Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Russian Strawberry Compote

I remember when I was a young I used to LOVE when the first harvest of berries came around our dacha. My grandparents always had an abundance of strawberries growing in the yard. So usually, after we would feast ourselves on said berries, there were enough left over to prep and preserve them for the winter. There was LOTS of jam (and I'm making some this summer!), but there were also large 3L jars of berries compote.

This is my first time making this beverage (and if preserved properly, it keeps well into the winter months), so I decided to search for a recipe online. Of course, if you search for "strawberry compote", you will find a recipe for something that has a syrup-like consistency and is meant to be poared over pancakes, ice creams, etc. Though there is nothing wrong with that (yum!), it wasn't what I was looking for.

So instead, I ended up searching for "клубничный компот" and finding what I needed :)
(in Russian, of course). It looks and tastes more like a strawberry juice.

I hope you enjoy it as much I do!

Ingredients:
(doubled from the original recipe that I found)
* 2 cups of halved/quartered strawberries (quarter the larger ones)
* 4 cups of water
* 4 tbsp of sugar (amount really depends on how sweet you like your beverages)


Directions:

1. Remove stems, wash and cut, if necessary (I halved or even quartered the bigger ones).
Add strawberries, water and sugar into a saucepan.





2. Cover the saucepan, but leave a small crack. Heat and bring to a boil over med-low heat (you want the strawberries to "cook" slowly to let all of the juices come out).







3. Swirl from time to time with a spoon. Once boiled, remove from heat and let the saucepan (with the lid on) to sit for another 4-5 minutes. You'll notice that the strawberries will become pinkish and mushy.







4. Use a strainer to remove the berries (let it sit on the cup a bit to get all of the juice out).
















5. Let it cool down and enjoy!





OPTIONAL: for preserving - pour out into sterilized jars and seal them while the beverage is still hot.




Cheers,

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