What would you do with flavorless strawberries? Bought 4 lbs yesterday...

S

sandi-in-hawaii

Well-known member
They're nice and red, and juicy, but they just don't have much flavor.

I knew I shoulda trusted my nose, as it didn't have much aroma, but they were just so cheap! And being in Hawaii, we usually don't get good fruits anyway - they're shipped green, to avoid bruising.

Oh well, any great suggestions? I was kinda thinking about subbing them in one of those apple bar recipes above....

 
Roast them!!! I haven't tried this yet, but so many people have loved the results. The

roasting apparently sweetens and brings out the flavor, just as it does with vegetables, etc. It's worth a shot, anyway. Here's the recipe:

ROASTED STRAWBERRIES

1 quart fresh strawberries, hulled
1/2 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
In a bowl, combine strawberries and sugar.
Transfer strawberries to a rimmed baking sheet.
Roast in oven for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until soft.
Let the pan cool on a rack.
Put strawberries and juice in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate.
Serve over vanilla ice cream (or use as a topping for any dessert desired.

4-6 servings

From Fine Cooking Magazine

 
I was thinking about roasting them, but don't want it as a topping. I wonder....

I wonder if the roasted berries will work in your strawberry bread recipe...? You macerate the berries in sugar, anyway, and I'm thinking it'll have more flavor than if I just use the berries as is...

I've had your recipe in my to try file for ages, waiting for some good strawberries:) I'll try it tomorrow (it's too late to bake now...

(psst - so how come you're up so late? Aren't you on the east coast somewhere??)

Meryl's Strawberry Bread
1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F (325 F for dark pans). Lightly grease a loaf pan.

In a small bowl combine strawberries and 1/2 cup sugar. Set aside for 1 hour. Drain; reserve liquid and strawberries in separate bowls.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix eggs, butter, vanilla, remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, and reserved liquid from berries.

Make a well in the center of the dry mixture. Add the liquid mixture and mix until just combined. Fold in the strawberries.

Pour the batter into loaf pan, and bake in the middle of the oven for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack around 15-20 minutes; then invert loaf directly onto wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note: For muffins, preheat oven to 400 F. (375 F for dark pans). Spoon into greased muffin cups and bake 15-20 minutes. Serve warm.

http://63.123.232.200/HyperNews/get/archive_swap58801-58900/58813/3/1/1.html

 
Strawberries are a fruit that does not continue to ripen. It is as ripe as it

will be whenever it is picked, so unless these were really green, they are just tasteless. The big beautiful Driscoll strawberries are all for show. I have never had one with real strawberry flavor.
One "trick" I have used to make fruit that is under flavored (strawberries, melon, mainly) have better flavor is to use just a little aspartame on it--not very much at all. It does seem to enhance the fruit flavor without the sweetness.

 
Sprinkle 'em with that Li Hing powder or stew them with another>>

fruit or two for a compote, or make a salsa with some red onions, hot peppers, etc.

 
REC: Macerated strawberries with balsamic vinegar from Marcella Hazan

She lives in my area and this recipe was featured in a local magazine. I found it on line along with her comments about strawberries that aren't quite ripe. Click on the link.

Macerated strawberries with balsamic vinegar

2 pounds strawberries
4 to 6 tablespoons granulated sugar, depending on the ripeness of the berries
2 tablespoons aceto balsamico (balsamic vinegar)

1. Wash the strawberries, leaving the stem on so that water does not filter in.

2. Remove all the stems and cut those berries that might be thicker than 1 inch at their broadest point into two pieces. Put all the berries in a serving bowl.

3. An hour before serving, add the sugar and toss gently but thoroughly. The sugar will dissolve and form a thin syrup.

4. Just before serving, add the balsamic vinegar and toss delicately several times.

http://www.dolcevita.com/cuisine/recipes/sum/recipe3a.htm

 
What about making some nice vinegar? They turn the vinegar a beautiful color..

and they may have enough flavor for something like this.

 
Here are some tips from Ruth SF posted at 1134

I eat my grapefruit salted, and it gives the impression that the fruit is sweeter, so on occasion I'll add just a pinch of salt to strawberries if they're underripe. One trick but it won't work for every intended use for the berries.

Combinations of acid & sugar, such as honey & lime, give the impression that the strawberries are sweeter and more flavorful. In general, honey is sweeter to the palate, so you don't have to use as much sweetener as when you use sugar. Another choice might be the combination of balsamic/oj and a bit of sugar if you still need it.

And I keep a tiny bottle of Boyajian's strawberry 'flavor' on hand (same maker that offers lemon oil, etc), if I need to make dipped strawberries and they're not strawberry-tasting enough, I mix up a simple syrup, add this flavoring, and inject it into the strawberries before dipping. It's a great pantry ingredient to have on hand if you love strawberries and happen to get an underripe batch. Just a drop in cut strawberries and you're sure they're super-ripe.

 
I got some flavorless ones too so I added them to a smoothie with some flavorful blueberries and

raspberries. Yummy.

 
I'm with Dawn- and here is a T&T fruit vinegar rec I use frequently

I can't imagine FINDING 4lbs of strawberries without having to turn over the car keys in payment so to me it is a luxury to hear you found them cheap!

This is what I do with flavorless fruits, I use frozen fruits when fresh is not available. Something I am never without in my pantry is fruit vinegar.

FLAVORED VINEGAR
Makes about 1 quart
3 cups white vinegar
2 Tbsp honey
12 to 16 oz frozen berries (unsweetened) raspberries, blueberries, strawberries)
or 4 c fresh

Combine all and bring to boil in a pan over high heat. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, until cool. Strain and discard residue. Bottle it in clean glass bottles with stoppers. No need to refrigerate.

 
Off topic a bit...does that mean strawberries aren't grown in Hawaii? I wonder why, do they need

more seasonal weather than is available there?

Edited to say seasonal probably isn't the right word, I mean cool enough weather to grow with enough warmth to ripen them.

 
REC: Balsamic Berry Salsa

Here's an idea...

Balsamic Berry Salsa
from The Great Salsa Book by Mark Miller

1 pint strawberries, stemmed & sliced
4 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 T full-bodied red wine (such as Cabernet or Rhone-style wine)
1 tsp sugar
¼ tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Thoroughly combine all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl.

Yield: about 2 cups

Serving Suggestions: As a summer appetizer, a dessert salsa (with whipped cream or mascarpone), or with pork.

 
Sandi, I'm not sure if the roasted strawberries would work well in the Strawberry Bread, because

the recipe uses not only the strawberries themselves, but the juices that drain out after sitting for an hour. I don't think the roasted ones would have as much juice, but I don't know for sure, since I've never roasted them. I guess you'd have to experiment, and let us know. smileys/smile.gif

What am I doing up so late, you ask? Well, I'm a late night freak, and yes, I live on the East Coast. So, when you're posting here very late at night or rather, early in the morning, you're not alone - I'll usually be stopping by!

 
I have seen them in home gardens but not grown commercially as far as I know

our best strawberries come from California- I have seen them from Mexico and other countries too. I'm not sure if they are grown on other Hawaiian islands but I sure haven't run across many here on Kauai. We actually have a great climate for strawberries but the few farmers we have growing stuff (few because it is so outrageously expensive to grow anything here) are concentrating on other crops.

 
I have this book! Do you have The Great Chile Book? My go to reference when confronted

with a chile I can't identify.

 
I hadn't heard of it until now - it sounds like something that would be useful to me too...

Often times there are unidentified peppers in the stores, that I might like to try out, but I have a difficult time determining their heat/flavour, etc.

Isn't it a great little salsa book? There are some (to me) exotic sounding ingredients in it - they would likely be available to those living in the southern states though.

 
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