For The Union-Tribune
When I was young and my family would drive up in the spring and summer to Santa Barbara from our home in L.A., we’d always try to stop in Oxnard at one of the strawberry farms to pick up a flat of enormous, red and juicy berries. Fat and glossy, they were so packed with natural sugars that as we gorged on them in the car, we’d feel woozy, almost drunk. It was heaven.
In San Diego County, Carlsbad is strawberry central, and we’re now in peak strawberry season. Head over to Carlsbad Strawberry Company and pick your own at the farm or go to a strawberry stand or farmers market. Eat them by the handful, slice them into cereal or a fruit salad, or dip them in chocolate — or how about trying some recipes from Russ Bruhn’s place, the Strawberry Shack, which has locations in both Carlsbad and Oceanside.
Bruhn, originally from Tucson, opened his first location in 2009 at Armstrong Garden Center at The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch. It was part of his Carlsbad Gourmet business, which primarily makes food products with strawberries — items like strawberry spread, strawberry-ginger mustard, strawberry barbecue sauce and strawberry balsamic vinaigrette.
Bruhn said strawberries were his destiny.
“My family has some 8 millimeter film of me when I was a very little boy and our family visited my aunt’s farm in southern Illinois,” he recalled. “She had a strawberry field and when we’d go there on Easter break I’d be shouting, ‘Strawberries! Strawberries!,’ which I could barely pronounce. And then, ‘Chocolate! Chocolate!’ And they’d give me strawberries and chocolate. I loved strawberries from Day One.”
Carlsbad Gourmet’s origin story is something Bruhn has frequently told. Basically, it dates to when he was coaching his son’s football team and there was a game they played against a team from Kauai. The team came out at the introduction with gift bags for Bruhn’s team filled with branded food items from Hawaii.
“I was embarrassed. Didn’t get the memo,” said Bruhn, who is half Hawaiian. “I wanted to reciprocate and looked around town but couldn’t find anything. I thought, ‘You’d think there would be something made of strawberries,’ but no. So I looked on Google and was led to the California Strawberry Commission and learned that 85 percent of all strawberries in the nation came from California. We’re like the strawberry capital of the world. So, then I started looking for stuff made out of strawberries and that’s how this whole thing started.”
When I visited the Strawberry Shack in Carlsbad, I tasted a strawberry marshmallow and strawberry shake — so many strawberry possibilities — before Bruhn started cooking. When Bruhn showed me around the space, he pointed out the gizmo that allows the workers to easily slice off the strawberry tops. It’s like a sharp V that you just glide the strawberry over and off comes the hull. The hulls collect in a container and Bruhn saves all the hulls to make juice. It’s the simplest process, but you’ll need a good amount to do this: Place the hulls in a pot with water and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and let them steep overnight. Drain the liquid (and compost the hulls). Pour the strawberry liquid to a cup, and add agave syrup to taste. Add ice if you like. That’s it. It’s so refreshing.
For the real recipes, what Bruhn had in mind for us were two pies: strawberry and strawberry-key lime. And he cooked up a pork loin to serve as almost a delivery system for his sweet and savory roasted strawberry chipotle sauce.
The sauce is perfect for adding to proteins like pork, chicken or salmon — or marinating them in. You can use it to top roasted vegetables, or use it as a dip.
It’s ittedly a project: Not that it’s at all difficult to make, but it makes a lot, so you’ll probably want to process it in sterilized glass jars. Otherwise, share jars with friends and have them use it pretty quickly. You can also halve the recipe. Honestly, if you’re someone who likes to get started on holiday gifting early, get yourself the Ball Book of Canning and Preserving or visit the Ball website (ballmasonjars.com) for a primer on how to can foods safely and make this recipe while strawberries are in peak season. Your gift recipients will thank you.
You can make this sauce with either water or beer. Bruhn suggests a dark, heavier beer like a dark lager. In a saucepan, you’ll combine whatever liquid you choose with canola oil, pureed onions and garlic, diced jalapeños, chipotles with adobo, and apple cider vinegar. Heat the mixture over medium heat to 140 degrees. While that’s heating, puree the strawberries. Then add the puree to the mixture, along with crushed red pepper, liquid smoke, pectin and 3 cups of sugar (half the full amount). That needs to reach 160 degrees. Don’t forget to stir.
Once you reach that temperature, add the remaining sugar, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and xanthan gum. Mix it well and heat to 210 degrees, at which point you will remove the saucepan from the heat and let it cool to 180 to 190 degrees. While it’s cooking, prep your canning equipment so you have sterilized glass jars and lids ready for the sauce and then follow the instructions for processing.
If you’re not someone who usually uses pectin or xanthan gum, don’t fret. Both are easy to find in supermarkets in the baking aisle. Pectin is commonly used for making jam with produce that doesn’t naturally contain it. It’s known for its gelling and thickening properties. Xanthan gum helps stabilize items like salad dressings and sauces so they don’t separate. It’s also used in ice cream to help create the right texture. You don’t need much of either, but it makes a difference in the final product. And, said Bruhn, be sure to use low sugar pectin (LSP), since there’s plenty of sugar in the recipe.
Next come the pies. Let’s start with a simple, yet powerfully flavorful strawberry pie. You can make this even if you’re not a baker, with a premade crust. And this is the dessert you want to make when it’s too hot to bake. Bruhn makes the most of sweet, juicy strawberries, but he amplifies the flavor with strawberry Jell-O powder. The mixture is thickened, along with the gelatin from the Jell-O, with cornstarch.
The big rule here is to start with cold water. Bruhn noted that hot water will cause the cornstarch to clump. So combine that cold water with sugar, cornstarch and strawberry gelatin in a saucepan and place on medium heat. Whisk until combined and keep at it while it’s heating to prevent any scorching or clumping until the mixture starts gently boiling. Remove it from the heat and allow it to cool to room temperature. At that point, pour it into a baked and cooled pie crust. Chill the pie in the refrigerator for at least two to three hours so it can firm up. Then serve with whipped cream.
The strawberry-key lime pie is a great combo of two favorites, and you get a sweet-tart mouthful merged with a graham cracker crust.
You start with the crust — just graham crackers, sugar and melted butter. All you need to do is get out your food processor, fill the bowl with the ingredients and pulse until you have what looks like wet sand. Then empty it into a pie pan and press into the pan evenly on the bottom and the sides. Bake it until slightly browned and then let it cool.
You can wipe out the food processor bowl or use a blender to start the filling. Blend lime juice, strawberries and some strawberry jam until it’s smooth. Set that aside and whisk egg yolks, add condensed milk, and continue whisking until blended. Then add the strawberry-lime juice mixture. Whisk again gently until well combined and then let it sit and thicken for about 20 minutes. Then pour the filling into the cooled graham cracker crust and bake for about 15 minutes until it’s just a little jiggly. Take it out of the oven and let it cool to room temperature, at which point, you’ll cover it and chill it in the refrigerator for at least three to four hours. Serve with whipped cream and garnish with strawberry and lime slices.
Roasted Strawberry Chipotle Sauce
Makes 14 cups
INGREDIENTS
1 cup water (optional: dark and heavier beer like a dark lager)
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 cup onion, pureed
1/4 cup fresh garlic, pureed
4 3/4 cups jalapeños, diced
3 tablespoons chipotle puree with adobo
1 cup apple cider vinegar
5 1/4 cups strawberries, washed and hulled
2/3 tablespoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon liquid smoke concentrate, hickory flavor
2 1/2 teaspoons low sugar pectin
6 cups granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
2/3 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
DIRECTIONS
1: Combine water (or beer), canola oil, onions, garlic, jalapeños, chipotles with adobo, and apple cider vinegar in a saucepan over medium heat until it reaches 140 degrees.
2: In the meantime, puree strawberries.
3: Add strawberry puree, along with crushed red peppers, liquid smoke, pectin, and half the sugar to mixture in saucepan. Heat to 160 degrees.
4: Add remaining half of the sugar, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and xanthan gum and mix well. Heat to 210 degrees.
5: Remove from heat and let cool to 180 to 190 degrees. Follow canning directions from website like Ball (ballmasonjars.com) to prepare sterilized glass jars and when ready, pour sauce into sterilized glass jars and process.
Strawberry Pie
Makes 1 pie
INGREDIENTS
1 pound strawberries
1 cup cold water
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
2/3 cup strawberry Jell-O powder
1 frozen deep dish 9-inch pie shell or make your own
Whipped cream
DIRECTIONS
1: Bake the pie shell and cool to room temperature.
2: Wash and slice strawberries. Set aside.
3: In a saucepan over medium heat, add cold water, sugar, cornstarch and strawberry gelatin. Whisk until combined and continue whisking constantly while heating to prevent scorching or clumping until mixture reaches a gentle boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
4: Add strawberries to the filling and gently combine. Pour into the baked and cooled crust.
5: Chill pie in refrigerator for at least 2 to 3 hours before serving. Serve with whipped cream.
Strawberry-Key Lime Pie
Makes 1 pie
INGREDIENTS
For the graham cracker crust:
9 (5 ounces) graham crackers
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the strawberry-key lime filling:
1/3 cup freshly squeezed key lime juice
1/2 pound hulled strawberries
1 tablespoon strawberry jam
5 egg yolks (from large eggs)
1 (14 ounce) can condensed milk
For the whipped cream topping:
1 cup heavy whipping cream, chilled
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
For the garnish:
Strawberry slices
Lime slices
DIRECTIONS
1: Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2: Make the graham cracker crust: Place graham crackers into the food processor and pulse until the crumbs are fine and free of large pieces. Add sugar. Pulse again. Add melted butter and pulse until mixture looks like wet sand.
3: Place crumb mixture into pie pan. Press mixture onto pan evenly on sides and bottom.
4: Place pie shell into pre-heated oven. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes until slightly browned. Allow to cool completely on wire rack to room temperature.
5: Make the strawberry-key lime filling: Blend lime juice, strawberries and jam together in a blender or food processor until smooth and no strawberry pieces are visible. Set aside.
6: Whisk egg yolks. Add condensed milk. Continue whisking. Add strawberry-lime mixture. Whisk gently until well combined. Set aside to thicken for about 20 minutes.
7: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place filling into cooled crust and bake for about 15 minutes. Filling should still jiggle slightly (in the middle only) when done. Allow to cool completely to room temperature. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or with a large, inverted plate and chill in refrigerator for at least 3 to 4 hours until set.
8: Make whipped cream topping: Place chilled heavy cream into mixing bowl and beat with a whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time and continue beating to stiff peaks, being careful not to overmix.
9: Spoon dollops of whipped cream on chilled pie or place whipped cream into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and decorate as desired. Garnish with sliced strawberries and limes.
Storage note: Store pie in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Recipes from Russ Bruhn.
