Superabundant dispatch: The strawberry-linden bloom Compote topped with vanilla buttermilk shortcake, and this week’s news snacks

With a full moon of strawberries that will be appearing on the summer solstice it is only natural to mark the occasion with the most special of treats that is a strawberry shortcake zhuzhed up.

By Heather Arndt Anderson

Jun 21, 2024 02:13 PM

OPB’s “ Superabundant ” explores the stories behind the foods of the Pacific Northwest with videos, articles and this weekly newsletter. Every week, Heather Arndt Anderson, a Portland-based culinary historian, food writer and ecologist, highlights different aspects of the region’s food ecosystem. This week she offers a recipe for a moist buttermilk shortcake with strawberry-linden blossom compote.

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As we close out the last week of Pollinator Week We decided to pay tribute to the bees who provide so much abundance to our area with an exclusive treat which is a strawberry shortcake made from zhuzhed. The scent of a perfectly ripe, fresh strawberry is unique, except perhaps, that of a linden plant on the solstice of summer. As always, we recommend collaboration and not competition! Take these two June examples together, perhaps with vanilla-buttermilk whipped cream as well as whipped cream. pound cake. You can make almost any type of cake you want however we like the simple nature in this delicious pound cakebut the thing is that it’s not truly a one. Do you know the reason why? Learn more about it here!

Camas plants, coffee cravings, food for kids in school and a chat of Akkapong Ninsom and more good things to find in markets, kitchens, and gardens

The long-running history of cultivating camas in the Northwest

The first anthropologists to visit the region might have concluded that the Pacific Northwest’s indigenous people were hunter-gatherers, accumulating evidence indicates that wild plant populations were well-managed in a way which can describe as agricultural. An recent study from Oregon State University not just confirms this, but further suggests that populations of camas which is a starchy, sweet root vegetable that is an important commodity in tradewere controlled with controlled burning for as long as 3,000 to four hundred years.

Coffee cravings are a genetic element

It appears that “don’t talk to me until I’ve had my coffee” may be a trait that is genetic as per the results of a study that compared genetic information from 23andMe samples of in the U.S. and UK. Coffee was only a an element of American as well as British food habits for a few hundred years and a craving for it is connected to genetic factors that lead to the use of alcohol and weight gain, indicating that, just like physical traits the behavior of a person is inherited.

Food service during the summer for Oregon schoolchildren

With school cafeterias closing during the duration of summer many families living in poverty have to find food for their children who are growing. Thankfully that the Oregon Department of Education is making sure that children ages 1-18 will receive meals for free during the summer (no forms to fill in and no need to prove need or status). To locate a pickup location near you, go to the USDA’s Summer Meals Site Locator Call 211 for assistance from an operator and text FOOD, or COMIDA at 304-304.

LangBaan Chef on “All Things Considered”

On OPB’s “All Things Considered” host (and Superabundant Narrator) Crystal Ligori spoke with Portland chef and restaurateur Akkapong “Earl” Ninsom last week to discuss his recent James Beard Award win. You can listen to the interview here.

Good news in the markets

We’re pleased to introduce our new segment “welp, you’ve really stepped in it now — you impulse-bought three entire flats of [ ].” This week’s segment is local strawberries. OPB’s associate director of public growth, Robyn El Kay, was on “Superabundant” with this very difficult dilemma. “I actually did that and I ended up composting a couple of pints. I had no idea that the half-life of strawberries was about the duration of 48 hours.”

If you’re caught in the same position as Robyn There are options for you The first is to remember it’s possible to store them to handle the issue in the future. They’re not just great to use in smoothies, but they’re also excellent for jams and baking. You can put a few of them in the jar, then finish it off with vodka, then store them in a dark, cool cupboard, and give the jar a gentle shake each day. In one week, you’ll have the most delicious, bright-red, and tasty cocktail booze or drinking in a glass (and do not throw out the booze-soaked berriesput them in sugar and make them into a dehydrator to use the future). Of course you can make using them in the recipes this week.

Local cherries are popping up! But recent rains could cause a less sweet fruit If you are able to try a taste before buying. Raspberries are as delicious and plentiful as they were. Garlic scapes are great as well — but when you plant hardneck garlic, you can cut your own (it assists the garlic bulbs to get bigger).

The “Superabundant” garden this week

Lindens are blooming in the area, and we’ve been gathering the flowers to add a luscious floral flavor to jams, teas, and syrups. The newsletter’s friend Jonathan Kaufmann has reminded us in his latest email to note that fennel fronds are in bloom. weedy wild fennel are ripe to be picked (if the plants around you are already blooming and you are able to get a sample pollen as fennel pollen will be an example of expensive exotic ingredients that can be sprinkled on food items to impress your guests). If you put an ice cube over the flowering head and then give it a good shake, you’ll be able to gather one small jar of pollen in no time.

The ground cherry and the tomatoes are in full bloom and about to blossom after they volunteered from fallen fruit that was left in the beds during summer. Their tendency to self-sowing is high on our list of reasons why we adopt an easy approach to autumn cleaning up the garden (another reason is that removing trash in the garden is beneficial for the garden’s invertebrates which is a crucial reminder of this during Pollinator Week!). In addition the radicchio we did not harvest is now in the process of bolting and we’re hoping that these flowers mature into seeds that can be used!

The crown daisy and the shiso (aka garland chrysanthemum, ho choy or shungiku) which we planted at the beginning of fall, is growing well and should be in good time to be added to lettuce wraps and noodles. The apples are producing less fruit than last year (the bumper crop in 2023 is probably the reason the trees aren’t fully recovering! ) However, you fruit trees are likely to be benefited from a culling to reduce insect infestations and enhance the quality of your remaining fruit.

In”the “Superabundant” kitchen

In order to make room for loganberries and raspberries that we picked from the garden (it is more sensible to keep them until the season’s over and at that point all jam can be prepared in one go) We took out three carcasses from a rotisserie chicken to make stock for chickensmaking the stock pressure canned will also free up freezer space.

We came up with a crazy idea of making meatloaf It’s all the meatballs you love and more, but in the form of a loaf! And, even though it appeared to be an abominable mess (the cheese center oozed in a threatening way) it tasted pretty perfect with a delicious garlic toast.

A friend lent us the pot of sugar made from maple didn’t have any use for which is why we sprayed it onto bacon slices cooked on the stove in the toaster. The sugar was melted and caramelized beautifully and the bacon was an amazing addition to the brioche French toast for breakfast.

Recipe: Buttermilk pound cake topped with the compote of strawberry-linden blossoms

Most of us think of strawberries as a late spring-time fruit, given that the majority of the most well-known varieties bear a fruit in June. Although Hoods and Shuksans may be on the route out Oregon strawberries are still in full swing. The day-neutral varieties such as Seascape and Albion are nothing to be sniffed at! Don’t even think about sleeping on the Ozark Beauty!

Linden blossoms, however are limited in their time frame for gathering. As the elderflowers bid spring goodbye and bowing towards fruit, the Lindenbaum are to perfume entire areas in Portland with their tiny white flowers, perched upon bracts, like feathers of an ostrich in a cap. If you’ve ever put your car under one, you’ll be aware of that they are adept at attracting insects, which transform the sap of the tree into massive quantities in sticky honeydew.

The sap is rich in sugar mannose, which is essential in human metabolism, is harmful to native wasps and bees. (European honeybees don’t appear to be affected by the nectar of lindens probably because they co-evolved with trees.) This is not the only problem because lindens are used as shade trees in urban areas across the western part of Oregon and the aphids they attract can cause an unintended conflict (the sticky sap-coated vehicles) that humans are unable to deal with using systematic pesticides. Due to this tidal wave of forces, large Bumblebee deaths have been linked with city lindens.

What do you do? Choose as many linden flowers as you can, and then turn them into a dessert.

Linden flowers are gorgeous dried for tea Steven Smith Teamaker’s Meadow blend is made with these flowers, as do the Hedgewitch and the Angry Inch tea blend that was created by this newsletter’s writer. It can be used to make syrups, liqueurs and liqueurs (and later jellies and jellies and) as well as macerate them using berries and small amounts of sugar, and then pour them on buttery cakes and whipped cream, as we did here. Serves 4-6.

Note: No it’s not technically an”pound cake” (which is typically made using one pound of eggs, butter sugar, flour and eggs) however, the result is very similar to the recipe. It produces a moist and soft crumb that is slightly stronger than a sponge, with a slight sweet twang of buttermilk. Bake it on a loaf pan creates the pound cake look However, feel free to bake it in a sheet cake bundt, a round, or in the muffin tin you’d like (alter timing of baking to suit your preferences. Since this recipe makes a full loaf, there’s a good chance you’ll have leftover cake. It’s perfect with jam for breakfast or tea snacks or cut it into cubes and toast it on top of with ice cream.

Ingredients

Buttermilk cake pound

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 teaspoon sea salt fine

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

1 cup of buttermilk (or 3/4 cup whisked milk in 1/4 cup sour-cream, creme fraiche, or yogurt)

1/2 cup cooking oil that is neutral (like the corn oil or vegetable)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sparkling sugar (optional but lovely)

Strawberry-linden blossom compote

1 dry pint of fresh Oregon strawberries, washed and hulled. Then, cut in half and then halved.

1/4 cup fresh linden blossoms

1/2 cup sugar

Creamy whipped cream to serve ( homemade is nice here)

Instructions

1. Make the cakes: Pre-heat the oven to 350o. prepare an ungreased 9 5 cake pan using a piece made of parchment. Mix all the dry ingredients (flour sugar, flour baking powder/soda salt, cardamom, and flour) into a mixing bowl large enough to be they are well together. In another bowl, mix in the wet ingredients (buttermilk oil, eggs, as well as vanilla). Make a hole in the flour mixture, then add the wet ingredients to the center, stirring until they are well combined. The batter should be poured into the loaf pan. Sprinkle sparkling sugar on the cake’s top. Cook until golden brown, and the toothpick is clean, approximately 50 to 55 minutes. Then, move the cake onto the cooling rack.
2. While the cake bakes prepare the compote. Mix the linden blossoms, strawberries and sugar in a bowl. Cover with a kitchen cloth and put aside.
3. After the cake has cooled enough to slice then slice it as thickly as you’d prefer (an inch or so is reasonable). Give the compote of berries a final stir, making sure that it’s evenly distributed the creamy syrup that has formed. Then serve a large portion onto the cakes. Include a scoop of whipped cream, and a final drizzle of syrup on top.