SpiceLines

Under the ground rules this is allowed since B breezed through the kitchen on Saturday with two bottles of my favorite Cantine Riondo Pink Prosecco Raboso from the Veneto. It didn’t take more than a minute to lightly crush half a cup of strawberries with a teaspoon of sugar—and spoon them into a champagne glass.

This pale pink Prosecco is frothy with the sweetness of ripe berries and it has a pleasantly acidic edge. When you combine the two—don’t stir, just put the strawberries in the bottom of the glass—you have a fizzy elixir that looks and tastes like summer. Is it a girlie drink? Maybe—but out of the corner of my eye, I saw B making a second round for himself.

The real plan for the strawberries was dessert. Usually you don’t need much more than sugar and heavy cream to turn them into pure deliciousness. But then there’s fresh strawberry ice cream, B’s favorite, so I keep the bowl of the Krups in the freezer for the occasional indulgence.

Elise has been delivering many, many pints of local strawberries for the last three weeks...

This week I, ahem, let the berries languish a little too long and they were starting to soften and ooze red juices into the box. But I perked up the flavor with a little orange zest and some freshly ground black pepper. The pepper actually brings out the sweetness of the berries, while the zest—be sure to blanch it—adds a zingy citrus note. The trick is not to use so much zest that you overwhelm the taste of the strawberries—one teaspoon of blanched zest per pint of berries should do it.

The pork chops were easy. It takes only five minutes to stir a brine—you can do this the night before, so the chops have lots of time to soak up all the sweet and hot spices. When you’re ready to eat, just throw them on the grill for five minutes per side. The chops will be juicy and full of flavor, especially if you cook them over a smoky wood or charcoal fire.

All that parsley wound up in a “pulled” parsley salad, the recipe for which appears in Paula Wolfert’s World of Food. Wolfert used curly parsley in her own dish for “fluffiness,” but the Italian flat leaf variety from the CSA box was so vividly sweet and clean-tasting that I can’t imagine using any other kind. Kalamata olives, shallots and freshly grated pecorino cheese—you could also use parmesan--sharpened the flavor.

Tomorrow: the root vegetables, including the infamous rutabagas. Stay tuned.

Grilled Local Pork Chops Brined in Sweet and Hot Spices

To serve 4.

Ingredients for the brine:

6 cups water
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup kosher salt
1 cinnamon stick
1 whole star anise
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
6 black cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1 or 2 dried red chilies

Ingredients for the chops:

4 bone-in pork chops, about 1 inch thick
Extra virgin olive oil

Method:

1. At least 8 hours before cooking, or the night before, make the brine: Combine the water, sugar and salt in a medium pot. Warm the mixture over a low flame and stir just until the sugar and salt dissolve. Add the rest of the spices and let the liquid cool to room temperature.
2. Put the four chops in a gallon ziplock bag and pour in the brine. Refrigerate overnight or for at least eight hours.
3. An hour before you’re ready to cook, remove the chops from the brine and pat dry. Rub with olive oil and set aside. Discard the brine.
4. Build a charcoal or wood chunk fire in a covered grill. When the coals are red hot and covered with white ash, put the grill in place and allow it to heat for 5 minutes.
5. When the grill is hot, position the pork chops on the grill directly over the coals. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Turn the meat, cover and cook for another 5 minutes.
6. Remove the chops to a platter and let them rest, covered with aluminum foil, for 10 minutes. Place each chop, grill marks up, on a plate and serve with pulled parsley salad.

Paula Wolfert’s Pulled Parsley Salad with Kalamata Olives
(adapted from Paula Wolfert’s World of Food)

To serve 4

Ingredients:

1 large bunch of Italian flat leaf parsley
12 Kalamata olives
1-1/2 tablespoons minced shallots
¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1-1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons mild wine or cider vinegar (I used a vinegar made from Spanish Moscatel)
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1-1/2 tablespoons freshly grated pecorino or parmesan cheese

Method:

1. Rinse and spin-dry the parsley. Separate the leaves from the stems and place them in a serving bowl. Chop the stems and add them to the salad.
2. Slice the Kalamata olives into thin slivers. (If you have to pit them first, just press down on each olive with your thumb and remove the seeds.)
3. Scatter the olives and shallots over the parsley.
4. Whisk the Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, vinegar and pepper together in a small bowl.
5. Just before serving drizzle the salad dressing over the parsley and toss. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top and serve.

Strawberry Ice Cream with Orange Zest and Black Pepper

To serve 4

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups heavy cream
1-1/2 cups milk
½ cup sugar
1 pint strawberries
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
Freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. The day before, put the bowl of the ice cream maker in the freezer.
2. Make the base: In a large saucepan, warm the cream, milk and sugar over a medium flame. Stir just until the sugar dissolves. Pour into a plastic container and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
3. Prepare the strawberries: Wash and hull the berries and place them in a large bowl. Lightly crush them with a fork or, if they are fairly firm, use a potato masher. Do not smash the berries into a puree—there should be pieces of fruit, as well as some liquid. Stir in the sugar.
4. In a small pot of boiling water, blanch the orange zest for 60 seconds. Drain and add the zest to the strawberries. Grind black pepper directly into the berries—3 or 4 grinds of the peppermill should do it.
5. Cover the bowl and refrigerate, allowing the strawberries to macerate for 1 to 2 hours.
6. When you are ready to make the ice cream, stir the strawberries into the creamy base. Pour the mixture into the bowl of the ice cream maker and follow the manufacturers instructions.
7. The ice cream is most delicious if served immediately, while it is still soft. If you must make it ahead, remove it from the freezer and allow it to soften before scooping.