Well summer is finally here which means it’s the season for everyone’s favourite fruit, the Strawberry. A few weeks backs we received the much anticipated “first of the season” strawberries and well, they didn’t disappoint. They were juicy, sweet and a big favourite of our customers.
We source our strawberries from our friend Pat Clarke, a local grower from Stamullen, Co Meath. Pat has established a reputation for the production of quality fresh fruit over the past 50 years sowing his first plants back in the 60’s. His dedication and attention to detail has created a superior quality berry.
So what do we do with these beautiful strawberries @ The Lime Kiln? Well not a whole lot really, we let these superior quality berries speak for themselves . . . with a little help of course.
Strawberries and Vanilla Cream
Serves 4
- 2 punnets of strawberries (900g)
- 200ml fresh cream
- 150g icing sugar
- ½ vanilla pod or 2 drops of vanilla extract
Directions
- Wash, hull and dry the fruit
- Take 200g of strawberries and roughly chop them. Place them in a food processor with 50g of icing sugar and blend until smooth. A few drops of water maybe added here to loosen the coulis. Pass the coulis through a fine sieve and put aside
- Place the cream, icing sugar and vanilla in a bowl and whip until stiff but still quite smooth
- Cut the strawberries into different sized pieces
- Pour a pool of coulis into the middle of each bowl and arrange strawberries on top
- Pour some boiling water into a jug and heat a dessert spoon
- Drag the spoon across the top of the cream to form a quenelle and place on top of the strawberries. Voila! Beautiful strawberries and vanilla cream.
The quenelle may take a little practice, the best tip I can give you is to move quickly and be confident you can do it . . . if it doesn’t work, don’t worry, it will still taste great.
Robert, Head Chef @ The Lime Kiln
