A Bounty of Blueberries

Blueberries are without a doubt one of my favorite summer fruits. When ripe, they have a refreshing sugar-acid balance, that coupled with no seeds makes them addictive to gobble by the handful. There's a lot of research that says they have some wonderful health benefits, but that doesn't really matter to me. I just love them. Well, when I had to pick our rabbiteye blueberries as a teenager in Alabama, I remember not loving that so much. But the tasty rewards of my sweaty labor were pretty awesome!

Blueberries on My Morning Oats

Loving blueberries as much as I do, it's pretty cool to live in one of the top production areas in the world. Oregon production has tripled in the last decade to vie with Washington state to lead the country in blueberries. One of the fantastic byproducts of the industry here is our ability to drive by miles of blueberry fields in the fall when the leaves have turned brilliant scarlet. New England tree leaves are stunning, but our blueberry leaves are equally beautiful in their own way.

A Bounty of Blueberries

Although I chose to grow native huckleberries, a closely related species, many of our neighbors have blueberry bushes as part of their landscaping and their bushes are hanging heavy with fruit now. We're especially fortunate to have a neighbor whose parents own a big farm with a lot of blueberries. She recently brought us a flat of delicious berries. Here are a few things you can do with blueberries.

Freezing Blueberries

Ready to Freeze

What to do with this fantastic bounty? Naturally, we shared some with other neighbors and being a blueberry fiend, I ate two pints out of hand. An immediate thought was to freeze some for this winter when we won't have any berries. I like to make a pass through the berries to clean out any leaves, stems, and unripe fruit before they go in the freezer. Once the berries thaw, they may pop and the trash will be that much harder to remove.

Some people advocate freezing the berries on a sheet tray and then transferring the frozen berries to storage bags or containers. I fill gallon bags with berries such that when the bag lays flat, it has an even layer of berries two or three berries in depth. Lay the bags flat in the freezer so that the berries freeze quickly.

Blueberry Crumble

Blueberry Crumble

Looking through years of this blog, you will see very few desserts. Sweets just don't play a big role in our diet. But, Ann asked me to make a blueberry crumble and how could I refuse? Crumbles are among the easiest desserts to make.

Here's a quick recipe for enough crumble to make a 9" x 9" baking pan full, enough to serve 6 people a healthy portion.

8-10 cups blueberries

1 lemon, juiced

1/2 cup granulated sugar

4 tablespoons of corn starch

    Crumble Topping

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 pound (1 stick) cold butter, cut into small cubes

pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Toss the berries in the lemon juice, then sprinkle over some of the sugar. Taste the berries and continue adding sugar until you are happy with the flavor. Sprinkle on the corn starch and mix well; the starch will help thicken the juices.

For the crumble topping, mix the flour, oats, sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Add the butter and gently work it into the flour mixture, smearing the butter and flour between your fingers. You have achieved the correct texture when the topping will just hold together when squeezed tightly into a ball.

Grease the baking dish, pour in the berries, and distribute the topping over the berries. Bake in a moderate oven (350-375F) until the topping browns, 30-40 minutes. Cool slightly and serve warm.

Kir Myrtille

Kir Myrtille

Living here in Pinot Noir wine country, we have a natural affinity for the original producer of Pinot Noir, Burgundy. Burgundy grows a lot of fruit as well, just like Oregon, and you'll see lot of fruit-based crèmes (with alcohol) and sirops (without alcohol) in the markets over there. Making use of the local black currants called cassis, the town of Dijon in particular is famous for its cocktail of white wine and crème de cassis called the Kir.

That drink has become popular and spawned many different twists involving liqueurs and fruits other than black currant, such as peach (kir pȇche) and blackberry (kir mȗre). We made a version called a kir myrtille (ou pour vous candiens francophones, kir bleuet) using syrup that I made from our blueberries. (recipe here).

Because non-alcoholic syrup is generally sweeter than alcoholic crème, it is best to mix it with a really acidic wine, or balance it with a touch of lemon or lime juice. The traditional white wine in Burgundy is Aligoté (and less commonly Chardonnay). Though we do grow a bit of Aligoté here, I chose a Vinho Verde because it is so crisp, much crisper than any Aligoté.

I used about one part blueberry syrup to probably 8 or nine parts wine. It's really a feel thing. Add syrup or liqueur until you are happy with the taste.

Because of the long growing season and staggering of cultivars out here, we'll have fresh local berries at the farmers market for another month or so. I plan on chowing down on them while I can. I'm also looking forward to the rainy and bleak winter day when we thaw some of our summer blueberry bounty and can pretend that it is sunny and warm for at least a little while.