Strawberry season is in full bloom in Florida. This year, it was delayed a bit by the unusually cold winter, but it's here now and we are taking full advantage of it.
Every year, we love to take the kids strawberry picking. They love getting down and dirty and eating the berries right off the plant. One of the best pleasures in life, if you ask me. So earlier this week, we packed up the car with kids and snacks and headed north to the Dekker Family Farms in Ft. Pierce. 
It was a gorgeous day with blue sunny skies and a nice breeze. The drive alone was worth the trip with endless green fields, cows, citrus groves and the windows down.
Dekker Family Farms is a hydroponic grower. This was my first time in a farm of this nature where everything grows vertically in pots. We picked strawberries, arugula, rainbow chard, lettuce and herbs. I have to admit that although the produce was beautiful, something was missing for me. Getting my hands dirty, knealing... It was just not the same experience. The kids enjoyed it regardless and their baskets were overflowing with berries.
We came home and baked these little bowls of gluten-free apple and strawberry compote topped with buckwheat and almond crumble inspired by Y's strawberry and buckwheat pairing. So so delicious.
A small salad of radishes, strawberries and goat cheese was also on the menu. Fresh, sweet and spicy.
Strawberry, Apple and Buckwheat Crumble
300 grams strawberries
1 apple, peeled and diced
1 lemon, zest and juice
1 vanilla bean, seeded
25 grams sugar
10 grams cornstarch
Toss all ingredients together and place in bowls. Top with buckwheat and almond crumble.
100 grams butter, cold and cut into small pieces
100 grams sugar
100 grams buckwheat
100 grams almond flour
1/4 tsp salt
Mix the sugar, buckwheat, almond flour and salt in a bowl. Add the cold diced butter and work it into the flour until a crumb forms and small pieces of butter remain.
Top the fruit with the crumble (it makes more than what you will need). Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes or until fruit starts to bubble over. If the crumble turns dark before the fruit is bubbling, cover with aluminum foil.
The rest of the unused crumble may be frozen until next time.
3.26.2010
Strawberry, Apple and Buckwheat Crumble and a Salad
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75 comments:
Aran, this looks good! Never heard of such treat before! How I wish I could get a hold of everything here in Malaysia ... But too bad ... This isn't gonna happen real soon ... I do love to try this! Thanks for sharing nonetheless!
Oh, I miss my strawberry picking experience in Minnesota! We could only pick these berries in June or July there! LOL!
The crumble looks amazing! Can't wait to give it try before the strawberries go off season here in India.
I cannot wait until it's strawberry season up here! Come on sunshine! Come on summer!
~kristin (baltimore)
Such a wonderful post - makes me long for summer to arrive in England! Beautiful photos as always.
Hooray! I love strawberries :) Congrats on your nomination!
So fresh, so beautiful! I love this salad. One of my favorite vegetalbes is the fresh radish.
Wonderful pictures: it's a nice idea to combinate buckwheat and stawberries... In can find both in my countryside (Brittany), sure, I'll try your recipe soon, with the first stawberries of the year (Garriguettes de Plougastel)
Lovely! I couldn’t agree more, eating strawberries right off the plant, still warm from the sun, is definitely one of the best pleasures in life!
oh yum!! I love buckwheat!!
That crumble is very original! I bet it tastes wonderful! I really like that salad too.
Cheers,
Rosa
We have a long time to wait yet until our strawberries are ready. Winter has just about finished we hope ! But this cheers our souls. Makes us hope and know that our moment will come
Strawberry season is almost over in india,,how i wish i could make this! love the pictures :)
Beautiful post with gorgeous photos Aran! Everything look so fresh and crisp. It brought back many memories. My brothers, mum and I used to go strawberry picking when we were kids and we also ate strawberries right off the plant and didn't mind the dirt or sand! :) I loved that!
Your pictures are always so beautiful... they make me long to be in the country or at least not here at my desk! I am going to try this crumble soon!
Precioso post. Unas magniícas fresas y una receta estupenda.
Esos días de campo son sensacionales.
Un abrazo y buen día
What lovely colors and fine ingredients for this recipe, then the photos are wonderful
hugs Ely
Wow, it looks beautiful... Could spend all my days just watching all your pictures.
Stunning. They look delicious!
I hope I can go strawberry picking this year!!
The crumble sounds delicious. I agree that picking and eating berries still warm from the sun is one of the pleasures in life!I'm not a big fan of radishes, but...God, that bunch looks amazing!!!It's sooo beautiful!I would definately try them that fresh!
Your vegetables and fruits are so fresh. Where do you buy them? You have captured the freshness so beautifully
such a treat .... cant' wait for strawberries in the garden
I don't know why you do it, but thank you so much for having gluten free recipes here. I'm on the verge of discovering if I am actually allergic to gluten or wheat or whatever and I am scared because it's hard to buy things that are. but your recipes are giving me hope. coupled with your stunning photography, just, thank you.
RV- the strawberries are from a local farm we went to this week. The radishes are from out farmers market. I always look for the freshest.
Sera- I am also waiting for results to see if I am indeed gluten intolerant (amongst other allergies). In the meantime, I am living gluten free and I like it like this!
Thank you!
Beautiful! The company I work for is actually getting into lighting for hydroponic growing, so it's wonderful to see people doing hydroponics!
What an awesome set of photos.
Tabletops and Backgrounds
Love the rustic tabletops. Just gives an amazing mood to these photos. Where did you get these? Have been looking for them for quite some time. Haven't found any place to get these. What would you suggest?
First photo is wonderful
Loved the placement of strawberry bowl at the top left and the partial bowl on the right edge. Amazing composition. Shows how wonderfully balanced photo this is.
Thank you for sharing this with us.
There are few food bloggers I regularly visit to get photography inspiration. You inspire me a lot.
Thanks again.
Neel
Astonishingly gorgeous photos to my Saturday night dessert recipe for the week. If you do not win the Saveur award, I'll be organizing a protest & eye exams for all involved. Berry sweet wekend to you & the family.
Oh, my. I am ready to move. It will take forever until anything locally grown will make it into my kitchen. I often think we live in the wrong climate zone. We have snow outside tonight. The strawberries look so delicious. Great pictures. Thanks.
How wonderful :)
Your photos are, as always, gorgeous, and I will be trying to make your crumble soon. I know what you mean about hydroponic farms--I went to one last year and it just wasn't the same, there was something very space-y about it!
I've tried four of your recipes so far - they have all been excellent! I think this has to be the fifth one I try - the strawberry crumble looks beautiful.
Neel- the wood surfaces are actually salvaged wood from MT that my uncle in law was keeping in his barn. But you should be able to find them in salvage yards etc. Thank you.
Trissa- that makes me very happy!
Thank you everyone!
Sounds like a lot of fun, I reckon my kids would love it too! The crumble sounds delish, definitely one I'm going to try.
:)
Hi! Love this post and the gorgeuous photos as always! Actually, I just made a link to your blog from my own, because I think that you have a Basque and French way of doing things... respect for the ingredients and natural flavors, doing things from scratch, always getting the very best...
Love this post in particular, because I went strawberry picking as a child and I treasure that souvenir...
Here, in les Landes, the asparagus season is just starting!!! I tried out a recipe from Michel Guérard, where you boil them for three min and then 2 h in the oven at 150 degrees C, covered in light cream. HEAVEN. Try!
xxx Eva
PS I used one of your photos - of a gâteau basque - I once asked permission for my old blog to use it, so please tell me if it is ok I use it again. Post from 22 March.
Oh, Aran, I was just dreaming of strawberry season in Florida. Dad used to take us every year to the pick-ur-own fields and how I loved it! What memories they will make for you and your children. It comes back to me every winter. Your crumble looks wonderfully delicious.
I love the strawberry pictures, especially those of the green unripe ones. I've only seen hydroponics at Epcot. It must must be amazing to see a real farm, although I agree that I would miss the smell and feel of soil.
I love how light and airy I feel everytime I visit your blog Aran. Beautiful strawberries and what a great idea, I'll definitely take the kids berry picking when summer rolls aorund again (it's autumn here now).
Looks so so good! It's not crumble weather here.. yet!
You read my mind. I have plenty of strawberries and wanted to do something "different" from what I make often (panna cotta, frozen yogurts, tarte). This is perfect.
So fresh! your post is beautiful Aran
so inspiring.
Best Regards
How beautiful...my family loves growing and picking fresh strawberries, though they are not quite yet "ready for the picking." Buckwheat and almond flour sounds so delicious in this crumble; I have some of both in my pantry I need to use up, so I will give this a try as soon as our strawberries are ready. (:
Oh my word how divine to pick strawberries at this time of year - I know there was no dirt and I wonder about the few missing nutrients perhaps but still, in our neck of the woods we have to wait til July for local berries! And I love that your recipe was with almond flour, I just picked up a bag of this flour and can't wait to experiment with it! Thanx for the inspiration and wonderful photos!
wow, they look stunning! I wish I'd made strawberry crumble when it was strawberry season here, I suppose there's always next year.
I love seeing different people's approaches to crumble topping, everyone does something completely different!
This post has me panting for spring! Sounds wholesome and lovely....
Those pictures make me long for summer man...
If you want to, please check out my blog! http://www.howtobakesalmon.blogspot.com
anyone else can check it out too :D. If you like it, it would be AWESOME if you linked it! tell me and I'll link your blog as well.
Qué ricoooooooooooooo!!! Felicitaciones! Adoro tus fotos, son increibles.
Qué ricoooooo! Te felicito, me encanta tu blog, las delicias que hacés y las fotos espectaculares. Saludos! Lucía
This is such a great recipe. The first strawberries have just made their appearance here also. Yay!
Magda
This looks gorgeous, and I'd love to make it in a few months when strawberries are in season here! One question: is it buckwheat flour or grains? I got a lovely bag of local, organic buckwheat flour and I'd love to use it in something besides pancakes. Thank you:)
Strawberries are just starting here in California. I saw the red-est and the most beautiful strawberries ever in farmers' market, too bad they didn't taste as tasty as I'd like it to be. I'll just have to wait a little longer to try this :). Gorgeous pics are usual :)
Mary- buckwheat is a grain but it's also sold as a flour. I used the flour.
Thanks everyone!
YOur blog photos are like those food photos on magazines. And i like your writing, full of substance... :)
that sounds blissful! I totally agree that eating freshly picked strawberries is one of life's best pleasures!
Being a crumble AND a strawberry addict, I can't help to be overy happy at this recipe. I always add alittle oat flakes to the crumble, and I usually prefer my crumble to contain some other flour besides ordinary white one. My favourite one is usually spelt, but I'll give this buckwheat version a try for sure!
Thanks so much for sharing!
These strawberries look so juicy and delicious, it's making me very excited for summer. Your photos are always like eye candy for me, amazing work!
I love how you pair strawberries with beets and goat cheese!
The fresh produce and your meal look so delicious! There's a strawberry farm about half an hour's drive from my house. They say they have huge problems with people eating the berries in the field, then only paying (by weight) for those they take home! It's unbelievable what some people do to save a few bucks. How is the farm supposed to survive then?
Your photos are so breathtaking. This is by far one of my utmost favorite blogs to stalk. Your work is amazing and I drool each time I gaze longingly at your posts. And these strawberries look delish (not to mention your cute little bowls)!
Hi Aran,
It is irrelavant but are you taking baby pictures and/or do you have a separate blog for it? I bet you are very creative in that too. I'd love to see.
Bel
bel- no, i do not at the moment... but who knows, maybe one day. thank you!
These photos are so yummy, I can eat it.
Looks very fresh and tasty. Thanks for the idea. It's great for the summertime.
never tasted such a combination ! I tink is interesting !
Your photos are getting better and better with each post Aran. It's obvious you are learning from your craft and enjoying what you do. We have tried several of your recipes and they never disappoint. I love that you are taking a more simple approach to food and expanding. Thank you for sharing your gift with us.
Chloe
Aran,
I should know better then to read your blog when I am hungry ... now I am starving! This dessert looks amazing. How I wish strawberries were already out here - I need a fantastic Easter dessert and this is beautiful.
Denise
Your pics evoke spring to me! I haven't used buckwheat in desserts but now that I've seen you do it, you've opened my eyes to the possibilities!
looks yummy!
Wow, what a great little dish! Our strawberries don't come til May and June but I'll definitely be looking into this. Your photos are so beautiful!
strawberries are in season here in california, too! i need more strawberry recipes (and light LoL) thank you!
sooo jealous! we are miles away from strawberry season...only thing to get by now are the incredible exprensive watery ones from spain...
WOW!!!
www.viegraphique.com
It looks sooo nice! Beautiful photos and wonderful recipes. Thanks for sharing!
Hello!
We really love your photos!
All in this blog is so cute and exquisite!!!!
Good Work!!
Bye!
Strawberry season is still way off here in NY and I'm impatiently waiting. The buckwheat crumble sounds like a divine combination.
sencillamente......genial!
salut
lamambalina
I finally got around to making these, with rhubarb and a few raspberries. They were fantastic! Thanks:)
the crumble looks absolutely delicious ! i liked the look of it so much that i actually have it cooking in the oven right now. the sweet aroma of the bubbling strawberries is drifting through my kitchen and i am quite enjoying spending this time admiring your beautiful blog. i am truly in love with your photos and recipes and how creative and artistic everything is. you are an inspiration to so many people !
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