Gooseberries on a freezer tray: leave for 2 hours, then top and tail easily

Here’s a shortcut a wine grape grower’s wife shared with me, for topping and tailing gooseberries. We use them in jam and pies, both of which I love, but it’s always seemed unfair to me that you first get pricked by the thorns and then you have the tedious job of topping and tailing them.

The trick is to place them on a freezer tray for 2 hours immediately after picking them. The bits on the ends break off easily when frozen, and you’ll save about 20 minutes of work per pie. Better yet, you need slightly less sugar in the jam because freezing the berries concentrates their own sugar, in much the way cryoextraction is used to make sweet ice wines.

A word of caution: don’t refreeze! Use them right after topping and tailing.

One of my favorite ways of creating tasty but healthy dishes is using fruit and vegetables as sauce. There are millions of ways to do this, depending mainly on the season.

Oranges are abundant at the moment, so I’ve been using a lot of orange juice to liven up dishes. It adds a burst of flavor, yet requires no cream or butter, thus making it low in calories and high in fiber.

The season is short for wild Italian asparagus, so take advantage of it in April and May.

RECIPE

Ingredients

Serves 3 or 4

Instructions

Preheat grill or broiler.

Place John Dory on a roasting tin or broiler pan, skin side up.

Wash asparagus. If ends are woody, cut off woody part.

Place asparagus around fish. Drizzle with olive oil. Turn in oil so spears are lightly coated.

Salt and pepper asparagus and fish.

When grill or broiler is hot, place pan under broiler.

Juice one (or two) blood orange(s).

The cooking time for fish always depends on the thickness. John Dory is a dense fish, so it takes longer than other white fish.

Grill for 7 or 8 minutes.

Remove pan from oven. Close oven door. Turn heat down to 150°C / 300°F.

Turn fish so that skin side is down. Salt and pepper. Turn asparagus.

Put fish back into middle of oven (not under the grill) until cooked.

This will usually take another 7 to 8 minutes, depending on the thickness. Open oven door every 3 or 4 minutes and put a metal spatula or fork into middle of fish to see if it is done.

If it doesn’t separate easily, it is not done. When it starts to separate, and is no longer pink, and entirely white, remove immediately.

Cut fish into equal portions. Arrange on plates, along with asparagus. Pour juice over asparagus.

Serve immediately.

Photo courtesy of Happy Hoarfrost.

One of my favorite dishes is strawberry and rhubarb compote. It’s healthy, full of fiber and vitamins; it’s also versatile and can be used in many ways.

In addition, it’s about as easy as you can get.

RECIPE

Basic principle and technique

Compote is just stewed fruit, so it’s not tricky like a cake or soufflé.

Just chop up equal weights of rhubarb and strawberries and put them in an appropriate size saucepan.

Add some cassonade or brown cane sugar, vanilla and cinnamon, then add just a touch of water — 3 or 4 centimeters / 1 or 2 inches of water in the bottom of the pan.

Bring all this to a boil, and then lower heat to medium and let it cook slowly until it forms a smooth consistency, stirring it from time to time and adding water if it starts to stick.

Both fruits are rather acidic, so you will have to adjust the amount of sugar according to your taste.

Basic guideline for proportions and ingredients

4 or 5 large branches of rhubarb

I like to serve it warm with a huge dollop of Greek yogurt, but it’s also good for breakfast, with oats or muesli, or as a cold dessert with vanilla ice cream. And it keeps for ages thanks to the sugar.

First local strawberries of 2010 in Lake Geneva region.

Breaking news: we have local strawberries and rhubarb!

Whoof, spring is here, even if the mercury can’t seem to rise quite to the heights we would like.

I was worried last week at this time. Be patient, the Mara des Bois will come in time.

First local rhubarb.

For local vegetables, green is the word. There are salads of every type, especially pourprier, rosette, arugula, baby spinach, chervil, and numerous other mixed wild greens.

Lots of sorrel to make your salmon sauce or soup. Jump on the dandelion greens while they’re plentiful. Nettles arrived on the scene this week.

Root vegetables are still in: celery root (celeriac), baby beets and carrots.

There are plenty of fat red radishes and spring onions. Jerusalem artichokes are still on the scene, as are parsnips and new potatoes, especially the raclette types. Oodles of varieties of potatoes.

There are plenty of baby leeks, broccoli and cabbages. Nice tender kohlrabi is available as well, along with Swiss chard and delicious fennel.

Wild mountain garlic leaves, to be used like an herb.

For other fruit, you’ll have to buy French or Italian products. Italian and Spanish oranges are excellent this year.

There are actually Florida grapefruit available, despite all the catastrophic predictions.

French strawberries are in abundance, as are, of course, the Spanish ones.

Sandrine Chapuis' lovely mix of wild greens and wild flowers.

Yellow kiwis from New Zealand are excellent this year, and Alphonso, well, I still have my love affair with Alphonso mangoes. I bought a dozen today for CHF2 a piece. They may be ugly, but they have a special place in my little heart. French rhubarb is available, although not in vast quantity.

Quite a variety of herbs, considering the fact that winter still hasn’t decided to really leave.

I’m not a flower specialist, so I don’t know the names. I’ll just show you the photos; they speak for themselves. There are however tulips and forsythia galore.

Photo courtesy of Sodapix.

Strawberries are extremely high in fiber as well as vitamins, so I try to use them in as many dishes as possible. You can also make low-fat or no-fat sauces and salads that are highly complimentary to a weight loss diet. And contrary to traditional wisdom, they can be used in both sweet and savory dishes.

Recipes

Strawberry and seed salad

For salads, put sliced strawberries into a vinaigrette made with Balsamic vinegar and marinate them for about 30 minutes. When ready to serve,  add mixed greens or mesclun and toss. You can also use baby spinach. (Both of these are in season right now.) Right before serving, add some mixed seeds (the kind you find in the supermarket in Switzerland), or you can mix your own favorite seeds: pumpkin, sesame, etc. Toss well and serve immediately.

Basil, strawberry and Balsamic sauce

Strawberries can also be used to make low-fat sauces. Add a few leaves of basil, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 a vanilla bean (slit the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds). Slice the strawberries, cover them with Balsamic vinegar and boil gently for about 20 minutes.

This sauce can be used on a dark chocolate cake or over vanilla ice cream. It can also be used as a savory sauce for bland dishes like certain white fish and chicken breasts. For this, just leave out the cinnamon and vanilla. In any case, it should always be served warm.

If you’re more daring in terms of flavor combinations, try it over grilled green asparagus. Talk about high fiber!

Caramelized strawberries

Another possibility is to caramelize the strawberries. Slice about 500 grams / 1 lb. strawberries. Over medium high heat, melt 50 g / about 1/4 cup butter in a frying pan. When it has just melted, add 80 grams / 1/3 cup + + T. granulated cane sugar. Add strawberries, stirring constantly.

If sugar starts to burn, remove from heat immediately. Lower temperature and put frying pan back on heat. Cook for about one minute or until sugar/butter mixture start to caramelize.

Caramelized strawberries can be served as a warm dessert, accompanied by biscuits or cookies, or in the same manner as the basil and strawberry sauce.

Root vegetables are still in: celery root (celeriac), baby beets and carrots. There are plenty of fat red radishes and spring onions. Jerusalem artichokes are still on the scene, as are parsnips and new potatoes, especially the raclette types.

There are plenty of baby leeks, broccoli and cabbages. Nice tender kohlrabi is available as well, along with Swiss chard and delicious fennel.

Otherwise, the wild strawberry plants haven’t even blossomed (they bloom before the planted ones), much less yielded those lovely Mara des Bois I lust after.

For fruit, you’ll have to buy French or Italian products. Italian and Spanish oranges are excellent this year. French strawberries are having a party, since we have none . . . but I’ll just wait for the Mara des Bois please thank you.

Yellow kiwis from New Zealand are excellent this year, and Alphonso, well, I still have my love affair with Alphonso mangoes. I just bought a dozen yesterday for 2CH50 a piece. They may be ugly, but they are heavenly. Some French rhubarb is available, although not in vast quantity.

Pourprier, a local spring salad.

For local vegetables, green is the word. There are salads of every type, especially pourprier, rosette, arugula, baby spinach, chervil, and numerous other mixed wild greens.

Rosette: sometimes it's green, sometimes it's red.

Quite a variety of herbs, considering the fact that winter still hasn’t decided to really leave.

I’m not a flower specialist, so I don’t know the names. I’ll just show you the photos; they speak for themselves.

Cranberry sauce is of course a mainstay of any Thanksgiving dinner. In Switzerland, we eat a lot of game, so it is good to always have some on hand to eat with deer, wild fowl, boar, or whatever the hunters bring in.

Photo courtesy of Dr. Mafisto.

This is a variation of the very plain, classic recipe. I’ve been using it for years. It’s easy, quick and a no-brainer. You can make it ahead of time (in fact, it’s better to make it a day or two before Thanksgiving). In addition, it keeps for ages, just like jelly or jam.

Cranberry-Orange relish recipe

Place cranberries in a large saucepan with sugar and water.

Juice the orange and remove any white pith that lingers. Cut peel into small juliennes or zests, carefully removing any pith that is sticking to the then. Add zests and juice to cranberry mixture.

Add ginger (optional) or cinnamon stick (optional).

Bring to a boil, then turn down heat, cover and cook until all the berries have popped open. This can take 20 to 30 minutes. Just be patient and keep an eye on them. If liquid evaporates before all the berries burst, add a just enough water to prevent them from sticking. Remove from heat.

Taste and adjust sweetness if necessary.

Pour into bowl you plan to serve it in and let it set. This can take a couple of hours, so it is advisable to make it well ahead of time, even 2 or 3 days. It keeps well in the refrigerator.

When ready to serve, shell and chop walnuts. Add at last minute, right before serving (otherwise, they tend to get soggy).

Summer fruit and vegetables in the Lake Geneva region are all but gone, and autumn and root vegetables are now on the agenda.

Fall fruit and vegetables

Baby carrots, baby turnips, baby beets, radishes of all types. New potatoes of all varieties.

Swiss chard (blettes), Jerusalem artichokes (topinambur), parsnips (panais), celeriac (celery root of knob celery, called céleri rave in French).

Cepe mushrooms (bolets) (delicious this year), field chanterelles (dark brown and gold in color, only available for a very short period in the autumn), black truffles, and a wide variety of other wild mushrooms.

Field chanterelles are only available in the fall.

Wild greens of all types, mesclun (mixed wild salad greens), wild arugula rocket salad, cabbage of all types, kohlrabi (colrave), beets, leeks, pumpkin, squash of all types, cauliflower, broccoli. Herbs of all types.

Most producers make their own mixture of seasonal soup greens and vegetables, which you can just add to a chicken broth.

Grapes (try the hard-to-find framboisé variety, absolutely delicious), apples, pears.

Flowers

In a couple of weeks, chrysanthemums will be the only local flowers available, so take advantage of what’s still available.

Amazingly, we are still blessed with a few summer vegetables in the Lake Geneva region, so we still have an interesting mix of spring, summer, and fall fruit and vegetables. As I keep saying, it is surprising what a variety of local fruit and vegetables are still available this late in the growing season.

Spring and summer fruit and vegetables

Aubergine/eggplant, tomatoes, cucumbers, courgette/zucchini, green beans, radishes, bell peppers of all colors.

Extra-sweet strawberries, last of the corn, raspberries, blackberries (rarer than the other berries).

Rosemary, many varieties of basil, some mint (end of season), dill, coriander, parsley, laurel, scallions.

Fall fruit and vegetables

Local parsnips from just over the border in France.

Baby carrots, baby turnips, radishes of all types.

New potatoes of all varieties, Swiss chard (blettes), Jerusalem artichokes (topinambur), parsnips (panais).

Local Comice pears.

Grapes (try the hard-to-find framboisé variety, absolutely delicious):

Apples, pears, plums, red peaches (pêches de vigne).

Wild greens of all types, mesclun (mixed wild salad greens).

Cabbage, beets, wild arugula rocket salad.

Herbs of all types, but seeing the last of the mint.

In Switzerland, each producer makes her own mixture of seasonal vegetables for soup.

Most producers make their own mixture of seasonal soup greens and vegetables, which you can just add to a chicken broth.

Cepe mushrooms (bolets).

Black truffles, and a wide variety of other wild mushrooms.

Leeks, pumpkin, squash of all types, cauliflower, broccoli.

Flowers

Amazingly, summer just left us a couple of days ago in the Lake Geneva region, so we still have an interesting mix of spring, summer, and fall fruit and vegetables. It is surprising what a variety of local fruit and vegetables are still available this late in the growing season.

Runner beans, squash, pumpkin, raspberries, mint, radishes and assorted herbs in mid-October!

Since we just skipped straight from summer to winter, we are still seeing a large variety of summer vegetables, so I’ve separated the list into categories.

Spring and summer fruit and vegetables

Aubergine/eggplant, tomatoes, cucumbers, courgette/zucchini, green beans, radishes, bell peppers of all colors.

Extra-sweet strawberries thanks to the long, hot summer.

Extra-sweet strawberries, corn, raspberries, blackberries (rarer than the other berries).

Rosemary, many varieties of basil, mint, dill, coriander, parsley, laurel, scallions.

Fall fruit and vegetables

Baby carrots, baby turnips, radishes of all types, new potatoes of all varieties, Swiss chard (blettes), Jerusalem artichokes (topinambur), parsnips (panais).

Jerusalem artichokes.

Rhubarb, grapes, apples, pears, plums, red peaches (pêches de vigne).

Wild greens of all types, mesclun (mixed wild salad greens), cabbage, beets, wild arugula rocket salad. Herbs of all types, but seeing the last of the mint.

Cepe mushrooms (bolets), truffles, and a wide variety of other wild mushrooms.

Leeks, pumpkin, squash of all types, cauliflower, broccoli.

Black truffles, or should I say "black gold"?

Flowers

Sunflowers in October in the Lake Geneva region!

October flowers in Lake Geneva region.