A Blueberry Happy Place
Armed with berry pickers, we head out to our berry patch—a spot that I consider the most important secret I’ve ever kept. It’s not just that I don’t want it to turn into the next Arctic Valley picking spot… overrun with people and picked over. It’s that, to me, this place feels almost sacred. There’s something so special about our Blueberry Hill, and I want to keep it safe.
The sun begins to set while we pick, casting a golden light across the berries. I can’t decide if I should pick them or take pictures of them.
With each plop in the bucket, I daydream about what I’m going to make this year. Last year it was jams, fruit leathers, scones, and pies. This year our haul will be nearly triple what we gathered last summer. My mouth waters for juicy blueberry pancakes and perhaps something savory to mix with their tangy flavor.
Fast-forward to our kitchen two days later.
It’s been berry central ever since we got home. Picking through the berries, gleaning twigs and leaves, and processing jars. I can’t resist making more blueberry jam. Last year, my husband and I made over two-hundred jars of jam for our wedding favors, and I’m now spoiled forever. Smuckers will never cut it again! (I’ve had a lot of people ask me for my blueberry jam recipe. You can find it here.)
I also made blueberry muffins—using a different recipe than my old standby. It’s from one of my favorite cookbooks “Sarabeth’s Bakery: From My Hands to Yours”. Most of the recipes in this cookbook require a ton of time and plenty of baking savvy. These muffins are the exception—they are super easy and fast. I’ve made a few adjustments to the recipe, and you can find it here.
Lastly, I did whip up a balsamic blueberry sauce. We tried it on steak, but I think it will also be really good on goat cheese or a fancy Panini. Here’s the recipe I used.
Recipe: Thai Lemongrass Creme Brulee
I don’t often post recipes here, so when I do… you know they’re good! This five-ingredient recipe is so refreshing and tasty. It may not be the picture of health, but everyone has to slip up sometimes.
This dessert is absolutely decadent, but light. It's perfect following a Thai curry!
Ingredients:
1 cup milk (I used skim and it turned out just fine)
1 cup coconut milk
4 tablespoons minced Lemongrass
6 egg yolks
½ cup sugar (plus more for custard tops)
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
2. In a saucepan, bring the milk, coconut milk, and lemongrass to a simmer over medium-heat. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl until thick. Strain the milk mixture through a fine sieve into the mixing bowl, stirring the egg mixture constantly.
4. Pour batter into 4 to 6 ramekins, until ¾ full. Place ramekins in a flat-bottomed glass dish. Fill this dish part way with boiling water, until about 1/3 of the way up the ramekins. Gently place the dish in the oven.
5. Bake. The recipe says to bake for 20 minutes, but my batch took closer to an hour. You want the custard to firm up, and not be runny. Use 20 minutes as a jumping off point, but don’t worry if it’s taking longer than that. You want the consistency to be a bit thicker than pudding.
6. Chill for two hours. Sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar on top of each custard. And now, for the fun part: using a blow torch! Heat the surface of each dessert—one at a time. Melt and brown the sugar for about two minutes. Refrigerate the custards until firm again, but the topping is still brittle.
Enjoy!!!
This recipe comes from Everyday Thai Cooking by Katie Chin. I cannot recommend this cookbook highly enough—everything I’ve made from it is amazing!
The Most Amazing Banana Cream Pie... (and I don't even like Banana Cream Pie)
My window for likeable bananas is small. They must be more green than yellow, but not so green that they taste chalky and not so yellow that they smell like fake banana candies. When my bananas are outside of this criteria, I usually find them only fitting for smoothies or banana bread. But when the Love of my Life said he was craving a Banana Cream Pie, I found it to be the perfect excuse to indulge my love of baking and deal with the "ripe" bananas on the counter.
Now, I should give a warning before divulging this most-delicious Banana Cream Pie recipe. This is not your fast, pre-cooked pie shell, run of the mill recipe. This is a labor of love, but one that will pay off.
Almond Pastry Dough:
Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons almonds, toasted
1 cup plus 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 Tablespoons superfine sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 large egg
1 Tablespoon ice water, plus more as needed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Dough Instructions:
1. Grind the almonds in a food processor with 1 Tablespoon of flour until powedery. Combine the remaining flour, the ground almond mixture, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the butter cubes and toss to coat with the flour mix. Cut the butter in until the mix looks coarse, with small pea-size chunks of butter.
2. Using a fork, mix the egg yolk, 1 Tablespoon ice water, vanilla and almond extract in a small bowl. Drizzle the yolk mixture all over the flour mixture and combine just until the dough clumps. If the dough is too dry, add more ice water, a little at a time.
3. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and shape into a 1-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes to one hour.
4. Position a rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Line a 9-inch pie plate with the chilled almond dough. Pierce the bottom of the dough in a uniform pattern with a fork. Freeze for 15 minutes.
5. Line the dough with a round of parchment paper and fill with pie weights. Bake on a half-sheet pan for 15 minutes, until the pastry is set. Remove the parchment paper and the weights and continue baking until the pastry is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Cool completely.
Banana Cream Pie Filling, from "Sarabeth's Bakery"
Banana Cream Pie Filling:
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
2 Tablespoons cold water
4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup baker's superfine sugar
1 and 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 and 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup heavy cream
Instructions:
1. To make the filling, sprinkle the gelatin over the water in a small bowl. Set aside until the gelatin softens, about 5 minutes.
2. Whisk the yolks, sugar, and cornstarch in a medium bowl until combined. Set aside.
3. Heat the milk in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over medium heat until very hot. Gradually whisk the hot milk into the yolk mixture. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Whisking constantly, cook over medium heat until the filling thickens and comes to a full boil. Reduce the heat to low and whisk for 1 minute. Remove from heat, add the gelatin mixture and whisk until the gelatin is completely melted. The cream will thin slightly, but that's okay. Stir in the vanilla. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface (this discourages a skin from forming) and pierce a few holes with a knife. Let stand on a wire rack until completely cooled, and thickened but not set. Remove the plastic wrap and fold in the bananas.
4. Using a whisk or handheld mixer, beat the cream in a small bowl just until it forms soft peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the banana mixture. Fill the fooled pastry shell and smooth the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let the filling set in the shell in the refrigerator, about 1 hour.
Topping:
Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled
3 Tablespoons superfine sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted, for garnish
Instructions:
1. To make the topping, beat the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla just until it forms stiff peaks. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a 3/8 inch open star tip. Pipe swirls of whipped cream to completely cover the top of the pie. Refrigerate until the pie is chilled, at least 1 hour. Before serving, top with toasted almonds. Serve chilled and ENJOY!
Adapted from "Sarabeth's Bakery: From My Hands to Yours" by Sarabeth Levine