Blueberry

Posts Tagged ‘Blueberry’

Best of the Southwest and Best of the Northwest in ONE WEEK!

Posted July 30th, 2011 in In the Kitchen, Posts, Serving with Style

Last week I took a much needed vacation with my family. My mother has a few items left on her bucket list and she is trying to check them off rapid fire as she turns 85 this year. She has been trying to get to the Opera in Santa Fe, New Mexico for years and she invited Kaitlin and me to join her and my dad on their vacation. Kaitlin studied music at a conservatory and actually sang opera so the idea really appealed to her. To be honest, I was motivated mostly by green chili but the opera sounded good too. We saw La Boheme with a New Mexican sunset backdrop and it was truly magical!

Since Kaitlin and I watch a lot of food TV like the Iron Chef we like to experience restaurants headed up by famous celebrity chefs. We scoped out the restaurant selections and found “The Compound” owned by Mark Kiffin, a James Beard Winner, Best Chef of the Southwest in 2005. This restaurant was a lovely white adobe and the menu was very high end. We tried things we had never had like Beef Tartar with soft egg on top and then had some perfectly grilled diver scallops with fava bean, pea and asparagus emulsion with lemon vinegar. For dessert we had an unbelievable dessert that we thought we could adapt for using Oregon Fruit. It was a blueberry polenta cake with amaretto cream topped with carmelized plum sauce. WOW! is all I can say. I only wish I had the vocabulary to describe this dessert but what I did do for you is recreate it here. I think I came pretty close.

At the end of the week, we attended the Oregon Berry Festival with two of our blogger friends- Kimberly Morales from “Poor Girl Eats Well” and Leela Cyd-Ross from “The Kitchn” and shared a table with our new friends, Tim and Dani Vincent of Vincent Family Cranberries who are cranberry growers from the Oregon Coast. In the next week or two I will be sharing with you some more experiences from this event but for now let me say that we finished the week with a meal designed by Chef Philippe Boulot, James Beard Winner, Best Chef of the Northwest 2001 at the Heathman Restaurant and Bar in Portland, OR. Every course was designed around northwest grown berries and included an array of proteins from local goat cheese, to Chinook salmon, to lamb and finally Bison. The Dessert was truly the grand finale as it was a Berry Trifle with Blueberry, Blackberry, Strawberry, Marionberry and Raspberry compote layered with biscuits and crème chibouste. (None of us knew this word before either-thank goodness for the I-phone. It is a pastry crème lightened with whipped cream. I can’t wait to use this in conversation with someone).

Blueberry Polenta Cake with Carmelized Plums and Amaretto Cream

Posted July 30th, 2011 in Desserts, Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cornmeal

3 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

A pinch of salt

4 eggs

1 1/3 cup fat free Greek Yogurt

1/2 cup olive oil

2 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Juice of 1 lemon

Zest of one lemon

2 cans Oregon Fruit Blueberries, well drained

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 8 mini bundt pans or one 10 inch bundt pan.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs, oil, yogurt, brown sugar,vanilla bean paste, lemon juice, and lemon zest until smooth.

3. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. add dry ingredients to wet ingredients slowly whisking after each addition until smooth and well combined.

4. Gently fold in the blueberries.

5. Pour the cake mix evenly into the prepared pans.

6. Bake until the cake for 20-25mins for mini pans or 30-35 for 10inch or until toothpick comes out clean.

Amaretto Cream Sauce:

2/3 cup powdered sugar

1 ½ cup whole milk,scalded 2 Tbs Amaretto Liqueor

½ Tsp vanilla bean paste

½ cup heavy whipping cream, whipped into soft peaks

In a medium-sized bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add the hot milk, stir and pour into medium-sized saucepan. Cook and whisk sauce until it begins to thicken but not boil. Remove from heat.
Pour sauce into medium-sized bowl, add the Amaretto and stir until sauce cools. Add vanilla once sauce is cool.
When completely cool, fold in the whipped cream

Carmelized Plums

1 can Oregon Fruit Plums, drained and pitted; reserve syrup

2 Tbs. Butter

2 Tbs. Brown sugar

¼ tsp cinnamon

1 Tbs cornstarch

In a small sauté pan, melt butter, brown sugar and cinnamon and heat until it begins to carmelize. Quarter the plums and then stir into the carmelized butter and sugar.

In a small saucepan, whisk the cornstarch into the plum syrup. Heat until mixture is thickened and clear.

Assembly:

Plate individual cakes, then top with a dollop of amaretto cream, divide the carmelized plums evenly and then drizzle with the syrup.

Blueberry Orange Bundt Cake

Posted May 17th, 2011 in Desserts, Recipe

Ingredients:

Cake:

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 Tbs orange zest

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups all -purpose flour

1 tbs baking powder

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 can Oregon Fruit Blueberries well drained.

Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

2 1/2 Tbs fresh squeezed orange juice

Directions:

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy; beat in the eggs, orange zest and vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder. Toss 1 Tbs flour mixture with drained blueberries in a bowl. Combine buttermilk and orange juice. Add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately to creamed mixture. When combined, gently fold in the blueberries. Pour into a greased and floured 12 cup fluted bundt pan. Bake at 350degrees for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before inverting and removing from the pan to a wire rack to cool. For glaze, combine the confectiners sugar and orange juice until smooth. Spoon over cake.

Blueberry Streusel Pie

Posted May 17th, 2011 in Desserts, Recipe

Ingredients:

Filling:

2 cans Oregon Blueberries, drained reserve syrup from one can

1/4 cup sugar

3 Tbs cornstarch

2 Tbs lemon juice

Topping:

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup chopped toasted almonds

1/3 cup chilled unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1/4 cup old fashioned oats

1/4 cup all purpose flour

Crust:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 Tbs sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup chilled unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1/3 cup chilled solid vegetabel shortening

about 4 Tbs ice water

Directions:

Crust:

Blend flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add butter and shortening pulsing until mixture resembles cottage cheese. Add water a little at a time and process until moist clumps form. Gather dough into a ball and flatten into a disk. Wrap in wax paper and chill at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out on a floured surface to about 15 inch circle. Transfer to a 9 inch glass pie plate and flute the edges forming a high standing rim. Freeze crust for 20 minutes.

Filling:

Mix sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Wisk in syrup and heat until thickened and clear. Gently stir in blueberries. Pour into prepared crust.

Topping:

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until moist clumps form. Sprinkle evenly over the top of blueberry filling. Bake for 30-40 minutes until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbly.

Blueberry Sparkle Punch

Posted May 6th, 2011 in Drinks, Recipe

16 ounces of any leftover syrup drained from Oregon Fruit. I used Blueberry.

32 ounces of sparkling lime mineral water (or orange or lemon)

Lime slices

ice

Pour into a pitcher and stir! If you like a sweeter punch you can substitute seven up or sprite. You can make it alcoholic by adding light rum or vodka.