| Blueberry Recipes to Give You a Summer Lift (Tested) |
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By Joyce Rosencrans
Scripps Howard News Service
Next time you want to reach for a cookie or candy bar or a handful of chocolate chips, wait a second. Open the refrigerator door. Take out a handful of fresh blueberries, rinse them well and wrap in a paper towel. Then carry them off to wherever you were headed with the non-healthful stuff and enjoy having the blues one by one. These berries are a snack with life-sustaining properties. They're not only the least messy berry of all, without large seeds to stick in our teeth, but the best possible berry to sprinkle over pancakes, put over lemon pound cake, turn into cinnamon sauce for sundaes, bake up into breads, cakes, cobblers and pie. Some of those blueberry opportunities to cook or bake turn into caloric, buttery creations. They're fine some of the time, not to excess. We all hear the inner voice of food guilt. We can make up for our occasional indulgences by remembering to snack on blueberries in the raw, just as they are, only rinsed at the last minute. (Never wash berries before storing them in the refrigerator. It leads to faster deterioration.) Here's the health bonus for eating blueberries unadorned by pastry: Tufts University researchers recently analyzed more than 40 fruits and vegetables and announced that blueberries contain the highest level of antioxidants, those substances that help our bodies fight off cancer, heart disease and aging characteristics. It seems that blueberries contain nearly 60 times the recommended daily levels of disease-fighting antioxidants. According to a summary report in Healthy Living magazine, the July/August issue, blueberries beat out other nutritional powerhouses like spinach, garlic, blackberries and beets. The coloring substance in blueberries is anthocyanin, which also makes beets red. It's in a group of flavonoids that not only colors some fresh fruits and vegetables, but is the anti-aging agent and cancer-fighter. The magazine reports that it's especially strong against leukemia cells. Like cranberries, blueberries can help prevent urinary-tract infections, too. And they've been known as a high-fiber food for a long time. This type of fiber or roughage, in this case, is thought to be good for intestinal health and is implicated in appetite control and other health issues. Even better news is that you don't have to go around with blue-stained teeth from eating a ton of the little blue things. No, just half-a-cup, fresh or frozen, gives up all the blueberry benefits. They're much more delicious than antioxidant vitamins from a bottle, and maybe not as expensive while they're in season. The commercial crop of blueberries remains at its annual peak in August. Peaches and blueberries go together. Try some over the morning cereal, both fruits at once, and make a warm blueberry cinnamon sauce to spoon over sliced fresh peaches, which have been lightly sugared and bathed with orange juice to keep them from darkening. When the local peaches are good, as they are now, it's a dessert to die for. Another delicious way to enjoy fresh blueberries in their natural state is with a mint-ginger sauce. Ginger-Mint Sauce Recipe adapted from Chef Leslie Revsin. Ingredients: 12 oz. fresh blueberries
4 tsp. finely chopped mint
1 cup water
5 slices fresh ginger
2 Tbs. sugar
Lemon or vanilla yogurt sprinkled with brown sugar, optional Preparation: Drain and rinse 12 ounces of fresh blueberries; pat dry. This is equal to a generous 2 cupfuls, but blueberry sizes vary a lot, so by-the-cup is not an accurate measure for recipe-writers. Turn berries into a large bowl and set aside. From a bunch of mint, tear off enough leaves to chop finely to make 4 teaspoons. Set aside. Coarsely chop enough mint stems and leaves to make 1/2 cup. Add the 1/2 cupful to a small saucepan along with 1 cup water, 5 slices fresh ginger, unpeeled (each slice about the size of a quarter) and 2 tablespoons sugar. Simmer, uncovered, about 5 minutes. Strain the mixture, pressing lightly. Return syrup to saucepan and boil about 5 minutes to get 1/4 cup in volume. Stir in the 4 teaspoons chopped mint leaves and cool. Pour over berries and toss until glossy. Garnish with lemon or vanilla yogurt, if desired, sprinkled with a bit of brown sugar. Blueberry Flatbread Recipe courtesy Best American Recipes 1999. Ingredients: 2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
3 Tbs. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
8 Tbs. (1 stick) cold, unsalted butter
1 large egg
3/4 cup plus 1 Tbs. milk
1 cup blueberries, rinsed and stemmed
1 Tbs. cinnamon mixed with 1/4 cup sugar Note: The blueberry flatbread is a cross between a cookie and a pancake, an old Maine recipe for a "slightly sweet blueberry thing. The batter is spread out very thin on a baking sheet, quickly baked and then eaten hot, broken apart into pieces." Remember this one when lemonade is being poured on the deck, screened porch or patio. Preparation: Heat oven to 450 degrees, with middle rack in place. Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Cut in butter with 2 table knives or a wire pastry blender until it is the size of peas. Set aside. Beat egg in a small bowl, then beat in milk. Add berries to the dry ingredients, then add the egg mixture all at once and stir just until moistened. Do not over mix. The dough will be sticky. Pat it out 1/2-inch thick on the baking sheet, about 9x12 inches. Sprinkle on cinnamon-sugar. Bake at 450 degrees about 12 minutes. Break apart and serve hot. Blueberry Cobbler Recipe originally appeared in Yankee magazine, contributed by Patricia Goodridge Worth.) Ingredients for Sweet Cornmeal Crust: 1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup flour
3 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 Tbs. butter
1/2 cup milk Ingredients for Berry Filling: 2 dry pints blueberries (at least 28 oz. or 4 cups)
Two 6-oz. pkg. fresh red raspberries (about 2 cups)
2 Tbs. quick-cooking tapioca
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup honey Preparation: Make the pastry first, so it can chill. Stir together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a wire pastry blender until mixture is the size of small peas. Add milk and stir with a fork to form a soft dough. Gather into a large ball; wrap in plastic and chill quickly in the freezer. For the berry filling, rinse and drain both berries. Remove any blueberry stems. Place in a large bowl lined with paper towels, then pull out the towels. Toss the gently dried berries with tapioca granules, lemon juice and honey. Have oven heating to 350 degrees, the rack set at middle level. Stir berry mixture again and turn into a 9x13-inch baking dish (original recipe was made as a double-crust pie, but these directions are for a deep-dish cobbler with no bottom crust). Roll out the chilled cornmeal cookie-like dough on a lightly floured surface, roughly to the size of the baking dish, a bit thicker than for pies. Fit dough over berries in pan, tucking in at the edges. If you must lift the soft dough in sections, that's fine; it doesn't have to be in one piece. Use any leftover dough to cut into small star shapes and fasten on top by brushing the undersides with milk. Slash dough several times. Bake until golden brown, about 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve warm or cool. Good with vanilla ice cream or vanilla yogurt as a breakfast dish. Serves: 8 Blueberry French Toast Bake Ingredients: 6 eggs
1 tsp. grated orange peel
2/3 cup orange juice
3 Tbs. divided
Pinch salt
1 cup blueberries
8 slices Italian bread (1-1/4 inches thick)
1/3 cup sliced almonds
Blueberry Sauce (see directions) Preparation: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, beat eggs, peel, juice, 2 tablespoons of the sugar and salt. Pour into a 13x9-inch baking dish. In a small bowl, combine berries and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. With tip of a sharp knife, cut a 1-1/2-inch wide pocket in the side of each bread slice. Fill with berry mixture. Place filled slices in egg mixture and let stand, turning once, until egg blend is mostly absorbed, about 5 minutes on each side. Arrange bread on prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with almonds. Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown, about 15 minutes, turning slices after 10 minutes. Serve with Blueberry Orange Sauce: In a cup, combine 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1/8 teaspoon salt. In a small saucepan, bring 1/4 cup each orange juice and water to a boil. Add 1 cup blueberries and 1 cup orange sections (mandarin oranges are fine, or use 2 oranges). Return to a boil and cook about 2 minutes. Stir in sugar mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens, 1 or 2 minutes. Cinnamon may be added to taste. Servings: 4 to 6 (Joyce Rosencrans is living editor of The Cincinnati Post.)
RESOURCES :
The Best American Recipes 1999: The Year's Top Picks from Books, Magazines ...
Model: 0395966477
Author: Fran McCullough and Suzanne Hamlin
(October 1999)
To order this title from Amazon, click here.
Houghton Mifflin Co.
Boston, MA 02116
Phone: 617-351-5000
Email: tradecustomerservice@hmco.com
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