It’s easy to get carried away at Farmer’s Markets, where the compulsion to grab random things you’ve never used takes over. Letting fresh ingredients sit on the counter for too long defeats the purpose of going to such markets, so I always look for recipes that make the most of seasonal produce.

If you happen to find rhubarb and strawberry in your reusable grocery totes or CSA box, try this Scandinavian-inspired dessert soup. The sweet and sour vanilla-rhubarb base (rabarbersoppa) is done in about 20 minutes, giving you a headstart in figuring out what to do with the rest of your haul.

I prefer to serve rhubarb soup chilled with sweetened cream and sliced strawberries, but ice cream also sounds great with this, doesn’t it?

Now what should I do with radish and still-poopy duck eggs?

recipe adapted from James Peterson’s Splendid Soups
Strawberry Feast hosted by My Kitchen Treasures

Rabarbersoppa (Vanilla-Rhubarb Soup)
Served Chilled with Strawberries and Cream

makes about 6 servings

1 pound rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup granulated sugar, or to taste
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
4 cups water
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 pints strawberries, quartered

Directions:

1. Place the rhubarb, sugar, vanilla bean, and water in a pot. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for about 15 minutes with the cover slightly ajar, just until the rhubarb is softened. Cover tightly, let cool, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
2. Remove the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds with a paring knife. Reserve the seeds. Strain the soup, pushing down with a ladle to extract liquid from the rhubarb. Discard the pulp and mix the vanilla bean seeds with the strained rhubarb soup.
3. To Serve: Mix together the heavy cream, confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla extract (alternatively, serve with whipped cream or ice cream). Place the quartered strawberries in chilled bowls and pour in the rhubarb soup. Drizzle with the cream mixture and serve.

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Vanilla-Rhubarb Soup with Strawberries

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1. Rhubarb and Asparagus Top Chef Style
2. Asparagus Soup with Cream
3. Butternut Squash Soup – Recipe from Alinea
4. Chocolate Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream Cake
5. Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with Morel Mushrooms
6. Chinese Crab and Corn Soup

What do wine, beer, and cheese aficionados all have in common? They speak in a dialect I don’t quite understand. Whereas the aforementioned obsessives use colorful language to describe their indulgence of choice, my vocabulary is limited to “I like” and “…”

Here’s an example:
Yeasty notes. Citrus esters come out to play – more orange than lemon. Slight banana. Not much else is perceptible. I look for spiciness, but find none.

I look for meaning, but find confusion.

So here’s my review of Juustoleipä from Brunkow Cheeses in Wisconsin:
I like.

Say Cheese hosted by Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once

I first heard about this cheese from the food nerds at LTHForum, the Chicago-based culinary chat site. Much like Halloumi, this firm fresh cheese can be torched without turning into a puddle of oily goo. To make it blatantly obvious that Juustoleipä can stand heat, it even comes pre-broiled, sporting a charred crust resembling toasted bread. Grilling or broiling it a second time further enhances its mild flavor and gives it a crackly crust and creamy interior.

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Juustoleipä – Finnish Bread Cheese

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1. Hapanleipä – Finnish Sour Rye Bread
2. Berries and Grilled Cheese Skewers
3. Potato, Cheddar Cheese, and Chive Bread
4. Brunost / Gjetost – Brown Cheese from Norway
5. Ensaimada – Filipino Cheese Brioche
6. Whole Pumpkin Baked with Cream and Cheese

This is my bread of choice for the most god-awful stinky cheeses I can get my hands on. It’s probably not a traditional use for it but it works for me. This rough and crispy flatbread is perfect for slathering with the funkiest of room temperature washed rind cheeses. I haven’t tried the stinkiest cheese as determined by a computerized electronic nose, but I’m sure it will also pair well with this 100% rye bread.

So what’s the deal with the shape? Supposedly breads are baked in the western regions of Finland only a couple of times a year. Hundreds of these breads would be baked at the same time and hung on poles right under the ceilings. The acidity from the use of a wild yeast starter and its inherent dryness help preserve the breads until the next oven firing.

I painstakingly recreated such poles as I imagined it in the ceiling of a Finnish kitchen. Not included in the photo are four tomato cans used as rests for the wooden dowel.

recipe adapted from Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads
Yeastspotting at Wild Yeast Blog

Hapanleipä
Finnish Sour Rye Bread

makes two 12-inch wheels

Notes:

• There’s enough sourness with the formula as specified below. For a more sour hapanleipä, omit the instant yeast and increase the bulk fermentation time to 2-3 hours.

For the Soaker:

Ingredients                  Volume          Ounces          Grams
medium or dark rye flour          1 3/4 cups      8            227
salt                                1/2 tsp
water                               3/4 cup       6            170

Mix the soaker ingredients until evenly hydrated. Cover and leave at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours.

For the Rye Starter:

Ingredients                  Volume          Ounces          Grams
rye starter (75% hydration)                       2.5           71
medium or dark rye flour          1 2/3 cups      7.5          213
water, at room temperature          3/4 cup       6            170

Mix the rye starter ingredients until evenly hydrated. Knead the starter with wet hands for about 2 minutes. It will be very sticky.

Place the rye starter in a bowl and cover. Let rise at room temperature for 4 to 6 hours or until doubled in size.

Remove the rye starter from the bowl and knead lightly to degas. Return to the bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 3 days. Let the rye starter sit at room temperature for 2 hours before using in the final dough.

Final Dough Formula:

Ingredients                  Volume          Ounces          Grams
all of the soaker, chopped into small pieces
all of the rye starter, chopped into small pieces
medium or dark rye flour            7/8 cup       4            113
salt                                5/8 tsp
instant yeast                     2 1/4 tsp

Final Dough Instructions:

Mix             Mix all of the ingredients until evenly incorporated

Knead           3 to 4 minutes

Rest            5 minutes

Knead           1 minute

Bulk Ferment    45 minutes in a lightly oiled bowl, or until
                1 1/2 times its original size

Divide          2 pieces

Shape           rolled 1/4 thick with a cut out center and docked,
                as pictured (approximately 12 inches wide)

shaped hapanleipä with 2 bonus crackers

Final Proof     approximately 45 minutes at room temperature on
                2 sheet pans, covered

Preheat Oven    425ºF/218ºC

Bake            Immediately lower the heat to 350ºF/177ºC and bake for
                15 minutes. Rotate the loaves if necessary and bake
                for another 10 to 15 minutes, until reddish brown.

Cool            At least 1 hour

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Hapanleipä – Finnish Sour Rye Bread

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5. Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
6. Honey Wheat Sandwich Bread – 100% Whole Grain