogger Rebecca, at 9:55 AM  
Thanks Nic I knew I could count on you for some ideas with strawberries. I bought one kilo of second strawberries for $5 Aus, and was thinking strawberry jam, then I saw your Balsalmic strawberries - I think I will buy some really really good icecream and serve it up for the adults at our lunch tomorrow.
Blogger Lushlife, at 4:15 PM  
I love using balsamic in salads, so I'm glad that it has so many other uses. Don't be afraid to try this one, guys!
Blogger Nic, at 4:43 PM  

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