“The best thieves are chefs and cooks.” Is a well-known quote in the food industry … I am not sure if Jacques Pepin or Antony Bourdain said it … I even googled it to see who said it, and couldn’t find a reference to the quote. I love reading recipes from different chefs and then changing it into my own. The strawberry recipe in this wine club I stole from Jacques Pepin, and ‘adapted’ it to how I thought it would pair better with our wines.

I served this strawberry ‘soup’ with our pinot barrel tasting at our last wine club event … I knew the day could be potentially very warm, so I chose to serve a chilled soup for the first time. Luckily for us who live in Sonoma we have an amazing strawberry patch that is within minutes from the winery. This is a recipe that is easy to make, and a wonderful treat on a hot summer day … you can serve it as an appetizer or dessert. I usually make it in the morning so the flavors really set in.

As with most summer shipments I always try to include something that is great for picnicking or potlucks. This pasta dish can be served warm or chilled. I love it chilled, with a glass of chardonnay. I was able to get frozen artichoke hearts at Whole Foods, if you don’t have Whole Foods around you can always use marinated ones. Just make sure you rinse the marinated ones really well so you don’t mask the flavors of the sauce. Why does it seem that I use thigh meat so much? Because I love the flavor of the dark meat more … also it tends to be more tender. If you do decide to use breast meat make sure you add more salt to your marinade to soften the meat.