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It’s springtime, which to me means fresh local berries are just around the corner, and Oregon is berry paradise. Unlike warmer states that have a longer growing season, Oregon’s season is relatively short for berries, but when the season does arrive, it’s like a berry explosion. Blackberries, raspberries, boysenberries (all of which Oregon leads the nation in production, accounting for nearly 100% of the nation’s commercial supply), to blueberries, strawberries, cranberries, and even famous local varieties like marionberries. If it’s berry and you can grow it, you can find it here. But the king of all the berries in my opinion, is undeniably the strawberry.
Now i Happen to think that strawberries are nearly perfect just the way they are, but for today’s quick fix I wanted to deliver to you one of the most simple desserts I know that really take strawberries to the next level. I present to you strawberries with balsamic vinegar. Now you may be thinking I’ve gone off the deep end, and if you’ve never tried it before I wouldn’t blame you for thinking so. But if you have ever paired up these two ingredients then you already know the truth of the matter; that it’s a match made in heaven. The sweetness of the berry matches perfectly with the tart sour-sweetness of the vinegar in a way that really does take strawberries up a notch. Here’s how you do it:
Take fresh strawberries and cut them into thick slices. Put them into a bowl with some sugar and balsamic vinegar. Mix and let sit for about 30 minutes at room temperature. That’s it! One serving suggestion would be to serve the strawberries in a bowl with some french vanilla ice cream and a little lemon zest, and you would have a perfectly elegant dessert you can serve to dinner guests. You could also experiment with the flavors by adding fresh basil or mint, fresh ground pepper, or maybe even honey to the mix. But here are are the proportions for the basic recipe: For every two cups of sliced strawberries, you’ll want to use about a tablespoon of balsamic and two teaspoons of white sugar. You may find you like more or less sugar or vinegar, so feel free to adjust to your taste.
A quick note on balsamic vinegar: the higher the quality (and therefore more expensive) the balsamic vinegar, the more thick and syrupy will be its consistency, and generally the sweeter it will be. If you don’t have access to high quality vinegar, you can thicken and sweeten balsamic in a sauce pan by gently simmering until you reduce the liquid by a quarter to a half.
There you go! I hope you give this one a shot, not only because it’s so easy, but because you may never look at balsamic vinegar (or strawberries) the same way again.
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