Every Monday morning since mid-May, Nacho, Alejandro, and I harvest strawberries (Okay so we've taken a few weeks off based on berry production, but we've been out there most weeks!). And every Monday afternoon, we drive 10 minutes down to road and bring 10 flats of berries over to the Apple Farm in Philo.
With a bit of lemon juice, sugar, and our Piment d'Ville chile powder, our strawberries get turned into some pretty incredible Strawberry & Chile Preserve by Cruz and her team on Tuesday mornings. Cruz cooks the berries down slowly, without stirring the jam pot too hard, in order to keep the jam full of hunks of strawberries. The slow heat of Piment d'Ville adds depth and complexity, and a bit of fun, to each jar. It's our favorite way to savor summer throughout the year.
Don't be thrown off by the addition of Piment d'Ville to the preserve! It's flavorful and not super spicy (just like Piment d'Ville) and the preserve is still a sweet-forward thing. It's definitely a fan favorite.
You may be wondering what to do with this preserve. Here's some ideas to get you started:
- On a piece of buttered toast
- In a bowl of yogurt and granola (I ate this for breakfast today)
- Put the jar on a cheese & charcuterie board and eat it with hard or soft cheeses
- In a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (I ate this on Sunday while kayaking!)
- Spooned into a vanilla layer cake
- Swirled into freshly churned ice cream or spooned over the top of a scoop
- In the middle of a thumbprint cookie
- Blended into a strawberry milkshake
Have a favorite way to eat the preserve? Reply to this email and let us know!
What We're Cooking
We've been embracing as much simple summer food as possible.
Last week I harvested the first cucumbers, sungold tomatoes, and basil from our garden and tossed it with Boonville Barn Olive Oil, Piment d'Ville, salt and a splash of vinegar. It's one of my favorite things to eat all summer.
And last night, I picked a huge bowl of basil and made a few batches of pesto. We ate the pesto with Bucatini pasta and sautéed zucchini tossed in some Nduja made with our chiles!
We spent last week testing some new recipes for you. Get ready (Tacos! Salsa! Salad! Flatbread! Meatballs! Eep!). They are delicious.
