Bombastic Balsamic Berries

Yes, more alliteration this week.  Also been doing a lot of meat lately, so let’s turn to a light, tasty and fairly healthy dessert.  But balsamic vinegar?  It’s not just for mixed greens anymore.

The Goods:

• Strawberries, hulled and quartered.
• Balsamic glaze (or make your own balsamic reduction).
• Fresh mint leaves.

The Execution:

Toss the berries with the glaze.  Let sit for a while as the berry balsamic love gets it on — a/k/a ‘macerate.’   But not like overnight or the berries will break down too much and get mushy.  Garnish with mint and serve with a crunchy cookie, and/or chunks of dark chocolate.

Some Riffs:

• Instead of mint, substitute fresh basil — a nice licorice note.  Or maybe fresh rosemary and cracked pepper . . . as a quasi-savory intermezzo . . .
• Toss with orange or lemon zest, or even better – a touch of Grand Marnier or limoncello.
• Pour over a nice sweet airy pavlova.  As a side note, it turns out Australians love the pavlova.  It’s like a national dish or something.  Am I right D&J??
• Or maybe over mascarpone whipped with sugar and lemon zest/juice.

The Takeaway: 

Balsamic glaze has this funky sweetness that really can play well in the dessert world. They sell it in little squeeze bottles, though you can make your own by reducing good balsamic on the stove top.  But hear this, people — balsamic vinegar reducing on the stovetop emits a challenging waft.   So open a window.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

p.s. – thanks to the little one for helping me pose this shot up on the roof deck.