Minted Strawberries With White Wine Food

SUMMER FRUIT WITH WINE AND MINT

Steps:

• Bring the wine and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
• Chop and combine the cantaloupe, strawberries, grapes, and mint in a large bowl. Pour the warm wine mixture over; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate until cold, stirring occasionally, at least 2 hours.
• Transfer to the fruit mixture to a wide jar with a tight-fitting lid. Keep chilled.

STRAWBERRIES IN WHITE WINE

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine the wine, sugar, and lemon zest.
• Stir to dissolve the sugar.
• Add the berries and mix well.
• Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Serve in stemmed glasses.
• NOTE: These are alchoholic, so it's not recomended to serve these for children. For a non-alchoholic version, replace the wine with sparling white grape juice or cider.

WHITE WINE STRAWBERRIES WITH WHIPPED CRèME FRAîCHE

Steps:

• Cut the strawberries in slices and put them in a bowl.
• Add the wine, corn syrup (or honey) and mint and mix with the strawberries.
• Whip the crème fraîche and sugar with an electric mixer until it reaches a firm consistency.
• Put the strawberries into 4 serving bowls and top with a scoop of crème fraîche.
• Tip! What makes it possible to whip the crème fraîche is its fat content, so don't use crème fraîche light if you want to achieve the right consistency. On the other hand, it's possible to serve the strawberries with a dab of unwhipped crème fraîche.

ZESTY STRAWBERRIES WITH COINTREAU

Steps:

• Tip the strawberries into a large bowl. Splash over the Cointreau, add the orange zest and sift in the icing sugar, then give everything a really good mix. Cover, then leave for 1 hr or more for the juices to become syrupy and the strawberries to soak up some of the alcohol.
• To serve, scatter the mint leaves over the strawberries and give them one more good stir, then spoon into individual glass dishes.

STRAWBERRIES WITH MINT WHIPPED CREAM

Steps:

• Make syrup: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring sugar, mint, and 2 tablespoons water to a boil. Remove from heat; steep 15 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a measuring cup, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids. Let cool (makes about 1/4 cup).
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whip cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in 1/4 cup syrup (store any remaining syrup); if needed, re-whip cream to stiffen.
• Starting with strawberries, spoon alternating layers of strawberries and cream into four serving glasses. Top each with a mint sprig.

MINTED STRAWBERRIES WITH WHITE WINE

Steps:

• Halve large berries; leave hulls on a few berries.
• Place berries in a large bowl; sprinkle with sugar and cover bowl with plastic wrap.
• Let stand at room temperature at least 1 hour, stirring once or twice.
• Remove mint leaves from one bunch of mint. Stack 6 to 8 leaves together; roll the stacked leaves. Slice across the roll to create narrow strips.
• Repeat with remaining leaves.
• Add the shredded mint to strawberries just before serving.
• To serve, evenly divide the minted berries and juices among 8 glasses; pour wine over berries until just covered.
• Garnish with mint sprigs.