The very versatile blueberry
Nutritionists have long praised blueberries as a super food, full of vitamins C and K, loaded with antioxidants, useful for control of blood sugar, packed with fiber, linked to heart health, and low in calories. Poets and other writers have likewise sung the praise of this luscious little tidbit chock full of flavor. In his inimitable fashion Robert Frost described blueberries thusly:
Blueberries as big as the end of your thumb,
Real sky-blue, and heavy and ready to drum
In the cavernous pail of the first one to come.
Henry David Thoreau equated them to “dusky pearls among the leaves, waiting for the patient hand.” North Carolina’s own beloved muse of the mountains, longtime newspaper columnist John Parris, had a true literary affair with wild blueberries. He wrote of them and a culinary cousin, huckleberries, with considerable frequency. All this attention is richly merited, and blueberries even earn a notable spot in American history. Long before the arrival of European settlers, Native Americans over much of the continent relied heavily on pemmican, and the same held true for the so-called “Mountain Men” and their pioneering presence in the West. One of the key ingredients of that protein and fat rich foodstuff was dried blueberries.
Picking these dark, delightful little packages of intense taste is, any way you want to put it, a chore. It takes a lot of picking to make a gallon, and when I read of whole families going on “pickin’s” back in the days when reliance on nature’s bounty was an integral and important part of mountain life, the thought that one such venture might produce many gallons of berries astounds me. Yet I have no doubt such was the case. My father and grandfather often talked about family outings of this sort, with buckets made from lard pails forming receptacles for berries.
In today’s world though, blueberries are available on grocery store shelves throughout the year, and all across the region there are seasonal pick-your-own operations, quaintly marked by homemade signs that spring up along roadsides as the berries begin to ripen in early to mid-summer. Arduous efforts required to “get your own” notwithstanding, rest assured the freshness and flavor of berries straight from the bush provides a situation where the gain in gustatory delight far outweighs any pain involved in picking.
Blueberries freeze well and lend themselves to such an array of uses it might almost be said the only gustatory limits are those of one’s imagination. Start with breakfast and think smoothies, adornment for cold cereal, blueberry bagels, muffins, or a delightful treat when accompanied by ricotta cheese. Or, for that matter, when it comes to the breakfast sweepstakes there can’t be many offerings that outshine a stack of pancakes where a generous portion of blueberries has been incorporated into the batter.
But breakfast figures as only a part of the blueberry picture. These dusky blue jewels make a nutritious and most satisfying snack at any time of the day, serve as an admirable accompaniment to or key ingredient for sauces used with meat dishes, and form the starting point for desserts galore sure to satisfy the most demanding sweet tooth. Put it any way you like—blueberries are versatile and sho’ nuff palate pleasers. Here are some recipes that illustrate some of the blueberry’s amazing versatility along with providing a path to some scrumptious eating.
Steak with Blueberry Sauce
Should you be so blessed as to have the backstraps or tenderloins from a deer, those tastiest of venison cuts go wonderfully well with blueberries. This recipe offers a fine example, but you can use better cuts of beef in the same fashion. That’s likely the road most will want to travel
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 4 steaks, cut a half inch thick (half of one backstrap or a pair of tenderloins from a deer will be enough meat)
- Juice and zest of one fresh lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- Several generous dashes ground cinnamon
- Several dashes ground ginger root
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Preparation:
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet and cook steaks until medium-rare and nicely browned on both sides. Place on platter and keep warm. De-glaze skillet with lemon juice, lemon zest, and chicken broth. Cook over high heat to reduce liquid to about half a cup. Lower heat to medium and add four tablespoons butter, whisking in one tablespoon at a time. Add blueberries, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and pepper. Pour blueberry sauce over steaks and serve immediately. Serves four.
Blueberry Salad
Ingredients:
- 2 cups blueberries
- 1 (6-ounce) package black cherry gelatin
- 1 cup water
- 1 (8½ –ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained
- 1 small carton whipped cream
- 1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup finely chopped pecans
Preparation:
Place one cup berries in a saucepan, cover with water and simmer until berries are tender. Drain and reserve the juice. Add enough water to the blueberry juice to make two cups. Heat juice to boiling and add gelatin; stir until gelatin is dissolved. Add one cup cold water, pineapple, cooked blueberries, and a cup of uncooked blueberries. Pour into a 9- x 13-inch dish and refrigerate until firm.
Beat softened cream cheese, add nuts and fold in whipped topping. Mix well. Spread over congealed salad and chill for at least two hours before serving.
Blueberry Nut Bread
Ingredients:
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- 1 egg
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen, if the latter, thaw and drain well)
- ½ cup chopped nuts
- Cinnamon sugar to taste
Preparation:
Cream sugar, salt, and melted butter. Add egg and beat well. In separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture alternately with milk; blend well. Gently fold blueberries and nuts into batter. Pour into 9 x 5 x 3-inch prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle a very light coating of cinnamon sugar on top. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until golden brown and bread tests done in center with a toothpick. Cool in pan for ten minutes before serving.
Blueberry Upside Down Cake
INGREDIENTS:
- 1½ sticks butter
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- Enough reconstituted blueberries to cover the bottom of a 9-inch cake pan or cast iron pan
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs (at room temperature)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- ½ cup sour cream
Preparation:
Melt one-third of your butter (half stick) in the cake pan. Stir in the brown sugar until it is fully blended.
Add rehydrated blueberries to the pan bottom and distribute evenly for a full layer.
Melt remaining butter and mix with sugar, eggs, and vanilla using a whisk or beater. Add flour, baking powder, and salt, stirring enough to combine. Add sour cream and whisk until combined (it helps to soften sour cream by microwaving a few seconds).
Pour batter over fruit and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until done. Remove from oven and cool for 5 to 10 minutes before turning onto a plate.
The very versatile blueberry
Tipper's Blueberry Pie
My good friend Tipper Pressley, with whom I co-authored Celebrating Southern Appalachian Food, is an exemplar of old-timey mountain foodways. She annually shares her expertise in a cooking class at Brasstown, N. C.’s John C. Campbell Folk School along with making frequent food forays on her daily blog and vlog and first brought this recipe to my attention. Tipper uses fresh blueberries, but knowing that blueberries dry easily immediately suggested using dehydrated ones. That is my approach.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of rehydrated blueberries
- 2 tablespoons water
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ stick butter
- 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg slightly beaten
- 1 unbaked pie shell
Preparation:
Place blueberries in a small sauce pot with 2 tablespoons of water. Cook for 5 minutes with lid on, checking to make sure they don’t scorch. Then pour cooked blueberries and liquid into an unbaked pie shell. Melt butter, remove from heat and stir in sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt and slightly beaten egg. Pour mixture over blueberries. Bake in a 350 oven for 35 minutes.
Blueberry Cobbler
Ingredients:
- 1 stick of butter
- 1 cup of self-rising flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 cups blueberries
Preparation:
Place butter in a 9- x 13-inch pan and put in oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together flour, sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Once butter is melted pour flour mixture into pan. Do not stir. Spoon blueberries on top of flour mixture. Bake until crust has turned a golden brown—about 45 minutes.
Along with these recipes, you might find these tips helpful:
- Add blueberries to muffin, cake, pancake, or waffle batter.
- Serve kids a purple cow by whirling milk, berries, and sugar together in a blender. They’ll like the name and love the taste.
- Stir blueberries into plain or vanilla ice cream. Better still, make a run of home-made berry ice cream.
- Add blueberries to a melon medley of watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe.
- Make a blueberry trifle using an old-fashioned pound cake, vanilla pudding, whipped cream, and a smidgen of rum.
- Partially fill an ice cream cone with blueberries then top it off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Tell children (or the young at heart no matter their age) they are eating an ice cream surprise and let them discover the surprise in the form of blueberries as they get into the cone.
- Make a pan of snow cream and sprinkle it liberally with frozen blueberries.
- Finally, as a closing note, keep in mind the fact that wild huckleberries can be substituted for blueberries in any of these offerings.
About the author: Jim Casada is a full-time freelance writer and the author of a number of cookbooks. He presently is completing an anthology of food-related stories, accompanied by traditional recipes, from beloved mountain newspaper columnist John Parris. To learn more about Casada’s work, visit jimcasadaoutdoors.com.