Now what do you do with five quarts of strawberries that you brought home from the Clarion River Organics Strawberry Picking Festival on Saturday? Believe it or not, at our house quart #1 and quart #2 were eaten by Sunday lunch by yours truly and the other two "farm hands" I took with me on Saturday - my husband, Bryan, and son, James. We devoured them pure and unadulterated. Quart #3 went home Saturday with James' friend, Jennifer, and Quart #4 went into making a delicious dessert for Father's Day on Sunday. You can make the scones, sauce, and macadamia creme at different times over a day or two so it doesn't seem like there are so many steps and then it is a cinch to put together when you want to eat. It looks impressive, tastes impressive and is so simple. Rich and delicious!
Scones with Strawberry Sauce and Macadamia Creme
Serves 4
For the scones:
3 cups all purpose flour
2 Tbs baking powder
1/4 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling tops
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup rice, soy, or almond milk
For the strawberry sauce:
3 1/2 cups sliced CRO strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 Tbs maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
For the Macadamia Creme
1/2 cup unsalted, roasted macadamia nuts
1/4 cup soy or rice milk
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup canola oil
Make the macadamia creme as it needs to chill awhile. Place the macadamia nuts into a blender or food processor and blend/process until you have fine crumbs. Add the milk and blend again until somewhat smooth. Add the sugar and vanilla and blend again. Add the oil in a steady stream while motor is running. Blend/process until you have a smooth kind- of-thick liquid. Cover and chill until ready to use, preferably for several hours.
Next make the strawberry sauce so it has time to soften while you make the scones. Place all the sauce ingredients in a bowl, stir, cover and chill for at least an hour. That's it for the sauce!
Next make the scones. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper (or grease the baking sheets). Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the oil and milk and stir until just moistened. It will be lumpy and not sticky. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to measure out the amount for each scone. Drop onto the parchment and press down slightly. Sprinkle tops with a little sugar. Bake 12 minutes. Scones should be light brown on the bottom. Cook on a rack. Makes 12 scones.
For each serving, slice off the top of two scones. Place about 2 heaping tablespoons of the strawberry sauce on each bottom half of the scones. Place scone top over the strawberries. Drop a dollop of macadamia creme over each and top with a fresh strawberry if desired. Serve at once. You will have some extra scones which you can freeze or use as late night leftovers!
First, you might notice that I list the Clarion River Organics (CRO) produce items that each post uses from that week's delivery. Sometimes I will even include items that were delivered the week before, but not yet used up. The purpose of course is to make it easier to find what you are interested in.
So with more strawberries and greens this week in the CRO delivery and the rhubarb still in the fridge from last week, I decided to make an all time favorite: green salad with rhubarb dressing! This salad is a real treat because we have rhubarb only once a year when it comes from the CSA.
Rhubarb is technically a vegetable, though due to its use as a filling in pies, many now call it a "fruit". The stalks resemble celery, have a similar, if slightly more woody, texture and are quite bitter. Hence, whenever rhubarb is used, it is cooked to soften it and a sweetener is added to tame the bitterness. Most commonly, it is used in desserts. However, I'm not much of a baker, probably because I do not particularly care about sweets one way or the other, so a rhubarb pie is never in the offing. Thus, I was very happy when several years ago I came across a recipe for a rhubarb salad dressing. I was reminded of this again when I picked up my CRO order this week and found that they had given me the cookbook, Simply in Season, as a new subscriber gift (thanks CRO!). This book too has a rhubarb dressing recipe.
The beautiful thing about this salad is that anything goes. You use the type of greens you like or have on hand (though spinach is particularly good) and any other toppings that you enjoy (see p. 46-47, Simply in Season). The combination I use in the recipe below is one that I have found to be a proven winner. It is a delightful mix of sweet, pungent, and savory flavors as well as soft and crunchy textures. It may seem like this salad is a bit of work (who cooks fruit in order to make dressing?), but when you try that first mouthful you will find it was worth the time.
Strawberries and Greens with Rhubarb Dressing
4 cups Clarion River Organics greens (I used their Gourmet Salad Mix from week 2)
1/2 cup strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup blueberries
2 Clarion River Organics red scallions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch asparagus, stalks trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces (if you still have yours left from Week 1 here is a use for it!)
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
4 large basil leaves
Bring a small pot of water to a simmer. Blanch the asparagus by placing the pieces in the water for one minute. Immediately drain, rinse and place asparagus pieces in ice water to keep them from cooking further. Combine the washed greens with the other toppings. When the asparagus has cooled, drain, pat dry and add to the salad. Top with the rhubarb dressing (below). Serves 4.
Rhubarb Dressing (source: Simply in Season)
2 cups rhubarb, chopped (3-4 stalks)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small onion, grated or minced
1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce (I use vegan worcestershire - regular contains anchovies)
1/4 tsp salt
Cook rhubarb, sugar, and vinegar over medium heat until soft. Drain in sieve. Discard pulp. To 6 tablespoons of this juice, add remaining ingredients. Shake in a jar or whisk together. Chill before serving or you can use warm if you can't wait!
