Strawberry TIramisu and the Art of Weight Maintenance

One of the unfortunate side effects of this blog is that I have gained weight. It happened the first time I set out to compile recipes for the original cooking with alcohol cookbook project and it's happening again with this blog. But one of the positives of gaining weight is that my boobs have gotten bigger! Granted, there are many factors that are contributing to the weight gain (less activity, dating a good cook, changes in metabolism as I age) and the boob growth (hormones, aging). So what do I change? I don't want to give up the blog or food or the boyfriend.....and I certainly don't want to give up the bigger boobs....so ONWARD.....I present Strawberry Tiramisu!

I kid, I'm not completely ignoring my weight gain. Luckily it's summer which makes being active much easier, so that's what I'm trying to change. I'm playing ultimate frisbee at least once per week, biking to work one or two days per week, and trying the Couch to 5K program. The Couch to 5K program is an interval training program where you start with alternating brisk walking (90 seconds) and running (60 seconds). Every week the running intervals get longer until you are running a 5K at week 9. There are some really great podcasts that play some pumping dance music and provide instruction on when to change your pace. I'm currently using Robert Ullrey's podcast. I haven't lost much weight but I haven't gained any more. I do feel a lot better in general - more energy and less body image conscious. Since my BMI is still under 25, I'll still eat desserts...I'll just make sure I make a trade with some physical activity when I do.

Before you read any further, plan your walk/run, bike, swim, kickball game, or put your name in at the gym for the elliptical machine. And don't forget to pick up the lady fingers, marscapone, heavy whipping cream. and strawberries on the way home!

I made a couple of changes to these recipes to use fresher ingredients and to fit my current pant size. The original recipe called for strawberry preserves, which seemed kind of silly, why not just use fresh mashed strawberries? Also, concerned about having tons of Tiramisu around and taking one step closer to a  BMI >25, I halved the recipe to make a 9 x 9 baking dish rather than a 13 x 9. I've also listed some great variations (Strawberry Tiramisu Bites!) to this recipe at the end.

Strawberry Tiramisu
Adapted fom: Giada De Laurentiis (Epicurious) and Paula Dean (FoodNetwork)

Ingredients
2 cups mashed fresh strawberries (about 1/2 quart)
1/3 cup plus 4 tablespoons Cointreau or other orange liqueur
1/3 cup orange juice
8 oz mascarpone cheese, room temperature (Italian cream cheese available at some supermarkets and at Italian markets)
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons chilled whipping cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

About 28 lady fingers (bourdoirs or Savoiardi) - the crispy kind, which are usually sold in packs of ~60
1/2 quart sliced strawberries (2 cups)

Instructions

Whisk strawberries, 1/3 cup Cointreau, and orange juice in a medium mixing bowl. Place mascarpone cheese and 2 tablespoons Cointreau in large bowl; fold just to blend. Using electric mixer, beat cream, sugar, vanilla, and remaining 2 tablespoons Cointreau in another large bowl to soft peaks. Stir 1/4 of whipped cream mixture into mascarpone mixture to lighten. Fold in remaining whipped cream.

Hull and slice 1 cup of strawberries. 

Spread 1/2  cup mashed strawberry mixture over bottom of a 9x9 serving dish or glass baking dish (Don't use metal like I did - it leaches a funny taste). Arrange enough ladyfingers over strawberry mixture to cover bottom of dish. Spoon 3/4 cup mashed strawberry mixture over ladyfingers - I gently drizzled the mixture on each lady finger. Don't worry about fully covering each lady finger - they will find a way to absorb moisture and become softer.  Then spread about half of the mascarpone mixture over. Arrange 1 cup sliced strawberries over mascarpone mixture. Repeat with a layer of lady fingers, mashed strawberry mixture, and marscarpone mixture. Cover with plastic and chill at least 8 hours or overnight. Or 4 hours if you just can't wait!

Slice remaining strawberries (= ~1 cup sliced strawberries). Arrange over tiramasù and serve.

Variations:

Individual servings: Layer as above in ramikins to make individual servings of Tiramisu. You may need to cut the ladyfingers in half to better fit the ramekins.

Italian Strawberry Shortcake - Use your favorite strawberry shortcake base (angel food cake, sponge cake, or biscuits): Slice cake, top with strawberry mash mixture, dollop mascarpone and sliced strawberries

Layer cake: Make a sponge cake, divide into layers and build your own layer cake with the Tiramisu ingredients

Tarts: Place about 1/2- to 1 teaspoon mashed strawberry mixture in bottom of a tart shell. Spoon about 1 tablespoon mascarpone mixture into each tart shell. Top each with a strawberry half.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp and the Bare Kitchen Challenge

My mom used to make rhubarb pie with fresh rhubarb from a patch behind our house. I remember harvesting the rhubarb with my mom. We would have to bushwhack our way through a jungle of overgrown weeds and uneven hillside behind our house. It always felt like we were some kind of expedition. When reached the rhubarb patch the plants reached my 6 year old waist and the leaves were as big as my head.  I remember being really sweaty and fighting bugs, the notorius Maine no-seeums. It seemed such a journey but was probably only 100 yard round trip.

I never liked rhubarb pie - it was too bitter for my taste.  But I always liked the challenge of harvesting it.

Twenty-five years later.....in a more urban location, I drive about 4 miles to pick up my farm share and find 4 stalks for rhubarb and a quart of strawberries in this weeks share. I search google for a recipe, thinking that I'll give rhubarb another go as my taste buds have matured as an adult and I seem to have a more open palate - I hated cheese when I was younger and now love it! For all you people who believe Google is watching you...here is more proof. The first or second "hit" from a search of "strawberry rhubarb recipe" is a recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp that contains alcohol. Man, Google totally has me profiled and will soon be feeding me audio ads through my phone while I sleep.

Now armed with a great recipe, I check my refrigerator and cabinets and realize I'm missing or low on several staples:

Not enough strawberries - just shy of a quart after snacking on a few when I got home from the farm.

Unknown quantity of rhubarb - yes 4 stalks, but how many cups does that make?

No brown sugar. No big deal since I can make my own brown sugar with molasses and white sugar - Add 2 Tbsp. of dark molasses to 1 cup of white sugar and mix thoroughly. Damn, no molasses. Hmmm, maybe white sugar and some honey?

Low on butter, gasp! I only had 6 tablespoons and the crisp part of the recipe called for 12 tablespoons.

It was late at night and I didn't want to make a trip to the store even though I was missing major crisp ingredients. I decided to use what I had for strawberries and rhubarb - 4 stalks of rhubarb equaled 4 cups and 1 quart of strawberries was about 3 cups. I added a little more sugar to the strawberry rhubarb mixture - I suspected I might be missing some sweetness since the recipe called for 5 cups of strawberries  I decided to halve the crisp recipe to match the amount of butter I had on hand. Finally, I made an amber sugar, substituting honey for molasses in the make your own brown sugar recipe. By the way, I made up the term amber sugar - but it sounds like it should exist...and it does, but has nothing to do with honey.

Wow, I think that is the most experimenting I've ever done with baking and it turned out really wonderful. The strawberry rhubarb mixture was plenty sweet - I could have gotten away without adding the extra sugar. Next time I will only use the extra sugar if I use strawberries from out of season or from California, which tend to be less sweet because they aren't vine ripened. The honey gave the crisp an earthy taste and half as much crisp made for a less heavy dessert. I served it warm with some homemade vanilla ice cream. You can use store bought if you didn't buy your roommate an ice cream maker for his birthday. Topped with whipped cream would be tasty too.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Adapted From Southern Food from about.com
 Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients
4 cups chopped fresh rhubarb (about good sized stalks)
1 quart (~3 cups) strawberries, hulled, rinsed, sliced
1 cup granulated sugar (plus 1/4 cup if you are using non-locally ripened strawberries)
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup Grand Marnier liqueur, or use Cointreau or Orange Juice

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar (or amber sugar - 1/3 cup sugar + 2 tablespoons honey)
3/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped pecans, slivered almonds, or other chopped nuts
Pinch salt
1 large egg, slightly beaten (the original recipe called for 1 egg, and I used most of the egg for the halved version. Didn't feel the need to waste half an egg and it turned out fine)

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 to 2 tbsp. confectioners' sugar
1/2 to 1 teaspoon almond extract, or Amaretto liqueur

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly butter the bottom of a large (4-quart) baking dish. A 15x10x2-inch pan will hold 4 quarts, or use two smaller pans, such as 11x7x2-inch or 9-inch square. In a large bowl, toss the rhubarb and strawberries with the granulated sugar and orange zest. In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the Grand Marnier or Cointreau or Orange Juice and toss with the rhubarb mixture until well coated. Spoon the mixture into the prepared dish and set aside.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the butter, flour, oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon with a pastry blender until crumbly. Stir in the almonds or pecans and salt, then stir in the egg with a fork until well blended. Drop the mixture by spoonfuls evenly over the rhubarb mixture and bake for 45 minutes, or until nicely browned and bubbly. Remove from oven and keep warm while making whipped cream. If desired, serve this crisp with ice cream instead of fresh whipped cream.

In a medium size bowl, whip the cream with the confectioners sugar until soft peaks form. Beat in the almond extract. Cut the warm crisps into squares and serve topped with generous dollops of the whipped cream.