Hatch Chile Salsa, Batch #1

This is the second time making it and first time actually committing the ratio to paper.. err digital cookbook journal. The first time was last year and it was delicious. This batch is really the second batch of tomato salsa for this summer.

A note about roasting fresh peppers. I started with 2 lbs fresh hatch chile peppers; but after processing them by roasting, peeling, removing the stem and discarding the seeds, I had 14.25 oz left. And, this is fine.

A common substitution for Hatch chiles is Anaheim,
and after roasting these Hatch chiles I really can't tell the difference.

This summer I've made 3 batches of salsa so far with different ingredient ratios. Batches #1 and #3 are essentially the same; the red chile pepper got swapped with Anaheim chiles in #3.

Batch #1, main heat ingredients - jalapenos (8), red chile pepper (1)
Batch #2, main heat ingredients - hatch chiles (2 lbs)
Batch #3, main heat ingredients - jalapenos (8), Anaheim chiles (5)

TheFoodening Blog - Hatch Chile Salsa

Batch #2 Ingredients

5 lb red tomatoes, roasted and peeled
1 head garlic cloves, roasted, peeled, chopped
4 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 lb (14.25 oz) prepared hatch chile peppers, roasted, peeled, seeded
1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro, stems removed and chopped
1 tbsp kosher salt

Directions

1. In a large stockpot, bring tomatoes, garlic, chile peppers, lime juice, and salt to a boil; then simmer over medium heat to reduce the water content. You want salsa that can stay on a chip, not fall off like a soupy mess.

I let the water boil off for roughly 1.5 hrs; then got bored and used a mesh strainer to get more of the solids out into the jar.

2. Turn off heat and stir in cilantro. 

3. Fill sterilized glass jars and process in a hot water bath for 20 minutes.

Makes 5 pints.

Kimchi and Bacon Fried Rice

I will have to make this again, as I just ate it for dinner and didn't snap a photo. There are many ways to make fried rice and it starts with a pot of leftover steamed rice from the previous day, or whenever. It's up to you whether or not you want to make this with white or brown rice, short or long grain. The preferred is long grain rice because it's not as sticky.

Ingredients

1 c steamed or baked rice (per serving)
1/2 c homemade kimchi, chopped
1 green onion stalk, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 strips of cooked bacon, diced
1 tbsp olive oil

Directions

If you don't have cooked bacon on hand, fry fresh bacon in the large skillet. Once cooked, remove bacon to a cutting board and dice. There should be 1-2 tbsp of bacon lard in the skillet Proceed with the rest of the recipe, omitting the olive oil.

In a large skillet, warm oil over medium-high heat. Add scallions and garlic. Fry until fragrant. Add rice before garlic starts to brown. Add kimchi. Mix it all up until thoroughly combined.

Fry the rice for about 5-10 minutes, until the rice warms up and everything is about the same temperature.

Serve hot.

Kimchi Pork Buns

I have made these twice now with two different dough recipes, both of which can be left to rise overnight, if needed. Typically, dough for steamed bao is ready in about 2 hours, from mix to proof to prepare and steam. At some point I'll write a kitchen note about the many different ways you can make the dough for steamed buns and what the differences, if any, there are.

TheFoodeningBlog - Kimchi Pork Buns

Dough (from Maangchi)

1 c warm water + 2 tsp active dry yeast + 1/2 tsp salt + 1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
3 c unbleached all purpose flour

For this dough, dissolve the dry yeast in warm water with or without the sugar and let it bubble into action for 10 mins before stirring in the rest of the ingredients. You should sift the flour and salt together before adding the yeast because direct contact with salt will kill the newly awakened yeast, or so I've read.

Let the dough rise in a warm spot in the kitchen, covered, until double in volume. Then gently knead and roll into a log and divide into 16 equal portions; or 8 portions to make really large buns.

Makes: 16 buns

Filling Ingredients

1/2 c homemade kimchi, finely chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp homemade vegan oyster sauce (optional)

Mix filling ingredients together. Use 1 heaping tablespoon of filling per bun.

Roll dough portions out into a 4" diameter circle. Put the filling in the center, and bring the edges of the dough circle to the center and pinch at the top. You can pleat the folds at the top if you want to; but it all tastes the same.

Kitchen Notes: Substitution for Trader Joe's Light Soy Sauce

From looking at the ingredients by fat/sugar/calorie ratios on Trader Joe's products, especially coconut milk, they do dilute their products a lot. I suspect that their soy sauce, now priced in this area at $3/bottle is just half soy sauce watered down by vinegar (news to me too!) and water. I swear I did not notice the vinegar on the ingredients list of Trader Joe's soy sauce until recently. And then, I ran out of it.

Which brings me to wonder if I could recreate the ingredient ratio based on per tablespoon sodium and calories. This is a ratio that I have refilled the TJ bottle with:

1 c Kikoman gluten-free tamari soy sauce (that's right, no wheat)
1/4 c Marukan rice vinegar (at 0 calories and 0 sodium, it's all flavor)
3/4 c filtered water

Shake it all together in the bottle. I have no idea if these liquids separate at all, e.g., if one is heavier than another. Seems to taste ok. A little watered down in appearance; but that's to be expected since wheat (gluten) is really a thickener in soy sauce.

Makes 2 cups.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

As I ponder the grammar of the recipe's title, I had other notions about this recipe; which, if you look around on the Net seems to be someone's copycat rendition of a Subway's chocolate chip cookie of the same name. These are much smaller than what you can get at a Subway's and probably not much cheaper by ingredients either. These are soft and sweet and would pair well with ice cream or a glass of cold milk.

TheFoodening Blog: Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes: 3 dozen

Ingredients

2 c all purpose flour
2/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 c unbleached granulated sugar
1 c brown sugar, packed
1 c unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 oz (by weight) white chocolate chips
6 oz (by weight) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F

1. In a small bowl, beat together butter and vanilla extract. Mix in eggs, one at a time.

2. In a separate, larger bowl: sift together flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

3. Stir in butter mixture into dry mixture. 

4. Fold in white and semi-sweet chocolate chips.

5. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a Silpat-lined or parchment-covered baking tray.

6. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool on rack. Unleash your inner cookie monster.

Gluten-Free Vegan "Oyster" Sauce

Cooks Illustrated would have you believe that oyster-flavored sauce is "a rich, concentrated mixture of oyster extractives, soy sauce, brine and assorted seasonings. The brown sauce is thick, salty, and strong." But it doesn't have to be that way when rehydrated shitake mushrooms offer a similar depth of taste and umami. Oyster sauce is typically sweet and savory, and is a popular brown sauce in many Asian recipes. 

This seems to be a roundabout way to make a condiment where my next recipe project only calls for a tablespoon of it; but I have all the ingredients on hand and I wasn't about to shell out $5 for a jar of questionable contents.

The Foodening Blog: Gluten Free Vegan "Oyster" Sauce

Also, while 1 cup of water is sufficient to rehydrate 1 oz of dried shitake mushrooms, there was less than 1/3 cup of soaking liquid leftover. I had to fill the balance of liquid with filtered water. A toasted sesame oil will have a slightly nuttier flavor than sesame oil. This recipe ratio comes from the Clean Dish.

Makes: 1.5 cups

Ingredients

1 oz dried shitake mushrooms, rehydrated and sliced
2 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 tbsp gluten-free tamari soy sauce
1/2 tsp organic maple syrup
1 c mushroom dashi (the water the mushrooms rehydrated in)

Directions

1. In a sauté pan, fry sesame oil, ginger and mushrooms together until fragrant, about 4 minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Remove from heat. Combine mushrooms and mushroom dashi (can add water if liquid is not enough) in a food processor and purée until smooth.

3. Return purée to sauté pan and simmer over low-medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequenlty.

4. Remove from heat and pour into a clean glass jar. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

The Foodening Blog: Ready to use "oyster" sauce

Dairy Free Tapioca Pudding

I might be imagining things but I think full fat coconut milk has an after taste. It's not the watered down taste that you might get from buying a can of Trader Joe's version of coconut milk. But there's definitely an after taste, like how game meat has a twinge of extra flavor with every bite. On buying coconut milk or coconut cream, there really should only be one ingredient on the label besides water. In today's modern age of food preservation via canning, preservatives and color additives aren't necessary. Also look for BPA-free cans or cartons. Savoy and Aroy-D are both Thailand products; and Trader Joe's comes from Sri Lanka. For this recipe, I used Savoy coconut cream. These all cost about the same, roughly $2/can, in the Pacific Northwest.

The Foodening Blog: Dairy Free Tapioca Pudding

In my pantry, I have three varieties of coconut milk/cream:

• Trader Joe's organic coconut milk, 110 calories per 1/4 c serving (660 total calories for 13.5 fl oz with 48% coconut extract)
• Savoy coconut cream, 200 calories per 1/2 c serving (900 total calories for 14 fl oz with 70% coconut extract)
• Aroy-D coconut milk, 170 calories per 1/2 c serving (765 total calories for 14 fl oz with 60% extract)

Onto the recipe...

Makes: 3-4 servings

Ingredients

1 c non-dairy milk (e.g., unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
1/3 c dry tapioca pearls
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp liquid sweetener (honey, golden syrup), or sweeter to taste
14 oz full fat coconut milk

Directions

1. In a 2-cup measuring cup or bowl, soak tapioca pearls in non-dairy milk for an hour.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Let simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Stir constantly to prevent the starch from burning. It will thicken considerably as the tapioca cooks.

3. Remove from heat and pour into small bowls. Let cool before eating.

Homemade Harissa

Ever since I read Marcus Samuelsson's cookbooks Yes, Chef and Marcus Off Duty, I've come to respect the preparation and style of cuisine that includes ingredients such as teff (used to make fermented injera bread) or harissa (an African spice paste made from fresh or dried chiles).

Harissa made from dried chiles is not hard to make; though if you want to live vicariously, you can de-stem and unseed the chile pods before soaking them in hot water. The suggested chili ratio comes from Smitten Kitchen. When I was collecting dried chiles for this recipe, I just got whatever the store had -and- I had to check several local stores for them. I'm not a big fan of spicy hot foods; though damp and/or humid Pacific Northwest weather is often a good combination to spice things up.

As a spicy condiment, use it where you'd use ketchup or other savory sauces.

Makes: 2.5 cups

The Foodening Blog: Making Harissa

Ingredients

2 oz dried negro chiles
1 oz dried California red chiles
1 oz dried ancho chiles
2.5 oz sun dried tomatoes (not packed in oil)
1 large red bell pepper, roasted and skinned, stem and seeds removed
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 tsp ground coriander or 1.5 tsp whole coriander seeds
1/2 tsp ground caraway or 1 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 tsp ground cumin or 1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp kosher sea salt
1 tbsp olive oil, plus more for storage

Directions

0. Preheat oven to 350 F and roast a red bell pepper for about an hour. You could rotate the bell pepper every 15 minutes, but I've found this is a waste of time.

1. In a small cast-iron pan, toast whole coriander seeds, caraway seeds, and salt together over medium heat (1-2 minutes, or until coriander seeds become lightly browned). Transfer salt and spices to a coffee grinder and grind into a powder. Set aside until ready to use.

Don't just eyeball chiles by what you think they weigh. Use a digital scale and measure them as their dried de-stemmed weight. Then unseed the pods.

2. In a large 2-quart (or larger) metal or glass bowl, add dried tomatoes and dried chiles. Pour boiling water on top and let sit for 30 minutes or more until the items have rehydrated.

Use a colander to drain out the excess water.

3. In the bowl of a food processor, combine red bell pepper, tomatoes, chiles, spice blend, garlic and olive oil. Pulse until it looks pureed.

4. Transfer paste to a clean glass jar and top with olive oil. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Kitchen Notes: Salsa

Last year I forgot to write up the ingredient ratios for salsa. It was a really tasty batch too. This year, my local produce market had vine tomatoes on sale for $0.69/lb. I haven't seen prices like that since the early 2000s in southern California. Plus, Kerr jars were on sale as well and I picked up five cases of jars. Crazy huh?

The only thing I remember from last year's ratio was that I had more tomatoes than jalapenos which was my primary deviation from Harold Shifflett's video recipe. I also halved the salt.

Also last year, I made salsa with roasted hatch chilies. It was so tasty that it never got to the canning process. I ate it all. Whoops. 

Batch #1 yield: 5 pints, one half-pint

No Knead Pizza Dough

This dough recipe comes from Jim Lahey's book My Pizza. It wasn't until the second ball of dough that I decided to take some pics and write up this recipe post. I am also still lacking basic materials to make pizza; but I have some great workarounds. No pizza stone? No problem. Use the reverse side of a heavy baking sheet as your "stone" surface. It won't take the open flame of the broiler, but that's okay because we're not using the broiler either. Pizza dough is extremely cheap and easy to make.

This batch makes 4 pizzas; each dough ball can be shaped into a 10" round.

No Knead Pizza Dough & a simple pizza

Ingredients

500 grams (by weight) all purpose flour
1/4 tsp active dry yeast
2 tsp fine sea salt
1 1/2 c filtered water

Directions

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and yeast. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and stir to combine. Cover with a plate and set the bowl in a warm place in the kitchen.

18 hours later....

Dump dough out onto a floured surface. Shape into a large boule and divide into four equal portions. With each ball, flatten the ball with the palm of your hand, then fold each side to the center, one fold at a time. Gather the pleats at the bottom and gently roll into a ball shape. Dump each folded ball into a sealable plastic bag and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

For each pizza, start by putting one of the dough balls onto a floured surface. Use your knuckles to gently stretch out the dough into a 6" to 8". I have not been able to make a circle and the farthest I got was 10" by 8" rectangle.

Top with basic pizza sauce so that the sauce is within 3/4" of the edge of the dough. Add whatever ingredients you want on top.

Tomato Pie

After topping with basic pizza sauce, add fresh oregano leaves. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 F.

Margarita Pizza

2-4 oz fresh mozzarella, divided into blobs and scattered evenly on top of the dough
5 fresh basil leaves, to put on the pizza after it comes out of the oven
(optional) 1/4 c fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated

Bake for 15 minutes at 400 F.

At 20 minutes (too long!), the mozz turns from melted to marshmallow burned (dark, crusty golden brown). But, the pizza crust has a crispy texture.

AB Guacamole

Despite how "healthy" avocados are, they are still a luxury good in my basket and I usually eat them raw with a dash of soy sauce when I do have them in stock. One batch of guacamole costs about the same as what it would at the grocery store; and the reason why I never buy it from the store is because guacamole is always laced with onions. The avocados make guacamole plenty green, so really there is no need to add cilantro, unless you like added greens to an already green dip.

Guacamole Ingredients

This ratio is adapted from Alton Brown's take on guacamole, except it lacks onions and cilantro:

Ingredients

3 ripe avocados, pits removed
2 ripe red tomatoes, cores and seeds removed, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 green jalapeno, seeded and diced
1/2 tsp each: kosher salt, ground cumin, cayenne pepper
2 tbsp lime juice

Directions

1. In a large bowl, scoop out avocado pulp and mix with lime juice.

2. Add salt and spices. Mash together until avocado is all mashed up.

3. Add jalapeno and tomato. Fold into avocado mixture until well combined.

4. Let sit at room temperature for an hour before serving.

Guacamole: Ready to Eat!

Basic Tomato Sauce (for pizza)

This recipe goes with the no knead pizza dough recipe. It is so basic that you wonder why it exists at all as a recipe. This comes from Jim Lahey's book My Pizza. At the time I made the sauce, I didn't have fresh tomatoes on hand.

Ingredients

One 15 oz can of organic diced tomatoes
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions

Using your hands squish the tomatoes together. Squish! Squish! 

Stir in salt and olive oil. Set aside until ready to use.

Blueberry Lemon Bread

Cloudy weather is perfect for sipping hot tea. What makes this even better? A slice of cake. I'm not sure what the difference is between cake and this particular recipe other than the lack of frosting. I feel like I should eat another slice, but I will finish writing this post. 

I am down to my last quart of frozen blueberries; picked last summer at Majestic Farms. Fortunately, blueberry picking season is just around the corner. The berries themselves are very sweet and I could have reduced the sugar in the recipe. If you are using frozen berries, thaw them in a measuring cup. 1.5 cups of frozen berries turns into 1 cup of thawed berries. Alas, onto the recipe..

A slice of almost perfection: blueberry lemon bread

Ingredients

1 1/2 c all purpose flour
1 c organic granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 eggs
1/2 c almond milk (or regular cow's milk)
zest of one lemon
6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c fresh or thawed blueberries

Streusel Topping

3 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp organic granulated sugar
1/3 c all purpose flour
1/4 c (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 F.

1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, and lemon zest.

2. Add eggs, milk and butter and stir together until well combined.

3. If you are using thawed blueberries, transfer just the blueberries (not the liquid) to the batter and gently fold it in until all the blueberries are covered.

To make the streusel topping, whirl topping ingredients together in a food processor.

4. Butter a loaf pan and fill with batter. Evenly top the batter with the streusel.

5. Bake for 1 hr and 15 minutes. The topping will be crispy and golden brown.

Cabbage Kale Carrot Slaw

I had this recently at a potluck and it is really easy to make. The most expensive ingredient is the mayonnaise. Actually, nearly all the calories are in the mayo, so use one that you enjoy eating.

Makes: almost 3 quarts

Ingredients

2 lbs green cabbage, shredded
1 lb green kale, leaves only
2 organic carrots, sliced into matchsticks

Mix vegetables together in a large 5-quart bowl. Add coleslaw dressing and mix until combined. 

Coleslaw Dressing

1/2 c organic mayonnaise
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp organic granulated sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
fresh ground black pepper

Kitchen Notes: Canning 2016

Canning started early this year, mostly because I thought I might try to make strawberry jam instead of just eating the strawberries fresh. This is what has been made so far. I am down to one pint jar of salsa (from 6 pints) from last year's canning and also one pint jar of pickled beets with whole cloves.

To do wish list

tomato salsa with hatch chiles
tomato salsa with tomatillos and jalapenos
peach bourbon jam
harissa with fresh chiles
harissa with dried chiles
pickled beets with cloves (very tasty, imho)
dill pickle spears

May

apricot-pineapple preserves: 1 pint, 3 half-pints, 1 four-oz jar
apricot-rosemary preserves: 3 half-pints, 4 four-oz jars
strawberry-basil preserves: 4 half-pints plus 8 oz in the fridge
strawberry port wine jam: 5 half-pints plus 8 oz in the fridge

Apricot Pineapple Preserves

Among the jams sampled from this spring, the strawberry port wine jam is a definite keeper. Slightly boozy and very strawberry flavored, it's a fine complement to unsweetened herbal teas and crackers. The strawberry basil jam tasted just like strawberry jam. The green flecks of basil in the jam doesn't do anything for the jam other than change the visual aesthetics. And, the apricot rosemary preserves came out a little runny after processing in a hot water bath and it is because of that I added a tablespoon of low-sugar pectin to this batch of apricot preserves.

The Foodening Blog - Apricot Pineapple Preserves

Cost-wise, it's slightly more expensive to preserve apricots than other fruits; even though I got these fresh at $0.99/lb. The fruits were much smaller than what you'd typically find at a southern California farmers market. Though, it is possibly this was an early harvest due to our wacky spring weather where we hit a high of 99 F in April in the Pacific Northwest). I plan to use the apricot preserves as an added condiment to other desserts. I love apricot tarts and pastries.

This batch came out tasting as expected, a little sweet and a little tart with mixed apricot and pineapple flavors. Visually, it looks unremarkable like it is just another jar of apricot jam.

Ingredients

1 lb 12 oz fresh apricots, pitts removed and halved
1.25 c organic granulated sugar
One 20 oz can diced pineapple (or 1 1/2 c fresh diced pineapple, if available)
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1-2 tbsp low-sugar pectin (powdered)
zest of 1 lemon

Directions

In a large 4-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan, add apricots, pineapple, sugar, and lemon zest. Mash together and let sit covered for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.

Prepare lids and jar bands by immersing in a bowl of hot boiled water. In an oven, preheat oven to lowest temperature setting (my oven goes to 170 F), place washed jars onto a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes. Leave jars in oven until ready to fill.

Over low-medium heat, bring mixture to a boil. When the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has risen to 200-220 F, add the pectin and stir until combined.

(optional) Taste. If at this point the jam needs sugar, add more and stir the mixture over low-medium heat until the sugar dissolves.

When the preserves look reasonably thickened (use the spoon or chilled plate test), remove from heat, stir in lemon juice and then fill jars.

Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Strawberry Port Wine Jam

This was the first jam of the year. I'm still learning the differences between jams, preserves, and compotes. I prepped the entire half-flat of strawberries from the farmers market and decided to make two different strawberry jams since this recipe only called for 2.5 cups of prepped strawberries.

I should also note that I tried to be extra clever and put a teaspoon of fresh strawberries into the hot jam, hoping for some texture; but alas, nature has thwarted my efforts. The jar with fresh strawberries added did not set properly and looks a tad runny when I tilt the jar. All other jars have set firmly, well, as firm as pectin-laced jam can get. And, because I only prepped six half-pint jars, the seventh cup is in the fridge.

The recipe ratio is from Southern Living magazine, June 2003 issue; but my inspiration for making this came from the A Flock in the City blog. I chopped the entire batch of strawberries in a food processor. Maybe this is why the strawberries disintegrated into liquid when I cooked them.

Strawberry Port Wine Jam made with Fonseca Port

Makes 7 half-pint jars

Optional equipment: candy thermometer, food processor

Ingredients

2.5 c fresh strawberries, de-stemmed and chopped
1 1/2 c port wine
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 package powdered pectin (1.75 oz)
4 c organic granulated sugar

Directions

In a large saucepan, stir together strawberries, port, lemon zest, nutmeg, and pectin.

Bring mixture to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add in sugar and stir constantly until the sugar dissolves. Bring this back up to a rolling boil (bubbles don't go away when stirred) and boil for an additional minute.

(optional) I used a candy thermometer and brought the mixture up to 220 F. This is just shy of the temperature needed to make candied syrup threads.

Remove from heat and skim off the foam.

Fill jam into hot, sterilized jars. Wipe the rim with a paper towel moistened with hot water. Place lids and secure the bands.

Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. (Meaning, after you put the jars in the water needs to come up to a full boil again and then start the 10-minute timer).

Kitchen Notes: Strawberry Season

Depending on where you are, or how your grocery stores source their not-local produce, strawberry season can start as early as December (as was the case when I last visited southern California) where advances in agriculture methods have yielded seasonal crops in shorter grow cycles with larger production. I'm not sure when harvesting season is in southwest Washington/Portland since farms as far out as Yakima valley (east of the Cascade mountains) show up in the Portland metro area farmers markets. This year, warmer and drier weather started in March. Off-season prices range from $2/lb to $5/lb for commercially grown strawberries, up to $6/lb for local or organic strawberries. 

Is this a lot of money? It depends on what you're going to do with them: eating, paired with wine or desserts, making preserves, etc. Gone are the days when strawberries could be found at the grocery store for $0.99/lb. And, both farms and grocery stores don't really fall into any standard of weights and measures when it comes to selling to consumers. Some do it by visual cues, selling by the pint (visual volume not by weight) and others sell by the weight. Personally, I'd rather buy my produce by the pound than its visual volume (as is the case with rhubarb stalks, where you have to estimate how much usable rhubarb you'll have after trimming the ends of the stalks).

Last weekend at my local farmers market, I picked up a "half flat" (visual volume) of fresh strawberries which were smaller than what you'd find at a grocery store, but looked really red (an indication of ripeness and sweetness). Of the three or four booths that were selling strawberries in "half flat", I went with the cheapest booth at $10/half flat. When I got home and weighed what I bought, it came out to be 2 lbs 12 oz or roughly $3.63/lb.

Fresh rhubarb stalks at the farmers market also has a wide range of pricing, typically $2.50 to $4.00 per pound. The stalks are redder, thicker and healthier than what can be found at the local produce market. But, is it really worth double the price?