I’m not a very competitive person. In fact, having a bit more ferocity in any given situation probably wouldn’t hurt. The one exception to this is economy—when it comes to the war against waste I always win. (It’s telling that strident thrift is my example of being aggressive right? I told you I could stand to be a touch more cutthroat.) This tendency kicks into overdrive with prized produce like my long island strawberries. Which leads me to my strawberry scorecard, my official tally of what I did with strawberries this season.
Here’s the annotated version:
- Strawberry Caramel, via Gilt Taste: Bonkers delicious and dairy-free/vegan if that’s your kind of party.
- Strawberry Raspberry Syrup, via Eugenia Bone in the Denver Post: a great, versatile blueprint for berry syrups that helped me use up some frozen raspberries too.
- Whole Berry Preserves, via Canning for a New Generation: a simple, straight-up preserve. If you don’t have the book, Kaela over at Local Kitchen has a comparable whole strawberry preserve recipe.
- Strawberry Thyme Syrup, via Canning for a New Generation: a sodastream related project, for sure. Here’s a strawberry syrup recipe from the Food in Jars cookbook.
Finally, strawberry infused bourbon, which hardly counts as a recipe. I covered 6 oz of strawberries with 1 1/2 cups of Wild Turkey 101 and let it infuse for about a week. Higher proof alcohols like Wild Turkey 101 work best for infusions, but any not-too-good bourbon will do. After a week or so, I strained and discarded the solids. I also like to pour infusions through a coffee filter to get any little bits of pulp out, so I did that too.
Most importantly, I toasted the tail-end of strawberry season with a Strawberry Basil Bourbon Sour. Combine 2 oz strawberry infused bourbon with 3/4 oz lemon juice, 3/4 oz basil simple syrup, and ice in a cocktail shaker. Give it a good shake. If you have an extra fresh basil leaf or two, muddle them in an old-fashioned glass (or adorable tumbler like the one above that I’m currently in love with) then fill the glass with ice. Strain the shaken cocktail ingredients into the glass and enjoy it while thinking about how you lost that relay race in middle school, but did a lot of good with a few quarts of strawberries.
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Mmm what a treat!
I’m a huge fan of bourbon but never thought to combine it with strawberry!
Looking forward to trying this.
Hi Sara, I was surprised how well they go together and also what a pretty pink the final product was! 🙂
Strawberry basil drinks sound amazing! I just so happen to have half a flat of strawberries in my kitchen right now–thanks for the great ideas on how to use them!
Hi Eileen, Thanks! And have fun with those strawberries 🙂
Autumn, I am still loving these film photos! I have been working on a similar post on how I used my unexpected bounty of raspberries this season. Unsurprisingly, we made similar choices. I’ll have to check out that Gilt taste recipe for fruit caramel!
Thanks, Yossy! I told myself I was done for a while, but then I just got 3 more rolls.
well, wouldn’t you know? I just happen to have a bottle of bourbon left over from these failed peach bourbon cheesecake parfaits that took a tumble on the way to a food blogger potluck I recently attended. I may need to acquaint said bottle with some strawberries :]
I am confused by this “leftover” bourbon you speak of. Is bourbon ever a leftover? 🙂 Do this though. You could even keep it more seasonal and do a cherry bounce, which is whole cherries in bourbon/sugar, but requires a little more waiting to be delicious.
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