At this time of year, for pot lucks, BBQs and other gatherings where you might want to serve up something sweet to a large number of people, I can't recommend this combination enough. I've served this trio of fresh fruit, top-notch dairy and nibbly, buttery cookies to different crowds on more than one occasion and, to date, it's always been met with
-Strawberries from Swanton & Dirty Girl: Hulled, sliced and sprinkled with a little sugar to draw out their juices and make them glisten.
-A quart of St Benoit's delicious plain Yoghurt, strained for several hours, to thicken.
-A Syrup made by briefly simmering a little water, sugar and a few damaged strawberries together with six Rose Geranium leaves (from Eatwell Farm) before straining, ready to dribble over both the yogurt and strawberries.
-Wholewheat cocoa-nib sables made with crunchy, nutty home-ground wheat flour (wheatberries also from Eatwell Farm) and local Straus organic butter from a recipe in Pure Desserts by Alice Medrich. [One of my very favourite recipe books from the last year.]
(*for proof, see Anood's comment, thanks Anood)
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2005 | The Pump Rooms - Bath - England
© 2009 Sam Breach
Looks very tempting. If the strawberries are at their best, they're best the way they are :) (We're still about a month away here in Estonia, however)..
ReplyDeleteI love those cookies from Alice Medrich with cocoa nibs; aren't they great?
ReplyDeleteI will be adding this to my "dishes to bring to parties" list! Looks delish!!
ReplyDeleteUnusual, beautiful and tasty - what could be better?
ReplyDeleteThat's a wonderful idea, Sam -- and a beautiful platter!
ReplyDeleteAdd a baguette with butter and radishes and you have my lunch! Funny. I never would have thought of straining the yogurt and serving it for lunch. Brilliant.
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious. You'll have to do an English version when you're here.
ReplyDeleteYou can go to Santa Cruz and pick the strawberries yourself. I just did that yesterday. It's right by Davenport Landing's beach, very pretty place, near Bonnie Doon road if you want to mix in a wine tasting.
ReplyDelete"Met with enthusiasm" is putting it mildly. "Raptures of delight" would be more apt. Those sables were simply sublime. Thanks so much for making the trip down to Palo Alto to join us!
ReplyDeletePerfect! I love a light and healthy snack!
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I love sliced and dices strawberries much more than whole ones. Those strawberries just look awesome and good enough to eat.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a fabulous blog layout, so glad i found you! This is a great dessert idea, thanks for sharing your great idea and photo ~
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