Nourishments—

Summer’s Classic Treat: Blueberries

By Nancy K. Crevier

Where I grew up, picking blueberries was not a romp in the park. You had to have the perseverance to battle not only mid-summer heat and mosquitoes the size of small birds, but thorny underbrush, prickly pine branches that swiped your neck and back, and nasty horseflies that wouldn’t think twice about taking away an ounce of your flesh with every bite.

I remember one berry-picking episode in which my sister, having stepped on a ground hornet’s nest, ran screaming from the woods with dozens of stings; but she didn’t drop her berry bucket.

Another summer, eyes riveted to the low growing berry bushes, we failed to notice one of my friends wander off into the shaded pines. After a couple of tense hours of looking and a call to the police, the grimy and teary teen was located, blueberry-laden bucket in hand, at the side of the road.

Add to that the secretive nature of every blueberry picker in town and the squatter’s rights attitude toward blueberry patches, and it’s a wonder any of us made it an annual event.

While we swatted and sweated in the July heat and humidity, we weren’t thinking about how good blueberries were for us. We didn’t care that they were a great source of Vitamins C and K, potassium, and manganese. We didn’t know about phytochemicals or antioxidant flavonoids, cancer fighting and anti-aging compounds in which blueberries are rich. What did we care about improving our short-term memory, balance, or coordination when we were young and supple?

All we cared about were the sweet, tiny berries that fell into our cupped hands (and mouths, more often than not) and would soon find their way home to be turned into muffins, pies and cobblers. Or if we were in a hurry, simply eaten by the bowlfuls, sprinkled with sugar and swimming in cream.

Blueberry picking is a great family activity, too, especially done in the relatively safe environment of local farms. Rows of high bush blueberries, commonly cultivated on picking farms, make for a far less back-breaking effort than the endless stooping required by wild, low bush berries. Even small children will be able to quickly fill a box.

If you get carried away and pick a few pounds too many, rest assured that blueberries are freezer friendly. And what a treat it can be to pull out the summer’s harvest when winter doldrums have taken over our culinary creativity.

True blueberry aficionados protest that the large, cultivated berries, while easier to pick and just as healthful as their wild cousins, lack the tangy sweetness of the petite wild berry. As usual, it’s all a matter of taste.

Whether you choose to battle the elements or make it a leisurely outing at a nearby berry farm, whether you favor the mild flavor of farm grown berries as large as marbles or the tongue-tingling zip of wild berries, make sure savor the blueberry season.

Blueberry Wheat Muffins

2¼ C whole wheat pastry flour               

  (available at natural food stores)

2½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

Pinch salt

¼ tsp ground cardamom

½ tsp cinnamon

Grated rind of half a lemon

¾ C whole milk

½ C plain yogurt

1 egg

½ C honey

¼ C canola oil

3 Tbs sugar

1 C fresh blueberries

Optional: ¼ C finely chopped almonds

Toss rinsed berries with sugar in small bowl and set aside.

Stir together flour, powder, soda, and salt in medium bowl.

Whisk wet ingredients thoroughly.

Stir berries gently into dry ingredients and make a well in the center.

Pour wet ingredients into well and mix thoroughly, but do not beat.

Grease one dozen muffin cups and fill each 2/3  full with batter.

Bake in preheated 400° oven for 20 minutes. Tops should be domed and golden.

Remove from oven. Cool in pan for five minutes, then remove from tins to finish cooling.

Blueberry Cobbler

2 C whole wheat pastry flour

1 Tbs baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 Tbs honey

4 Tbs unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small pieces

½ C heavy cream

5 C blueberries, half of them lightly crushed

1 Tbs honey

Grated rind of one lemon

2 Tbs butter, cut into tiny pieces

Place flour, powder, salt, the first Tbs of honey and the 4 Tbs butter into processor with steel blade. Pulse until butter is worked in and dough is slightly crumbly.

With processor running, add cream just until dough holds together, but is not sticky. The amount of cream will vary with the day’s humidity; sometimes less is required, sometimes a bit more.

Gather the dough into a ball and gently and quickly knead it for a few seconds. Cover the dough and let it rest while you prepare the fruit.

Mix the blueberries, 1 Tbs honey and the lemon together in a medium bowl. Place the fruit in the bottom of a round ten inch flan pan or quiche pan.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a circle slightly smaller than the pan’s diameter. Gently place on top of fruit. Cut a hole in the center of the dough.

Bake at 375° for 20 minutes, or until fruit bubbles and crust is golden.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.