Little red...

If there's a fruit that I've always loved, uncoditionally and immensely, then it must be strawberry.
Even though they can be bought all year round now, I still love to think of them as spring fruit. And I still remember the emotions and thrill when my mom would get home from work with a surprise in a brown paper bag. The first strawberries of the season were definitely not the best one could try, but the feeling to be eating the best sweet in the world was there for sure.
Strawberries just don't have that same flavour, in any sense.
But still, I like to play with them.
They've found their way to my kitchen and not only in cakes and desserts, but in salads and risotto, as well.
The idea, however, to preserve some of their precious smell and flavour was intriguing, and I gave it a try.
So I'm sharing two ideas with you today, two simple recipes that I've tried last week.
I'm sure the colour and intense scent and flavour of this red vinegar will appeal to you as much as they did to me. And I'm looking forward to using it later on to add some spring feeling to my salads. I guess I should make another batch, after this trial one.
The dried strawberries, too, are like concentrated strawberry flavoring - all natural.

My daughter said yesterday, this salad was just a perfect Mother's Day salad.


Strawberry vinegar


175 g fresh strawberries
250 ml white vinegar

Cut the washed, hulled and dried strawberries into small pieces.
Put them in a clean jar and pour the vinegar over them.
Close the jar tightly and keep at room temperature for 3 days.
Filter the vinegar through a fine mash sieve and pour into a bottle.
It will keep for a year.
You can use it to add some spring flavour to your salads or for fish marinade.
I've also been told that it can be added to meringues. Have to try that yet.

Dried strawberries

Wash, dry and hull the strawberries. Slice them thinly and place in a single layer on a piece of baking paper.
Place the baking paper directly on the oven rack, in the oven preheated to 80°C.
It will take several hours (it took me 2,5 to 3 hours) for strawberries to e dry and crispy at edges.

Store them in an airtight container and keep for several months.
You can add them to cakes and other desserts, to your cereals or yogurt.

Aceto alle fragole


175 g di fragole fresce
250 g di aceto bianco


Lavate e asciugate le fragole.
Tagliatele a pezzettini e metteteli in un vasetto di vetro.
Versateci l'aceto, chiudete bene e lasciate riposare a temperatura ambiente per 3 giorni.
Filtrate l'aceto atraverso un colino a maglie fitte, versatelo in una botiglietta, e conservate per un anno.
Usatelo per condire le insalate o per marinare il pesce.

Fragole essicate


Lavate e asciugate le fragole mature, ma ben sode (quantità a volontà).
Tagliatele a fettine sottili (2-3 mm) e stendetele sulla griglia del forno foderata con carta da forno in un unico strato.
Mettetele nel forno ventilato riscaldato a 80°C per qualche ora, o meglio finché diventino secce e friabili ai bordi. A me ci sono volute circa 2,5 o 3, dipende dallo spessore.


Conservatele in un contenitore a chiusura ermetica per qualche mese.
Potete utilizzarle per aromatizzare i dolci, o aggiungere nei cereali a colazione.

Ocat s jagodama

175 g jagoda
250 g bijelog octa
Nasjeckajte jagode i stavite ih u staklenku. Zalijte s octom (ja sam stavila bijeli vinski ocat).
Zatvorite i ostavite na sobnoj temperaturi (ne na hladnom) 3 dana. Zatim procijedite kroz gusto mrežasto cjedilo ili gazu i koristite za salate ili za mariniranje ribe.
Rok trajanja mu je godinu dana.

Sušene jagode


Narežite jagode (količinu po želji) na tanke kriške (pazite da su su vam sve iste debljine).
Rasporedite ih na papir za pečenje koji stavite izravno na rešetku u pećnici.
Sušite ih u ventiliranoj pećnici zagrijanoj na 80°C - trebat će vam nekoliko sati (meni je trebalo 2,5 do 3 sata), dok ne postanu suhe i prhke na rubovima.


Čuvajte ih u hermetički zatvorenoj posudi nekoliko mjeseci.
Možete ih dodati u kolače, u žitarice za doručak, sladolede, jogurt itd.