nic at night

Yesterday's cooking spree got me thinking about what I've cooked this fall, and specifically what I baked with all of the blueberries I brought back from Canada. Usually I eat them fresh at the rate of about a quart a day until they're gone, but this year I had lots of very ripe, small, and flavorful berries, and I choose to do some baking instead. Well, truthfully, in addition, since I continued to eat them in my cereal and feed them to Ernest.

However, 7 quarts of blueberries go a long way, and this is what I made [with very few adjustments; this is baking, after all, not free-form meal creation].

Blueberry Pie, from Williams-Sonoma's Pie and Tart cookbook

basic pie dough
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose white flour [I use King Arthur's because that's what I can buy around here]
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter cut into 1/4 inch cubes [I find it difficult to cut up the butter without melting it too much, so I just cut the stick into quarters and then use a pastry cutter to cut it into the flour]
3 tbsp very cold water [I put the water into a measuring cup and stick it in the freezer when I start making the dough, and it's then 'very cold' by the time I need it]

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, and salt. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water and mix with a fork just until the dough pulls together [when making 2 rounds, I make them separately rather than doubling the recipe, as I also find it difficult to divide the dough evenly when rolling out the crusts, and end up handling it way more than I want to and/or having one super huge crust and one that barely reaches the edge of the pie plate]. Transfer the dough to a work surface, pat into a ball, and flatten into a disk. Lightly flour the work surface, then flatten the dough with the rolling pin, lift and give it a quarter turn, and then roll out to a round at least 12 inches in diameter and about 1/4 inch thick [I roll out on a very lightly floured sheet of wax paper, with saran wrap between the dough and rolling pin, which keeps it from sticking and doesn't require a lot of additional flour].

filling
4 cups blueberries
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice, strained
3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Place rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Make 2 dough rounds and roll them out as directed above. Press one into the pie plate, and leave one flat, and set aside in a cool place [I usually just put them the pie plate and second rolled-out round in the fridge while I make the filling, and then put the assembled pie directly in the oven, rather than chilling the whole thing afterwards it's together]. Place the berries in a large bowl, sprinkle with lemon juice, and toss evenly. In a small bowl, mix remaining ingredients except butter, and spread the mixture over the berries, tossing to distribute evenly. Immediately transfer to the dough-lined plate and dot with the butter. Place the second dough round over the top, folding the edge of the crust over evenly. Using a small, sharp knife, cut an asterisk 4-5 inches across in the center of the top to allow steam to escape during baking [at this point, you either chill the pie until the crust is firm, about 20-30 minutes, or you put it in the oven if you've already chilled the dough]. Bake 50-60 minutes, until the crust is golden and the filling is thick and bubbling. Transfer to wire rack, and let cool completely to set, 1-2 hours. Serve at room temperature or rewarm in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes just before serving.

This cookbook is one of the best investments I've ever made for $17. Each and every recipe I've made has been delicious, not to mention making me look like a master baker. This time, we made two pies, one for the house, and one to share at bridge. I haven't made blueberry pie before, because of my preference for eating the berries fresh and my opposition to purchasing berries from a store, but I have to say that it was really good. Even better cold straight out of the fridge, as the filling really firmed up nicely. If you like pie for breakfast, this is a good one. And, I discovered, you can find this and other pie recipes online at the Williams-Sonoma website. Who knew.

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Blueberry-Lemon Muffins, from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

wet ingredients
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4-1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

dry ingredients
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

additional ingredients [from your chosen variation; the book offers 4 types]
1 1/2 cup blueberries [I probably used 2]
1 tbsp freshly grated lemon peel

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the wet ingredients, then stir in the additional ingredients and mix well. In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Combine wet and dry, being careful not to overmix the batter. Spoon the batter into oiled standard muffin tins, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until puffed and golden [they didn't change color much, so I tested with a toothpick rather than going on appearance alone]. If you are using mini-muffin trays, only bake for 10-15 minutes. Each plain muffin is listed as having 220 calories, I don't know how much the blueberries change that.

I think this may be the first batch of muffiins I've ever made outside of childhood, and even then I don't remember making muffins very frequently. They were tasty, and you can definitely taste the lemon. I might put in less zest in the future.

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Corn Scones, from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

1/4 cup butter or margarine [I always use butter, as margarine generally has whey, so I don't have a recommended margarine brand]
1/2 cup low-fat or whole milk [I use rice milk]
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup currants [I never use currants; in the past I've used 1/2 cup of dried cranberries and this time I used a cup of fresh blueberries]

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter. In a small bowl, mix milk and brown sugar, then pour in the melted butter. In a separate bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, salt and baking powder, and mix thoroughly. Stir in currants [or whatever else you're using], add the liquid ingredients to dry and stir until just combined. On a floured board [I usually just use wax paper on the table to avoid using extra flour], press the dough into a circle about 1/2 inch thick. Slice the circle into eighths, separate the wedges, and place on an oiled baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until puffed and golden [again, these never get noticeably darker when I make them, so it's hard to tell by sight when they're done]. The recipe also notes (a feature of this cookbook) that each scone is 195 calories, if you care.

This is one of my favorite recipes, I used to make it periodically in grad school because it was quick, easy, and tasty. This time, I made a double batch of these, planning to freeze some for the future, but they were so good we just ate them that week.

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Buttery Blueberry Coffee Cake, from Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates

1/4 cup sesame seeds (optional) [I didn't use them]
2 cups blueberries

oat topping
1/4 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup toasted* chopped nuts [I used walnuts, as that's what I had]
1/3 cup unbleached white flour

*Toast nuts on unoiled backing tray at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes, until fragrant and golden brown.

batter
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour [I just used my general purpose white flour, as I didn't have wheat flour; the book recommends Hodgson Mill's wheat pastry flour, which Whole Foods and most coops sell]
1 1/2 cup unbleached white flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
12 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 cups nonfat plain yogurt [I'm not sure I got nonfat, now that I think about it; I just used Stoneyfield Farm plain yogurt]
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 9x13 baking pan and sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using, coating bottom and sides. Rinse and sort blueberries, and set aside. In a small bowl, combine all the topping ingredients and mix well. In a large bowl, sift together [I don't have a sifter, I just mix the flour with a fork] flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, eggs, yogurt and vanilla until thoroughly blended. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with as few strokes as possible to form a uniform batter. Spread batter into pan, sprinkle on blueberries, and cover with oat topping. Bake for one hour, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool for 20 minutes before serving.

This was also the first time I've made a coffee cake. While it was delicious, I found it a little rich for my taste, likely because of the yogurt (I've become used to baked goods made with rice milk). Also, I either overmixed the batter or my baking powder was way too old or both, because it wasn't that fluffy, which added to the impression of heaviness.

Ok, now I can't wait until next summer's crop arrives!