blueberries

[Soup]

Went blueberry, sour cherry, and pea picking today.

We over did it with blue berries. We now have abou 14 lbs of blue berries. They are really good but what do we do with them (requiring minimal cooking. It is really hot and humid in DC).

We have done two easy things...frozen a bunch and gave some to our neighbors.

Any suggestions?

Soup

[snowangel]

Well, the first thing I'd do is make a Blueberry Pie. This recipe is neat because it combines cooked and raw blueberries, so you can all of the blueberry taste plus some crunch and punch and isn't baked. So, you don't want to blind-bake a crust? Make a graham cracker crust. This is one outstanding pie.

Another option is to freeze them. Don't wash them before freezing, and just lay out on a cookie sheet until they are frozen and then toss them into a ziplock. Blueberry muffins and pancakes all winter long. As long as they aren't wet when you freeze them, you can just scoop out what you want when you need them. If you are making pancakes or muffins, no need to thaw them before using.

And, what about a salsa?

[MelissaH]

Snowangel,

Thanks for posting a link to your unbaked pie recipe! I like that you can do it with a graham cracker crust, which I think I can manage on the grill since my kitchen's still under renovation.

Now, my question: I'm sure at least the 2 cups of cooked berries would be fine with the ones from my freezer that I'd like to use up before this year's crop comes in and we go pick more. But have you ever tried it with all frozen berries, even for the uncooked ones? Would you lose the contrast you spoke of so lovingly?

MelissaH

[Pam R]

I'm sorry, but you can never have too many blueberries!!

Pancakes, coffee cakes, pies, sauces, soups, throw them in salads, blueberry shortcakes and best of all, just eat them by the handful!

I differ from Susan in one thing - when we used to pick blueberries, we always picked through them and washed them. Lay them out on paper towel to dry before freezing in a single layer - then pull them out throughout the year to make more pies, cakes, sauces, etc.

[Pontormo]

You live in D.C.?

Still feeling generous?

(They are great simply added to maple syrup for French toast, banana and yogurt smoothies with fresh mint, Cheerios in the morning, BUTTERMILK pancakes, muffins with lemon zest.... Fabulous in a minimalistic fruit salad, paired only with ripe honeydew--also gorgeous that way. There was a wonderful sour cream cake with blueberries way back when in Bon Appetit...)

Edited June 24, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[snowangel]

Snowangel,

Thanks for posting a link to your unbaked pie recipe! I like that you can do it with a graham cracker crust, which I think I can manage on the grill since my kitchen's still under renovation.

Now, my question: I'm sure at least the 2 cups of cooked berries would be fine with the ones from my freezer that I'd like to use up before this year's crop comes in and we go pick more. But have you ever tried it with all frozen berries, even for the uncooked ones? Would you lose the contrast you spoke of so lovingly?

MelissaH

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Were you to use frozen berries, I think you might just lose that contrast. Save the frozen ones for waffles, pancakes, salsas, muffins. Use the fresh ones for the pie. But, if you choose to try the pie with the frozen ones, please report!

[Meridian]

I place a 10 quart basket of blueberries, unwashed in the freezer overnight, then bag them in the morning in useable quantities. I wash them and defrost them simultaneously when I'm ready to use some.

[KatieLoeb]

Cocktails!! Muddle those berries up with some rum or cachaca for Bluejitos or Blueberry Caipirinhas! Both are delicious.

[snowangel]

Cocktails!!  Muddle those berries up with some rum or cachaca for Bluejitos or Blueberry Caipirinhas!  Both are delicious. 

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Katie, recipes into RG are most appreciated. We have a late July weekend that is all about blueberry picking (at least for those of us who are not faint of heart)!

[ludja]

Blueberry ice cream and blueberry shakes... (minimal cooking)

If I had that many I might also make some nice blueberry jam when there is a break in the weather to allow for some cooking.

[RodneyCk]

Blueberry ice cream and blueberry shakes...  (minimal cooking)

If I had that many I might also make some nice blueberry jam when there is a break in the weather to allow for some cooking.

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Yes to all of the above.

I would also whip some in a nice vanilla flavored Italian meringue buttercream and make some blueberry filling which I would delightfully wedge between moist layers of white chocolate layer cake. *sigh*

[Pontormo]

And, what about a salsa?

←

For the ones that you don't freeze, if you can find good fresh corn, a great blueberry salsa is made with barely cooked corn, white wine or Champagne vinegar and lots of basil. No recipe. Use your own judgment regarding proportions, etc., a little finely minced red onion, for example. Perfect for grilled chicken.

[Jean Blanchard]

I get 50 lbs. of blueberries every year. You don't need to lay them out single layered in the freezer and then bag them. They don't stick together if you just put them directly into freezer bags unfrozen. Trust me. I didn't think that would work but it does.

My husband puts frozen blueberries in his cereal every morning. He likes that it makes the milk really cold.

[Live It Up]

I recently made some blueberry shrub, which I guess was originally a sort of quick way of preserving fruit. You cook your fruit with sugar, vinegar and water and then strain it. It makes a kind of thick, sweet-tart syrup that you can use in vinaigrettes or mix with soda water and spirits for a refreshing cocktail. I think originally the brandy or whatever alcohol was being used would be added directly in, but I don't know that much about the history. Anyway, I used a recipe for cranberry shrub, substituting blueberries. I had really tart berries, so the sugar/vinegar/berry ratio was pretty good and I added some cardamom. If anybody is interested I can post the proportions later.

[Soup]

Thanks for the post. We are still in a glut of blue berries but we making very good progress. My wife baked a number of pies and tarts and they were AMAZING. Thanks for the recipes...

She reduced a sugar a bit so it wasn't as sweet as store bought pies but I like them a bit less sweet. Had them for breakfast this morning (yes, pies) and it was really quite at the table, even the kids. Everyone was eating.

Our plum trees are also producing a lot right now so she is right now baking plum tarts and pies. I know what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow...

[Mallet]

Here's a recipe for blueberry squares (written notes are brief because I'm translating from French):

Blueberry Squares

Base

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1.5 cups graham crumbs

Topping

2 eggs

1 paquet cream cheese

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Sauce:

3 cups de blueberries plus 1 extra cup

1/2 cups sugar

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp corn starch

Mix all the ingredients for the base. Spread in a 9x9 pan.

Topping: Beat cream cheese and sugar. Incorporate eggs one at a time, then add vanilla. Spread on top of graham crust. Bake @ 300F for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, mix sauce ingredients and cook until thickened (about 15 minutes), incorporate fresh berries and spread on the cooked base. Refrigerate and top with whipped cream. Eat. Repeat.

edit: Added to RecipeGullet

Edited June 26, 2006 by Mallet (log)

[Pontormo]

I discovered a recipe card for Grace's Corn & Blueberry relish and have entered it in recipegullet. This was called a blueberry salsa upthread.

[Pam R]

I forgot that I have a recipe in RecipeGullet for Blueberry Soup.

Another thing I love with blueberries is pear. A simple blueberry/pear crisp is always good.

Blueberry blintzes... or buns.

[cakewalk]

There is a recipe on the Chocolate and Zucchini site for blueberry coffee cake that looks wonderful (although I haven't made it yet.) Take a peek, you might like it too.

[LoriJean]

I concur about freezing the blueberries - they freeze easier than any other fruit, I think!

I love them in Blueberry Shortcake:

I also make a Drenched Cranberry Cake that I sometimes sub blueberries for the cranberries in. It has a very decadent vanilla sauce (thus the "drenched" part of the recipe!):

Lori

[MelissaH]

Were you to use frozen berries, I think you might just lose that contrast.  Save the frozen ones for waffles, pancakes, salsas, muffins.  Use the fresh ones for the pie.  But, if you choose to try the pie with the frozen ones, please report!

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Frozen Berry Report:

Yesterday, we provided most of the dessert to go with dinner, chez our friend Anne. Anne made and baked me a pie crust, because right now if I tried to roll one, I'd be using sawdust to keep it from sticking, in my kitchen-under-construction. I made the filling outside on the propane stove, and just kept it in the pot for about an hour until we got to Anne's, at which point I scraped it into the baked shell and popped it into the fridge until we were ready for dessert.

I followed your recipe except for two things: I used the unmeasured juice of one lemon, squeezed with a lemon squeezer; and I used frozen blueberries, which we picked ourselves and then froze in a single layer on sheet pans before bagging.

It tasted delicious. You could taste some contrast between the cooked and uncooked berries. The texture contrast wasn't quite what it probably would have been with unadulterated berries, but the effect was still quite acceptable.

There was a minor problem with the berries running out of the crust, once the pie was cut. I attribute this to my monkeying with the filling after it cooled to get it into the crust, disturbing the set from the cornstarch. I suspect that if I'd filled the pie without delay, it wouldn't have been a problem.

Interestingly enough, I found a very similar recipe in Amanda Hesser's Cooking for Mr. Latte, called a Double-Good Blueberry Pie. That recipe says it's OK to use frozen blueberries you picked and froze yourself, adds an extra tablespoon of butter to the berries, and includes a cream cheese layer (unbaked) under the blueberries.

I'd call the recipe a decent one to use with decent frozen blueberries, especially if you are in an ovenless situation.

Respectfully submitted,

MelissaH

[snowangel]

Melissa, I have had the same "runnier" results when using frozen berries. I have edited my recipe in RecipeGullet to reflect that.

I also have, in RecipeGullet, a Raspberry Pie recipe that is very similar. For this one, you must use fresh berries or you will have soup in a crust.

In my opinion, blueberries are a lot less juicy than raspberries (which explains why it doesn't work with the latter, but I'm thinking that blueberries must have enough liquid that when they thaw, they just aren't the same as fresh. You're the chemist. You probably have a better answer.

Try the pie (or the raspberry one) again with fresh berries!

[I_call_the_duck]

Cocktails!!  Muddle those berries up with some rum or cachaca for Bluejitos or Blueberry Caipirinhas!  Both are delicious. 

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Katie, recipes into RG are most appreciated.

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I second the motion.

Blueberry sorbet?

Edited June 27, 2006 by I_call_the_duck (log)

[Lan4Dawg]

Cocktails!!  Muddle those berries up with some rum or cachaca for Bluejitos or Blueberry Caipirinhas!  Both are delicious. 

←

Katie, recipes into RG are most appreciated.

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I second the motion.

Blueberry sorbet?

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I need the receipt for blue berry sorbet! or a good blue berry ice cream.

I have about a quart fr/ our two bushes w/ at least twice that much ripening on the bushes as I type. We are having blue berry pancakes for brunch today and a blue berry sorbet or ice cream would be phenomenal.

[maxmillan]

Melissa, I have had the same "runnier" results when using frozen berries.  I have edited my recipe in RecipeGullet to reflect that.

I also have, in RecipeGullet, a Raspberry Pie recipe that is very similar.  For this one, you must use fresh berries or you will have soup in a crust.

In my opinion, blueberries are a lot less juicy than raspberries (which explains why it doesn't work with the latter, but I'm thinking that blueberries must have enough liquid that when they thaw, they just aren't the same as fresh.  You're the chemist.  You probably have a better answer.

Try the pie (or the raspberry one) again with fresh berries!

←

I usually coat the inside of the crust with chocolate so it won't get soggy from the filling. Thanks for the recipe.