Call me Ms. Beauregarde

As I've mentioned before, we get a crop share through Kretschmann Farms. Two weeks ago, a pint of organic blueberries came with the veggies for the week. They weren't from Kretschmann Farms directly, but from Hunter Farms in Fariview, PA. I am usually not too excited about blueberries, and after tasting these I realized that what I had been eating was nothing like the real deal. I usually buy my fruit at a supermarket (I know, I know...), a farm stand along the road on the way home from work, or occasionally from the farmer's market. Still, I have never tasted anything like these. Never. They were tart, sweet, juicy, and plump. We made it through the pint before we went to bed the night we got it. So, when the opportunity presented itself to buy a flat of these blueberries and get them delivered with next week's vegetables, we jumped on it. Note: the flat cost $50. I probably haven't spent $50 on fruit in a week, let alone on one type of fruit in a day. But, I was excited about the prospect of having so many delicious berries in our house at once. My neighbor agreed to split the flat with me, making it more manageable. So, when my veggie pick up day rolled around, I was ready with recipes and ingredients for all sorts of blueberry recipes. Here were some of my trials and triumphs:

Blueberry Clafouti

This custard-y, pancake-y treat was our favorite. I poured some blueberries into a greased cast iron skillet (usually preserved for my husband to cook with, as it is "his" pan that he "allowed" me to use for this recipe) and poured a batter of eggs, flour, cinnamon, sugar, milk, and vanilla over it before baking it for about 40 minutes. I burnt my tongue twice tasting it before it cooled because it looked so tempting. I knew it was going to burn, but I tried it anyway. That's beauty. Once I got over it, I remembered to sprinkle some sugar on top (recipe called for powdered but I messed up and used sanding sugar - which actually worked really well) and tried it again. It was amazing! The blueberries were tart and burst in your mouth, and the custard pancake was brown on top and thick and creamy in the middle. The crunch from the sugar was perfect. I had since had some chilled, and it rocked too. This will definitely be made again at our house. Triumph.

Blueberry and Mascarpone Turnovers

This was more a trial and tragedy and less a triumph for me. The Giada De Laurentis recipe was easy enough - pie dough filled with fresh blueberry syrup and mascarpone cheese, and fried. Yes, FRIED. This had my name all over it. Like a homemade, fried toaster strudel. The picture above shows the minutes before it all went awry. So, I rolled, filled, and refrigerated, per the recipe. Heated the oil. Dropped the pie in the oil, and waited the obligatory 1 to 1 1/2 minutes before turning over. However, when I tried to turn them over, they weren't there. The dough, my grandma's recipe made mostly from lard, turned back into grease when placed into the hot oil. I was left with blueberry mush to stir around the pan, delaying the inevitable of admitting my defeat. In the end, I baked the last two and they were pretty good. Not fired goodness, but pretty good.

Fresh Blueberry Sauce

I used an Ina Garten recipe, combining fresh orange and lemon juice, sugar, blueberries, cornstarch, and lemon zest. It was a fast, easy recipe and was delicious. We tried it over ice cream and with goat cheese on bread. Hoping to try some on ricotta pancakes soon. Triumph.

Blueberry Muffins

Part triumph, part tragedy. The recipe was a triumph. I found it in the Post Gazette last year as a strawberry muffin recipe. It had lots of heavy cream - great way to start a muffin recipe. My execution was a tragedy. (Are you getting the idea that I am a sub par baker?) I didn't grease the pan enough, and I undercooked the muffins. The overall taste was great, but the look and texture (due to the lack of complete cooking) wasn't.