strawberry Archives - Fresh From Oregon

Homemade Strawberry Lemon Jam

May 26, 2016 · by Carrie Trax ·

Once you taste your own homemade strawberry jam, you’ll never want store-bought again! With the strawberries coming into season here in Oregon I need to get my water bath canner out and jars washed to make my strawberry lemon jam. The last few years I have been using the recipe for strawberry lemon jam from the Ball® Blue Book. The lemon peel gives this jam just another layer of flavor. When I first got married I wanted to make jam and the first one I made was strawberry. It is easy and simple to make and when you taste it you will feel like you are eating fresh strawberries. Make sure you make enough to last throughout the year since strawberries season is usually about a month long depending on your weather.

Homemade Strawberry Lemon Jam
1/4 cup thinly sliced lemon peel (about 2 large)*
4 cups crushed strawberries (about 4 pints)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
6 tablespoons Ball^® RealFruit™ Classic Pectin
6 cups sugar
7 (8oz) half pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands

Prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Wash lids in warm soapy water and set bands aside.
Combine lemon peel and water to cover in a 6- or 8-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil for 5 minutes, until peel is softened. Drain and discard liquid. Return peel to pan.
Add strawberries and lemon juice to peel and mix well. Gradually stir in pectin. Bring mixture to a full rolling that can not be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly.
Add entire measure of sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off foam if necessary.
Ladle hot jam into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.
Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.
* How to make lemon peel with Crisp™ “Tools for Healthy Eating”.

Recipe from ~ Fresh Preserving ~ Ball®

Homemade Strawberry Sauce

May 15, 2016 · by Carrie Trax ·

The smell of ripe, juicy strawberries fresh from the field is what I wait for every spring here in Oregon. Strawberry season is different depending on where you live, but here in Oregon it can start as early as the first week in May. During my visit this weekend at the local farmers market I found several farm stands with crates of strawberries just waiting to come home with me. Fresh strawberries should be refrigerated and eaten within a few days. One way I found to get some extra time with fresh strawberries is to make a sauce. It will keep for about a week in the refrigerator and can be used to top ice cream, cheesecake, pancakes, yogurt, or filling for a cake or just about anything you like.

Homemade Strawberry Sauce
1 pint strawberries, chopped
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Place the chopped strawberries in a sauce pan and begin to cook over medium heat. Mix sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl; add to the sauce pan of strawberries. Add lemon juice and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat. Set aside and cool. Refrigerate once cooled. Makes 2 cups of sauce.

Fresh Oregon Berry Tart

June 14, 2015 · by Carrie Trax ·

Fresh berries in all shapes and colors are now ready in Oregon. The fruit stands are overflowing with fresh strawberries, blueberries, blackberries red raspberries and tayberrries. You will always find a pint or two of berries in my refrigerator ready to create a sweet dessert or muffin or just to top off my Sunday morning pancakes or serve with some yogurt. The sugar cookie crust in this tart is sweet and crisp and much firmer that a traditional pie dough crust making it last a few extra days in the refrigerator without getting soggy. The sweet taste of the lemon filling with the sauce from the tayberries and the mountain of berries creates layers of flavor from top to bottom.

What is a Tayberry? Its a cross between a blackberry and red raspberry and the fruit is sweeter than a blackberry and much larger than a red raspberry. The name comes from the river Tay in Scotland.

Fresh Oregon Berry Tart

Sugar cookie crust:
8 Tablespoons butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 and ½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt

Lemon filling:
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
¼ cup whipping cream

juice from 1 large lemon
¼ cup granulated sugar

Topping:
2 cups Tayberries or Red Raspberries, slightly mashed
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
2 Tablespoons water
2-3 cups mixed berries, washed

To make the sugar cookie crust, place the butter and sugar in a standing mixer and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes on high. Add the egg and mix on medium until fully incorporated. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt all at once and mix on medium just until no spots of flour remain, about 20 seconds, do not over mix. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray fluted 9 1/2″ removable bottom tart pan with cooking spray.

While the oven is preheating, make the lemon filling by whisking together the eggs, egg yolks, whipping cream, lemon juice, and granulated sugar until smooth. Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator. Press dough it into the tart pan evenly on the bottom and up the sides. Pour the lemon filling into the crust. Bake until the filling is set and the crust begins to turn golden, 20-25 minutes. Do not over bake – pull the tart out just when you see any golden color on the crusts. Make sure the lemon filling is cooked by inserting a toothpick in the center and checking to see if it comes out clean. Allow the shell and filling to cool completely at room temperature. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To prepare the topping add tayberries or red raspberries and sugar to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, in another small bowl combine cornstarch and cold water; whisk until smooth. Add cornstarch mixture to raspberries and whisk to combine. Bring to boil and continue boiling 3 to 5 minutes or until sauce is as thick as you like. Set aside to cool. Sauce will thicken as it cools.

To assemble spread raspberry sauce over the lemon filling and place mixed berries on tart and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve chilled.

The Hoods are here… Mini Strawberry Pretzel Pie

May 25, 2015 · by Carrie Trax ·

Strawberry Pretzel Pie

Fresh strawberries are over flowing everywhere here in Oregon. As I was walking through the farmers market this weekend the question I kept hearing as people were buying strawberries was are they “Hoods”. The strawberry variety everyone looks for here in Oregon are “Hood” Strawberries, so what are Hood Strawberries? They emerged from Oregon’s Hood River Valley in 1965 and are prized for there bright red color and large size. Nothing can compare to these Northwest grown sweet and juicy berries. Hoods are a June-bearing strawberry so there is a short window to enjoy them. Look for these great tasting strawberries at farmers markets, farm stands or grocery stores that sell local produce. Here is a easy strawberry treat I made with my Fresh From Oregon Hood strawberries.

Mini Strawberry Pretzel Pies
3 1/2 cups pretzels, salted
1 stick (8 tablespoon) butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 pints strawberries
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
juice 1/2 lemon
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup cool whip

For the pretzel crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Crush the pretzels in a large resealable plastic bag with a rolling pin. Mix in a bowl with the butter and brown sugar. Press into six 5″ mini pie pans and bake for 6 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.

To prepare the glaze: Wash strawberries and remove the green tops and core. Take half the strawberries and slice, set aside. Chop the remaining half of the strawberries in a food processor. Place the chopped strawberries in a sauce pan and begin to cook over medium heat. Mix sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl; add to the sauce pan of strawberries. Add lemon juice and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat. Set aside and cool. Once cool take remaining sliced strawberries and fold into the glaze mix, set aside.

To prepare cream filling: In stand mixer bowl beat the cream cheese, sugar and milk until combined. Fold in the cool whip.

To assemble the mini pies spoon the cream cheese mixture among the six pretzel pie crusts and smooth to the edges. Spoon and mound the strawberries that have been glazed over the cream mixture. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce

April 27, 2015 · by Carrie Trax ·

This year in Oregon we have had an early spring and the fresh strawberries and rhubarb are already starting to be harvested. These two make the best combination for pies, cobbler and YES a sweet sauce. In about 30 minutes I had a warm sweet sauce ready to serve on my homemade buttermilk pancakes!

Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce
4 cups diced strawberries
4 cups diced rhubarb
1 lemon, juiced
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup water

Combine the strawberries, rhubarb, lemon juice, sugar and water in a medium sized sauce pan. Bring it to a boil and let it cook on low to medium heat for about 30 minutes, cook less or longer depending on how thick you want it. The sauce can be served cold or warm. Keep refrigerated.

Recipe from ~ Laylita’s recipes

Mini Oregon Berry Pies

July 4, 2013 · by Carrie Trax ·

You know that summer has started here in Oregon when you see the boxes of berries overflowing at the farmers markets. Blackberries, Blueberries, Tayberries are in season with a few Strawberries still around. After gathering up several boxes of each of these berries I needed to find a way to enjoy all these berries in one day. Mini pies are a great way to make small size treats so that you can sample several different flavors without a lot of baking. Blackberries and blueberries are both mixed with lemon zest and a dash of cinnamon to bring out their fresh berry taste. For the strawberries I mixed them with fresh chopped rhubarb and the tayberries are so sweet just a little sugar brings out their delicious flavor! The last thing on any pie is the topping. I made one each of the blackberry and tayberry with a traditional double crust. To show off the blueberries a lattice top was the best choice. Crumb top was a must for the strawberry rhubarb pie and the remaining berry’s pies. Enjoy the recipes below and make a Fresh From Oregon berry pie this summer. The recipes below will make 6 mini pies. If you want to make a full size of any of these pies below just triple the amounts of the filling and its perfect for a full size pie.

My favorite and only Pie Crust
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups shortening
1 egg
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
5 tablespoons cold water

In a large bowl mix flour and salt, add shortening and with a pastry blender mix just until the shortening is mixed and the dough is the size of small peas. In small bowl beat egg, vinegar and water with a fork, add to dough and mix until the dough just comes together (Do not over mix or the dough will be tough). Divide dough into three pieces and flatten slightly, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Once slightly chilled divide each dough into 3 pieces. Roll out 6 pieces on a lightly floured surface and place into 6 mini pie pans. Roll out the remaining 3 pieces slightly bigger than the pie pan and set aside until ready to top one on the blackberry, tayberry and blueberry pies.

Crumb Topping
In medium size bowl mix 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoon flour and 1/4 cup of room temperature butter. Mix until you get small crumbs, set aside.

Blackberry Pie ~ 2 mini pies
2 1/2 cups blackberries
1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar (depending on how sweet they are)
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 tablespoons instant tapioca (These helps to thicken the juices)
1 tablespoon butter, cut in small pieces

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Place blackberries, sugar, lemon juice & zest, cinnamon and tapioca in a large bowl and toss gently to mix. Let set for 30 minutes. In one pie crust add 1/2 the pie mix place 1/2 tablespoon butter over berries and place one of the rolled out pie crusts on top. Roll edges under the bottom pie crust and crimp the edge. Cut a couple of slits in the top crust or use a decorative mini cookie cutter pressed in the top to create a vent for the pie. In the second pie crust add remaining berries and top with 1/3 of the crumb topping. Place on baking sheet.

Tayberry Pie ~ 2 mini pies
Follow the recipe above for the blackerry pie reducing the sugar to 1/8 cup and omitting the cinnamon.

Blueberry Pie ~ 1 mini pie
1 1/2 cups blueberries
1/8 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons sugar
dash cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon butter, cut in small pieces

In small bowl combine blueberries, lemon zest & juice, flour, sugar and cinnamon. Place in one of the prepared pie crusts and top with the butter. Roll the edge of the pie crust under and crimp the edge. With the last rolled out pie crust cut strips of dough about 1/2″ wide and place on top of the blueberries in a lattice pattern. Place on baking sheet.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie ~ 1 mini pie
1 cup rhubarb, chopped in small pieces
1 cup strawberries, de-stemmed and cut in half
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon instant tapioca
1/2 tablespoon flour
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon butter, cut in small pieces

In small bowl mix rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, tapioca, flour, lemon zest and juice and toss to combine. Place in remaining prepared pie crust top with butter and roll pie crust under and crimp the edge. Top with the remaining crumb topping and place on baking sheet.

You are ready to bake your mini pies. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, decrease temperature to 350 degrees and baking another 45 minutes or until the tops are a golden brown and juices are bubbling from the pies. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.

Homemade Strawberry Lemon Jam

Homemade Strawberry Sauce

The Hoods are here… Mini Strawberry Pretzel Pie

Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce

Mini Oregon Berry Pies

Experience fresh food from Oregon!

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