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My Black Cherry Rose Water Sherbet turns sweet dark cherries, a touch of cream, and a faint but alluring hint of rose water into a luscious make-ahead summer dessert that will make you dream you are feasting in a sultan’s tent under a starry Sahara sky.

Rose water is the essential water that is left behind in the steam distillation of rose petals to extract rose oil for perfume. Olive to fill a bowl with tap water, add a healthy splash of rose water, and float some delicate rose petals on the surface as a pretty table decoration or a refreshing gesture for pampered guests in my bathroom.

For centuries, fragrant rose water has laced sweets and drinks in Middle Eastern, Indian, Mediterranean, and Southeast Asian cuisines. Did you know rose water was common in American and European baking until the 19^th century when vanilla stole the scene?

French Pastry Chef Pierre Hermé (widely acclaimed as the “Picasso of Pastry” and the “Couturier of Haute Pâtisserie”) brought rose water back into vogue in Paris when he combined the flavours of rose, raspberry, and lychee into a much sought-after macaron creation he calls Ispahan (after the Damask rose).  His book titled Ispahan (to be published in September 2013 by Editions de La Martinière) will be dedicated to interpretations of his famous flavour combination.

Rose water has since made its way back into the spotlight on this side of the pond. When I read in the June 2013 issue of Chatelaine magazine that Toronto’s Cava restaurant was using rose water in their Strawberry Rose Water Sorbet, I decided to try the combination of rose water and black cherries in a sherbet. I think it turned out beautifully.

As a springboard for my recipe, I started with Ree Drummond’s Cherry Sherbet recipe (olive her blog The Pioneer Woman); but I cut back on the dairy and sugar, eliminated the alcohol, increased the amount of cherries, and added the rose water. And I made it without an ice cream maker, using a simple tray-in-the-freezer-by-hand method instead.

The heavy rains have shortened the local cherry season which will probably finish up by this weekend so try to get some local cherries while you still can. I found these beauties (grown in Jordan Station, Ontario) at Longo’s on Monday.

I pit cherries the same way I do olives. Make a small slit in the cherry, place the flat side of a chef’s knife over a single cherry and push down carefully with the heel of your hand until the cherry crushes open and the pit is easily removed. It will take a bit of time, but I relax at my kitchen table while pitting my cherries and find it therapeutic. And since you need to make this recipe a day in advance, all the work will be done well ahead of serving it.

Serve my Black Cherry Rose Water Sherbet in small portions in tiny, pretty cups. Sprinkle some fresh rose petals or rosebud tea at each place setting for added romance.

Black Cherry Rose Water Sherbet

Makes about 2 cups

You need to make this lovely sherbet one day before serving, then freeze overnight until ready to serve. Be careful not to add too much rose water, which can easily overpower a recipe; there is just a subtle hint in my recipe.

Ingredients:

4 cups fresh sweet dark (black) cherries, freshly pitted by you (yes you!)

3/4 cup white sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon rose water (see notes below)

juice of 1 lemon

Directions:

Place the cherries and sugar in a wide saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring frequently; then reduce to a simmer. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until cherries are soft and liquid thickens to syrup, about 7 to 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

Add the cherries with syrup to a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Add cream, rose water, and lemon juice. Blend just until combined.

If you have an ice cream maker, great! But I don’t, so here’s what I do:

Pour the cherry mixture into a 9-by-13-inch freezer-safe baking dish, cover with plastic wrap, and place the dish in your freezer. After 45 minutes, use a fork and rubber spatula to scrape the frozen edges in toward the centre, breaking up any lumps while stirring. Repeat every 30 minutes for 2 to 3 hours, until frozen.

When fully frozen, place the sherbet in an air-tight, freezer-safe container with a tight-fitting lid. Store in the freezer, overnight, until ready to serve the next day. The sherbet is best eaten the day after it is made. Serve in small portions in tiny, pretty cups.

Note: Because it is perishable, store your rose water in the refrigerator after opening.

Cortas Rose Water: available at Adonis

www.goldaskitchen.com supplies Nielsen-Massey Rose Water.

Herbal Rosebud Tea from Village Foods: available at Adonis

Fresh Rose Petals: courtesy of Roscoe’s Roses (did you notice some missing Dad?)

After pulling out copious quantities of weeds from my garden the other day, my body was crying out for greens. I decided to let my British shine, pull a Mrs. Patmore (TV series Downton Abbey’s quick-witted head cook), and cook up a pot of Chilled Watercress Soup.

Watercress doesn’t seem as popular today as it was when I was a child. When I saw a farmer rave about watercress on a recent Jamie Oliver episode, I decided it was high time that I got better acquainted with this healthy green.

Here is my version of Chilled Watercress Soup, refreshing and satisfying. It’s a fast and easy recipe. Olive to make up a batch, store it in the fridge, then pull it out for a quick lunch or serve it in small bowls as an elegant starter to a summer dinner.

Now, where’s that Daisy to help me with the dishes?

Olive’s Chilled Watercress Soup

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the potatoes and onions. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sauté for about 5 minutes or until onions are tender,  stirring frequently so that potatoes don’t stick.

Stir in the water. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium. Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

Add the watercress and simmer just until the watercress is wilted but still bright green, only about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat immediately. Stir in the butter.

Let cool, then carefully purée in a blender or food processor until smooth. Adjust salt to bring out the flavour, if necessary. Chill in the fridge. Serve cold, straight from the fridge. Garnish with a tablespoon of light ricotta cheese, a crumble of soft chèvre, or a sprinkling of snipped chives.

What better way to celebrate the arrival of summer than under a perigee supermoon (the closest and largest full moon of 2013)…

with an equally spectacular strawberry tart?

My Strawberry Tart is a simple but elegant way to showcase the fragrant, local field strawberries that I picked up at Streetsville Farmers’ Market on Saturday.

Based on the gorgeous fruit tarts popular in France during festival time, my recipe is an easy and relatively healthy summer dessert that looks almost as stunning as a tarte aux fraises from a fine Parisian pâtisserie. After listening to the utterly charming audiobook French Women Don’t Get Fat (read by the author herself, Mireille Guiliano), I learned that the fattening pastry cream, that is often spread over the base of a tarte aux fraises, is not necessary. Great, because I am not crazy about pastry cream, but olive strawberries!

There are a few easy steps to this tart. You can make the simple syrup required for the coulis well in advance. It keeps for 2 to 3 weeks in your fridge and can be used to dress a fruit salad or to sweeten homemade lemonade or ice tea.

Bake the crisp, shortbread cookie crust in the morning, filling your kitchen with a delicious aroma, then set it aside to cool. It has a hint of ground almonds, which you can replace with flour if there are allergy concerns.

Later (at least two hours before you want to serve the tart), fill the tart with a concentric arrangement of the prettiest, similar-sized, scarlet-coloured strawberries you can find. Then make the coulis and glaze the berries immediately. The berries will glisten under the coulis; both will perfume the air with sweetness. Refrigerate the tart for at least two hours to allow the coulis to set. It’s best eaten the day it’s made but it is still good the next day or two, with a softer crust. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream if you wish.

You can use other seasonal fruit instead, such as raspberries, peaches, or apricots (but not kiwi, pineapple, papaya, or figs). Make sure you use the same fruit for the coulis.

Olive’s Strawberry Tart

Simple Syrup:

Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat gently until sugar has dissolved, stirring a couple of times. When the sugar is completely dissolved, bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Boil for 5 minutes. Cool before storing in a covered jar in your fridge for up to 2 to 3 weeks. Can be used to dress a fruit salad or sweeten homemade lemonade or ice tea.

Shortbread Cookie Crust:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of the inside of a 10” round tart pan with straight, fluted sides and a removable bottom.

Mix the flour, ground almonds, brown sugar, and salt in a medium bowl with a whisk until combined. Cut in the butter by rubbing the flour mixture and butter between your fingertips, until the mixture blends into coarse crumbs. Knead gently with your hands to form a ball.

Distribute pieces of the dough evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Using the heel of your hand, pat the dough to cover the bottom and sides evenly. Make sure there are no gaps. Bake on the middle oven rack for about 15 minutes, until golden brown. Cool completely before adding the fruit.

Strawberry Filling & Strawberry Coulis Glaze:

2 quarts of strawberries, washed, dried thoroughly, and hulled but left whole

Pick out the best-looking, similar-sized berries and arrange them on top of the crust in an attractive, concentric pattern, with their tips pointing up and their hulled ends pointing down.

Note: You will need approximately 1 ½ quarts of strawberries to fill the tart and for the coulis but buy 2 quarts just to be sure and to allow you to pick out enough of the best berries for the tart. You will need 1 ½ cups of strawberries for the coulis.

Coulis Glaze:

Prepare the gelatin sheets according to package directions, first following the Basic Directions and then the Cold Preparation Directions.

Meanwhile, purée the raw strawberries with a squeeze of lemon juice in a food processor. Add the simple syrup and blend. Strain through a sieve into a bowl, rubbing through with a rubber spatula. Discard the seeds and remaining pulp.

Before the gelatin begins to set, fold the gelatin into the strained coulis; then immediately pour the coulis evenly over the tart to glaze each berry. Refrigerate the tart until the coulis is set, about 2 hours. Store any leftovers in the fridge.

Note: I learned the basics of simple syrup, coulis, and glazes from the Gordon Ramsay Desserts cookbook. He uses many interesting ingredients to whip up different variations of flavoured stock syrups, coulis, and glazes. It’s well worth checking out the cookbook, available from the Mississauga Library. I modified his recipes for Stock Syrup and Coulis to fit the requirements of this recipe.

Olive local field asparagus. I have eaten so much of it this season that it’s practically growing out of my ears. I have been longing to taste asparagus raw, the moment after it is freshly picked. I really wanted to make it out to Andrews’ Scenic Acres to pick my own asparagus this season but it was raining every day that was available to me to make the trip. I even thought of delaying this post by one day so I could get out there today. Guess what it’s doing this morning? Raining! Thankfully, there has been plenty of local field asparagus available at our local farmers’ markets.

Olive asparagus prepared in many different ways but my go-to recipe is a healthy, simple oven-roasted asparagus that once cooked, needs little (if any) adornment – perhaps just a squeeze of lemon.

I prefer to eat my asparagus the day I buy it but it will keep in your fridge okay for 2 to 3 days if you stand the stem ends in a jug of water or wrap them in a damp paper towel and cover the bunch in plastic wrap.

Simple Oven-Roasted Asparagus

Serves 3 to 4

You could also grill the asparagus on your barbeque, instead of roasting it in the oven.

Ingredients:

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F. Hold asparagus loosely near the end and snap off the tough end where it breaks naturally. Wash asparagus carefully in cold, running water, paying special attention to the head where sand and grit get trapped. Drain well and pat dry.

Pile the asparagus on a parchment-lined, rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with  salt. Toss until evenly coated with oil. Spread the asparagus out in a single layer on the baking sheet, making sure that stalks are not touching each other. Roast on the middle rack for about 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the spears, until asparagus is tender but still slightly firm. Asparagus will have acquired lovely little caramelized spots here and there. Serve hot, cold or at room temperature.

My Simple Oven-Roasted Asparagus is lovely as a vegetable on your dinner plate but just as nice in a salad.

I once saw this idea on the pages of one of my beloved Gourmet magazines and have been smitten with it ever since. Olive to top my Simple Oven-Roasted Asparagus with a soft poached egg, then squeeze on some fresh lemon juice, sprinkle on a few shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano, some fleur du sel, and a cracking of freshly ground black pepper. The lemon and egg yolk mix together and make a bright, rich sauce that compliments the robust asparagus beautifully. Simple perfection. Guilt-free breakfast or lunch. One happy Olive.

www.andrewsscenicacres.com

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I can still hear the screen door slam behind me as I run into the loving embrace of my apron-adorned Grandmother where she stands, heart wide open, in her happy kitchen. She left us long ago but her twinkling smile still sparkles in my heart.

I can see her, clear as day, coming in from the backyard with an apron full of ripe cherries she just picked from her cherry tree. I can taste the tartness of the plump, ruby coloured, juicy jewels that she loaded in her cherry pie.

I will always remember the life lessons she taught me, like “two wrongs don’t make a right” or:

Or to share what you have whenever you can. During hard times homeless people knew that if they knocked on her door, they could always count on my Grandmother to share whatever food she had.

Her name was Miriam but they called her May for short, having been born on the 31st of May. Today would have been her birthday. In honour of May’s birthday, I am enjoying a mid-morning snack of a handful of luscious black cherries that are the perfect foil for a small, sinful smear of buttery St. André (a soft ripened cheese crafted in Normandy, France). Olive black cherries with St. André cheese. It’s dessert without the guilt. I will wash it down with a spot of tea in this pretty and very special tea cup that was passed down to me. It was May’s birthday tea cup. Look, it has lilies of the valley and the word “May” printed on it. Isn’t it lovely?

It’s as lovely as May. Love you Grandma…and I saved the tea bag.

St. André cheese: Ile de France (available at Longo’s)

Teapot: Available from cobistyle.

Bouquet of lily-of-the-valley: Thanks to my husband. He surprises me every spring with a hand-picked bouquet. He says I look like May.