Savory strawberries

One of the best and worst things about dating a teacher is summer vacation.  On the one hand, said teacher gets some much needed rest, has more time to do annoying chores around the apartment, and is a generally more relaxed person.  

On the other hand, they do not have to go work in the morning.  And you do.  

Peter helps to make up for this injustice by making lots of wonderful dinners in the summertime.  He's a much fancier and extravagant cook than I am, which makes it even more fun.  I'm always hoarding our ingredients, saving them for goodness knows what, while he piles on the good cheese and olives and fancy vinegar.  

Now, he's not doing foie gras or frogs legs (yet!).  But he is doing homemade candies walnuts and polenta cakes and savory strawberry sauce.  On a Tuesday!  We had a delicious salad with walnuts, goat cheese, beets, strawberries, and baby lettuce.  We also had polenta cakes topped with slices of beets and goat cheese (I know, I know.  I'm having trouble restraining myself with the beets.).  And, best of all, he made beautiful pork chops covered in a strawberry sauce spiked with cumin.  A delicious, fancy summer dinner.  

Savory strawberry sauce (courtesy of Peter)

You will need:

7 or 8 nice sized strawberries

A shake of cumin

Tablespoon of chopped fresh basil leaves

Chopped up 5-6 of your strawberries.  Add chopped berries and basil to the food processor and shake in your cumin.  Let it work just a little while, maybe half a minute, until you have just a slightly lumpy consistency.  Pour into bowl and add remaining chopped berries.  

Peter seared pork chops, transfered them to a baking dish, then poured this sauce on top.  They went into the oven to finish cooking.  We've never tried it, but I'm sure this sauce would also be fantastic with chicken.