Recipe test: Canal House's Strawberry Conserve

What's the difference between conserves and preserves? My first guess was that conserves are made when you don't have all that much fruit and you want to make it last, and preserves don't have anything to do with the amount of fruit - but again you just want to make it last. Not very good definitions because that's basically like jam and jelly and other fruit in canning jars. I found this article via The Kitchn which explains the differences, but its definition does not match the Canal House's recipe for strawberry conserve (no dried fruit or nuts). Other sources define conserve as fruit boiled with sugar (which is what theirs entails). If I'm calling it what it is, I'd say this is a strawberry syrup with strawberry chunks. But no matter the name, this is a seriously easy way to dress up your food.

There's something so satisfying to me about putting fruit and sugar in a saucepan and watching things get syrupy over the heat. If you're into that sort of thing, too, you should make this. 

Canal House suggested these little toasted baguette slices topped with Serrano ham and the conserve, but Serrano is not easy to come by around here. But any thinly sliced, salty ham, like the one I used, still makes a great pairing. Later in the week, we put the conserve on crepes and popovers. We loved the hint of lemon that came from cooking the syrup down (sans strawberries) with some lemon peel (with the pith, because it acts as a natural pectin, they say). 

Will I make it again? Yes. 

Source: Canal House Cooks Everyday

Strawberry Conserve

1 lb. fresh strawberries, washed and hulled (I sliced them in half)
3 c. superfine sugar
peel (including the white pith) of 1/2 lemon

Fold 1 1/2 c. sugar into the strawberries in a large, wide pot. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, and then continue to boil for 3 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat.

Fold in the remaining sugar, return the pot to the heat and return to a boil. Boil for two minutes and remove from the heat. With a slotted spoon, remove the strawberries and spread them on a plate to cool. Return the pot with the syrup to the heat and add the lemon peel. Bring to a boil over medium high for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the syrup settle, and skim off any foam on the surface. Once the syrup has cooled, return the berries to the pot. Cover and set aside until set, about 6 hours or overnight. Remove the lemon peel and place the conserve into clean jars and refrigerate. Makes 4 half-pints.

Feta & Olive Savory Cake

This summer when we were in Paris, we went to a barbecue that was unlike any I'd been to before. We sat in a circle with our hosts, Audrey and Vincent, and their neighbors. It was a get-to-know-your-neighbor kind of gathering. Minutes before the party started, I helped Audrey assemble an assortment of vegetables and a dipping vinaigrette on their coffee table while Joel and Vincent carried beer and chairs down to the courtyard. One of the guys brought his small tailgater-style grill - the only token of "barbecue" at this gathering - and he placed a nice assortment of spicy Spanish sausage and pork on it. In the center of the circle was a small table of wine. Behind us, a few baguettes sat on a window sill and waited patiently to be broken into. As people arrived, they placed their food offerings - veggies, pasta and couscous salads, mini quiches, savory loaves, and more wine and champagne, along with chocolate and cheese for later - on a table near the entrance. Everyone was young, everyone was friendly.

(photo by Joel Smith, who sneakily stood on a chair to capture this scene)

Rather than serving ourselves from the feasting table, we all sat in this circle, conversing (or in my case, listening) as the different dishes were passed around. Thus we each got a little bit of everything, and if anyone wanted a little more, the dish was usually passed around again. At one point toward the end of eating and midway through drinking the rest of the wine, one girl left momentarily to retrieve some dessert from her kitchen. She returned with trays of individual trifles in champagne flutes. I mean, come on. This was a magical night. (And oh, did we feel it the next morning; the coffee Vincent made was absolutely necessary and tasted unbelievably good.)

One of my favorite samplings in this pass-around barbecue meal was a savory bread containing crab and some assortment of herbs and hard cheese. It was salty, rich and toothsome. After we finished passing it around, I sneaked back over to the table a couple of times for another slice.  I've been wanting to make one of these things ever since.

It's been a long time coming, but a vodka tasting party this past weekend provided an easy opportunity, another situation where a group of us was sitting around, eating whatever was placed in front of us. I came across this particular recipe in a lovely collection by Yvette van Boven called Home Made Summer. It's tangy and rich, and perfect, as she says, with a cold glass of white wine. Or vodka.

Feta & Olive Cake

1 3/4 c. self-rising flour

1/3 c. plus 2 T. olive oil (100 ml)

1/3 c. plus 2 T. white wine (100 ml)

3 large eggs

1 c. grated Parmesan

salt and pepper

5 oz. feta, diced

9 oz. mixed olives, pitted and halved or quartered 

Preheat the oven to 325 and generously grease a 9x5 in. loaf pan. 

In a large bowl, whisk flour, oil, wine, eggs and Parmesan until smooth. Season with a pinch of kosher salt and a few grinds of pepper and stir in the feta and olives.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 5 minutes and turn it out to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store in the refrigerator, wrapped. 

Pear and goat cheese flatbread with greens

Since I last posted, lots and lots started going on. Lots of travel planning, lots of party planning, lots of supremely warm weather, lots of really good time with old friends. I kind of forgot I had a blog, which is an internet sin. Please forgive me.

I turned 31, seemingly the other day, and it's usually around my birthday when I feel extra convicted to be really good to myself. This is as much about staying up late with dear friends and drinking a smidge too much wine as it is getting good sleep and eating healthy food. I had a glorious combination of both this past week after a girls' weekend with college friends and a night I spent mostly on my own.

Whenever I'm on my own, I treat myself to a recipe with mustard or goat cheese or any other ingredient that I don't normally fix with my guy. I kind of think he would have liked this pear and goat cheese flatbread had I forgone the mustard, but now I know what the mustard adds. Frankly, I would have used less of it. But whatever, this was still sweet and savory and everything you want a flatbread to be on a balmy evening spent alone.

Pear and Goat Cheese Flatbread

inspired by the Sprouted Kitchen

Small ball of dough (I used the whole wheat dough I have on hand in the fridge, using the Artisan Bread in 5 method)

1 small onion, thinly sliced

2 tsp. olive oil

1/4 c. goat cheese

1 T. whole grain mustard (optional)

Small ripe pear, thinly sliced - you choose the variety (I used Bosc)

Generous handful of tasty greens, like arugula, though I used a combo of microgreens I already had

1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

2 tsp. olive oil

salt and pepper

Caramelize the onions: warm the first 2 tsp. olive oil over medium heat and cook onions until soft and brown, about 15-20 minutes (or longer for truly caramelized onions...I'm usually too impatient). Set aside.

Roll out the dough until fairly thin, making sure it will fit in your grill pan (you can also put this directly on the grill). Heat a dry, clean grill pan over medium high heat. Cook the dough about 2-3 minutes per side, allowing for some nice char lines and irresistible dough bubbles. Meanwhile, turn on your broiler and grab a broiler pan, and find a cooling rack for the counter. Once the dough has been cooked on the grill pan, place it on the cooling rack.

As the dough cools a bit, spread the mustard and goat cheese on top (though I will say this tastes great without mustard), then top with the onions and pear. Place under the broiler until you like the look of the melty cheese and the browning pears, 3-5 minutes.

Toss your greens with the oil and vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.

Allow the flatbread to cool for a moment on the cooling rack, then top with the greens. Slice and savor with a glass of chilled pinot grigio.