Strawberry Love: My Review

 

Strawberry Love

About the Book:

The arrival of fresh strawberries signals the start of summer, the time to visit pick-your-own farms and farmers’ markets to stock up on plump, ripe berries. Strawberry Love celebrates strawberry season with 45 recipes, all beautifully photographed, for enjoying this heavenly fruit, fresh or frozen. From breakfast treats (French Toast with Strawberry Syrup) to salads (Strawberry, Burrata, and Arugula Salad), main courses (Hamburger Sliders with Goat Cheese, Strawberries and Bacon), and desserts (Strawberry Creamsicles on a Stick and Strawberry Heart Hand Pies), strawberry lovers will find tantalizing new ways—along with the classics—to make the most of their summer berry bounty. The book also includes tips for picking, freezing, and making jams and syrups for enjoying the taste of summer all year long.

My Comments:

Strawberries are my absolute favorite fruit so when this beauty was offered on NetGalley I grabbed it.  It is full of fabulous-sounding recipes so that I could have strawberries for breakfast (coffee cake, danish, muffins, or waffles), lunch (gazpacho, hamburger sliders, strawberry, burrata and arugula salad) or dinner (pork chops, sautéed chicken breasts, or fish tacos) not to mention happy hour or dessert.  

The recipes are simple and generally use ingredients I have in the house and they can be put together relatively quickly.  

The book includes photos of most of the recipes as well as some general tips on dealing with strawberries.  All in all a real winner here.  Grade: B+

Cookbook Review: Blueberry Love

Blueberry Love

About the Book:

Prized for their taste and nutrition, blueberries are a favorite for eating by the handful and as an ingredient in cooking and baking. Blueberry Love celebrates this sweet-tart summer fruit with 46 recipes for enjoying blueberries, fresh or frozen. From breakfast treats (Blueberry Bread Pudding and Blueberry Granola) to salads (Blueberry, Watermelon, Feta, and Mint), from main courses (Skirt Steak with Blueberry Port Sauce) to desserts (Whoopie Pies with Blueberry Cream Filling), this book is brimming with classic and creative ways to put blueberries to use. It also includes tips for picking, freezing, and making staples like jam and pie.

My Comments:

We go through a lot of blueberries at my house, and that's before I got my hands on a NetGalley of this gem.  With this cookbook we could have blueberries at all three meals, and for snacks.  

The book has beautiful photography to give you an idea of how your treat is supposed to look. 

By and large the recipes are simple--the kinds of things you find in church cookbooks and the like.  These aren't the things that take all day to cook and dirty every dish in the house.  

I made a pork recipe and shared it here. 

There is a big section on how to pick and preserve the fruit.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  Grade:  B+

 

From Blueberry Love: Sautéed Pork Tenderloin

 

Next week I'm going to publish my review of Blueberry Love, but this week I'm sharing one of the recipes with you (with the permission of the author, Cynthia Graubert.

Sautéed Pork Tenderloin 

Makes 3-4 servings

Glaze:

2 Cups fresh or frozen blueberries (I used frozen)

1/2 Cup balsamic vinegar

1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup

1 1/2 Tablespoon whole grain mustard ( used regular yellow French's because its what we had

Pinch of Salt

Pinch freshly ground pepper 

Pork

1 (l lb) pork tenderloin

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Fresh sage for garnish (optional) 

Make the Glaze

Place 1 cup of blueberries and the vinegar in small saucepan and bring to a quick boil over medium high heat.  Mash the blueberries with a potato masher , and add the remaining 1 cup blueberries.  Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the glaze is thickened and reduced in volume by half.  Stir in the maple syrup, mustard, salt and pepper.  Keep warm

Cook the Tenderloin on the Stovetop

Slice the tenderloin into 1 inch thick medallions (rounds). Season with salt and pepper. 

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  When hot, add the oil.  Add the medallions in a single layer and sear, cooking for about 3 minutes.  Turn and cook for 3 minutes longer. 

Pour 1/2 cup of the glaze into the skillet and turn the medallions over in the skillet until coated.  Remove from heat and serve warm.  Pass extra glaze as desired. 

My Comments

I may have sliced to the pork too thick, but mine wasn't done after six minutes.  I poured in half the glaze at that point and let the dish simmer.  Then I realized I hadn't added the maple syrup and mustard to the glaze, so I added it to the unused part, and then added it to the pork pan.  I didn't have any whole grain mustard so I just used the French's. 

The meal was a hit with my family (all of whom love blueberries).  

Come back next week and read about the cookbook!