La Cocina de Leslie: Strawberries

Showing posts with label Strawberries. Show all posts

My good friend girlichef and I are in the cocina once again for She Made/Ella Hace. This month it's all about strawberries. Heather (girlichef) is serving up not one, but TWO sweet strawberry recipes: Strawberry Atole + Strawberry Atole Paletas. (Be sure to head on over to Heather's blog to check out her mouth watering recipes.) And I whipped up these delightful Strawberry Margaritas, because who doesn't love a good margarita? These Strawberry Margaritas are sweet, refreshing and taste like summer in a glass.

Fresh Strawberry Margaritas - lacocinadeleslie.com

27 May 2015

Fresh Strawberry Margarita {She Made/Ella Hace}

This particular blog post has me envisioning a 1990's Calvin Klein-esque commercial shot entirely in black & white, with shots of scantily clad celebrity chefs (Hello, Tyler Florence!) swimming in a pool of milk, whispering the word "Obsession." Because that's exactly what today's recipe is, my latest obsession...Fruity Oat Smoothies. I drink one every. single. day. Sometimes two. And that's why girlichef and I agreed to make smoothies the subject of our latest installment of She Made/Ella Hace.

I've added a handful of oats to my smoothies before and loved them, but I was never obsessed with them like I am now.

This obsession of mine started a couple of months ago when my suegro's (father-in-law) doctor "suggested" that I make him an Oat Smoothie once a day. I started out making a smoothie just for Don Chuy. Then Hubby wanted one. As did Hope (my 15 year old), who some days gets home from school before noon. And well, seeing everyone else drinking a smoothie, I wanted one too.

For this recipe I used strawberries, because that's what's in bloom right now and they're just too pretty to resist. But I switch things up during the week and also make it with papaya, mango, and/or banana. I really can't pick a favorite, because they're all absolutely delicious!

What about you...What's your latest food obsession???

Licuado de Fresa y Avena
(Strawberry Oat Smoothie)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup cold milk
6 large strawberries
2 tablespoons dried oats
2 tablespoons sugar or honey
Ground cinnamon

Directions:
Puree the milk, strawberries, oats, sugar, and a dash of ground cinnamon in a blender cup until smooth and creamy. (About 1 minute.) Pour into glass; sprinkle top with more ground cinnamon. Enjoy!!!

Don't forget to visit girlichef's blog to check out her Fruit & Oat Power Smoothie.

22 May 2013

Strawberry Oat Smoothie {She Made/Ella Hace}

The six years that Hubby and I lived together in the United States, we had one recurring argument.

It happened every year during Strawberry season.

As soon as Hubby bit into the first strawberry of the season he would always say, "The strawberries in Mexico are better."

"The strawberries in Mexico are bigger."

"The strawberries in Mexico are sweeter."

He felt the same way about peaches too.

I didn't recall ever eating a strawberry in Mexico, so I had no idea if he was right or not. But I felt it was my duty as a proud American to defend my country's strawberries.

"You don't know what you're talking about! The strawberries in the U.S. are sweet and delicious. And well, we all know that size doesn't matter."

It was the same exact argument every time we bought strawberries. It even became a running joke between one of my best friends from high school and me.

The first letter I received from my friend G, she asked me about the strawberries. It was almost winter, so there were no strawberries in sight. But I could not wait until Spring to find out once and for all, which strawberries were the best.

Hubby often argued that the strawberries in the U.S. weren't sweet at all and that he needed to sprinkle sugar on top to be able to eat them.

Well, imagine my surprise when I bit into my very first Mexican strawberry.

It wasn't anything like I expected. I'll give Hubby this, the strawberries were big. Very big. But they didn't have the sweet strawberry aroma that I was used to and they weren't sweet at all.

Hubby was the first to bring out the sugar bowl.

Now, I'm not saying that all of the strawberries in Mexico are awful. The state of Irapuato is famous for it's strawberries. I don't need to travel so far to find a good strawberry. There is a little ranch community not far from where I live that grows organic strawberries. They're not as big as the first strawberries I tasted, but they are deliciously sweet and smell absolutely delightful.

No matter where your strawberries are from, they are always delicious in a tall glass of Agua de Fresa.

Agua de Fresa

Ingredients:

1-1/2 pounds strawberries (stems removed)
12 to 15 cups water
1 to 1-1/2 cups sugar (depending on how sweet your strawberries are)

Directions:
Before you start, rinse the strawberries to remove any dirt. Remove the stems if you haven't done so already. Place the strawberries in a blender cup. Fill the blender cup with enough water to cover strawberries. Puree until smooth.

Strain strawberry puree into a 4-quart pitcher. Add enough water to fill the pitcher. Sweeten the Agua de Fresa with sugar. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve with or without ice. Garnish the glass with a fresh strawberry. Enjoy!!!

Yields 4 quarts

Linking up with Gooseberry Patch Strawberry Recipe Round-Up

16 May 2011

The Great Strawberry Debate {Agua de Fresa}

Do I have a special treat for you today!

Yesterday I spent the morning at my suegra's house helping her prepare one of our favorite warm weather treats: Nieve Raspada!

Nieve raspada is the Mexican version of the snow cone. But instead of using bottled sugary, high fructose syrups, we make our own almibar (syrup) with real fruit and sugar. They're not as thick, but oh so delicious and packed with lots of natural flavor.

The almibares that I will be sharing with you today are Fresa de leche (Creamy Strawberry), Tamarindo (Tamarind), and Guayaba (Guava). And as the warm weather continues, I'll be sharing even more almibares like Strawberry, Limón (lime), Piña (pineapple), Vanilla, Coconut, and my personal favorite Jamaica (hibiscus flower).

Making Nieve Raspada is very easy to do. The first thing you will need is ice. Crushing a few ice cubes in a blender will work just fine. But if you want a more authentic raspado and you happen to have a handy-dandy cepillo (ice shaver), make your own block of ice by freezing a 10x3-inch (or larger) baking pan filled with water. Or you could do what we do and order a 1/4 block of ice from you local ice shop.

Before you start to shave the ice, be sure to place a kitchen towel underneath, to prevent the block of ice from slipping.

Scrape the cepillo in a forward motion over the block of ice.

The inside of the cepillo will be filled with shaved ice.

Place it in a cup and top with your favorie almíbar.

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And now for the best part...the almíbar (syrup)!

Almibar de Tamarindo (Tamarind syrup)

Ingredients:

1 pound Tamarind Pods (peeled)
3 cups water
6 cups sugar

Directions:
Place the tamarind pods, water and sugar in a large saucepan.

Simmer over medium heat until the tamarind pods are cooked and tender. Using a potato masher or the back of a spoon, crush the tamarind pods lightly. Remove the tamarind seeds with a spoon.

Let almibar de tamarindo cool to room temperature. Serve over crushed ice or refrigerate until ready to use. Enjoy!!!

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Almibar de Guayaba (Guava Syrup)

Ingredients:

1-1/2 pounds guavas (cut in quarters)
2 cups water
6 cups sugar

Directions:
Fill a medium saucepan with the guavas, water and sugar.

Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens.

Let cool to room temperature. Pour desired amount of almibar de guayaba over crushed ice or refrigerate until ready to use. Enjoy!!!

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Almibar de Fresa de Leche (Creamy Strawberry Syrup)

Ingredients:

4 cups milk
2 pounds strawberries (stems removed)
1 cup water
5 cups sugar
lime zest (optional)

Directions:

In a 2quart saucepan, heat the milk over medium-high heat until very hot. Set aside and let cool to room temperature. (You could skip this step, but you run the risk of the milk curdling when adding to the strawberry mixture.)

Fill a medium saucepan with the strawberries, water, sugar and lime zest. Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens.

Remove the strawberries from heat and let cool slightly. Add enough milk (2 to 4 cups) to the strawberry mixture to reach desired consistency. Pour desired amount of almibar de fresa de leche over crushed ice. Enjoy!!!

*Keep all almibares refrigerated when not in use.

16 April 2011

We All Scream for Mexican Ice Cream!

A couple of months ago, the beginning of Summer to be exact, I had a sumptuous recipe to share with all of you. It was THE perfect recipe to use all of the wonderful Summer fruits available at the market. As I was writing the recipe and uploading the pics, my internet connection went out. I didn't think that it was going to be a problem, because Blogger automatically saves your drafts every couple of minutes. While I waited for my internet connection to return, I decided to do a little Spring Cleaning with the pics on my computer. I copied my favorite pics to a disc and deleted the rest, including my food pics that I had already used on this blog. And being ever-so-slightly OCD, I even deleted everything in my recycling bin.

When my internet connection finally returned, I immediately went back to finish the recipe I had been working on. Well...imagine my surprise when I saw that none of what I had written had been saved, nor had the pics. Noooooo! That really is one of the worst things that could happen to a food blogger. I was devastated.

Fast forward to today...
I was working on the my recipe index and was looking through my Picassa Web Albums for pics. Now imagine what a surprise it was to find the pics of the Summer Fruit recipe I had wanted to post months ago! Woo-hoo! I am so happy and excited that I just have to share the recipe before I lose the pics again.

The actual name of this fruit dish is Bionico, but here in town we also call it a Preparado. It's a very popular breakfast at the town's market. It's a fruit salad make with a mixture of your favorite fruits, Mexican crema sweetened with honey and ground cinnamon and topped with your choice of granola, strawberry jam and/or shredded coconut.

If you want a lighter, healthier Bionico, substitute plain yogurt for the Mexican crema. This is a great fruit salad to make all year long, using whatever fruits are in season at the moment.

Bionicos (Mexican Fruit Salad)

Ingredients:

2 cups Mexican crema or plain yogurt
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Apple
Papaya
Banana
Strawberries
Mango
Guavas
Granola (for garnish)
Strawberry jam (for garnish)
Shredded coconut (for garnish)

Directions:
In a medium bowl, mix together the Mexican crema, honey, sugar and ground cinnamon until the sugar dissolves; refrigerate until ready to use.

Peel and chop your favorite fruits into bite-sized pieces. (I used banana, strawberries, apples, papaya, guavas, and mango.) You need about 1 cup of fruit per serving. Pour the crema mixture over the fruit; stir gently to combine.

Spoon the fruit mixture into individual bowls or cups. Top with a dollop of strawberry jam, and sprinkle top with shredded coconut and granola. Enjoy!

Breakfast Bionico (Mexican Fruit Salad) - lacocinadeleslie.com

30 September 2010

Happy Lil' Surprise: Bionicos (Mexican Fruit Salad)

As you know, some of my favorite recipes are those that start out as one thing, but turn into something completely different.

I started making the Buttermilk Cake with Old-Time Fudge Icing from my Southern Cakes cookbook.

But...

Our local strawberry vendor paid a visit while my cake layers were in the oven. Now, who can refuse a kilo of organic strawberries for 20 pesos? That's a little over 2 pounds of strawberries for less than $1.50!

My Hubby bought 2 kilos, then turned to me and said that he wanted me to make him the cake that is on the cover of my Sky High Cakes cookbook.

Since I already had the Buttermilk cake in the oven, I decided to turn it into a Buttermilk Strawberry Shortcake.

Sigh!

It was AMAZING! Heaven on a plate! The cake itself was moist and tender. The strawberries were the perfect balance between sweet and tart. And the billowy layers of whipped cream were light and airy.

This cake would make a great Mother's Day gift! (Hint, hint!)

Buttermilk Strawberry Shortcake
(Buttermilk cake recipe courtesy of Southern Cakes cookbook by Nancie McDermott)

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 pounds strawberries
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sweetened Whipped Cream or Whipped Topping

Directions:
*If you don't have buttermilk, add a teaspoon of either white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk. Let stand for 10 minutes before using.

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round pans. (Or three 8-inch round pans.) In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; stir with a fork to mix well. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the softened butter and the sugar; beat with a mixer on high speed until very light and fluffy. (About 6 to 8 minutes.)

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one.

Add about a third of the flour mixture; beat at low speed just until the flour disappears.

Add half of the milk; beat at low speed just until milk disappears. Mix in another third of the flour, followed by the rest of the milk and then the rest of the flour in the same way.

Stir in the vanilla.

Divide the batter among the prepared pans.

Bake at 350 F for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cakes are golden brown and spring back when touched lightly in the center. Cool the cakes in the pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pan and continue to cool until room temperature.

While the cake layers are cooling, hull and slice the strawberries.

Toss the strawberries with the 1 cup of sugar, ground cinnamon and vanilla. Set aside for 10 to 15 minutes.

Place one of the cake layers top-side down on a cake plate. Spoon half of the sliced strawberries and their juices over the cake.

Top strawberries with whipped topping. Place the other cake top-side down over whipped topping. Top with the remaining strawberries and whipped topping.

Enjoy!!!

With Love,

Linking up with Gooseberry Patch Strawberry Recipe Round-Up

08 May 2010

Mother's Day Treat {Buttermilk-Strawberry Shortcake Cake}

If you like Piña Coladas, then you're going to love Fresa Coladas. Slightly tart Agua de Fresa sweetened with creamy sweetened condensed milk. And if you're looking for a more adult version, add a shot of rum to each glass before serving. Yum, yum, yummmmm!

Fresa Colada

Ingredients: