Chicken & Blueberry Pasta Salad

Here is another savory blueberry recipe that sounds perfect for a summer lunch or dinner.  It is from www.eatingwell.com.  I can't wait to try it.  I think that I will go pick more blueberries today so I can make all these great recipes. 

Chicken & Blueberry Pasta Salad

www.eatingwell.com

Servings: 6

Prep: 30 mins.

Total: 30 mins.

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed of fat

8 ounces whole wheat fusilli or radiatore

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large shallot, thinly sliced

1/3 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

3 tablespoons lime juice

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

1 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest

¼ teaspoon salt

Directions:

1.        Place chicken in a skillet or sauce pan and add enough water to cover; bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer gently until cooked through and no longer pink in the middle.   Approximately 10 to 12 minutes.  Transfer the chicken to a cutting board to cool.  Shred into bite-size strips.

2.       Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Cook pasta until just tender, about 9 minutes or according to package directions.  Drain.  Place in a large bowl.

3.       Meanwhile, place oil and shallot in a small skillet and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and just beginning to brown, 2 to 5 minutes.  Add broth, feta and lime juice and cook, stirring occasionally, until the feta begins to melt, 1 to 2 minutes.

4.       Add the chicken to the bowl with the pasta. Add the dressing, blueberries, thyme, lime zest and salt.  Toss until combined.

Make Ahead Tip:  Add everything except the blueberries and dressing to the pasta salad.  Cover and refrigerate. 

Try using crumbled Blue Cheese instead of feta. 

 Enjoy!

Pan-Fried Pork with Blueberries

Here is another yummy sounding savory blueberry recipe.  This one is from Rachael Ray's magazine website but was created by Tracey Seaman.  I don't know how healthy it is but it sure looks good.  The recipe also suggests that you can try it with chicken tenders or cutlets if you prefer.  

Pan-Fried Pork with Blueberries

www.rachaelraymag.com by Tracey Seaman

Ingredients:

2 pounds boneless pork loin, cut crosswise into eighths

Salt and pepper

¼ cup flour

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1-3/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 cup fresh blueberries

2 tablespoons butter

Directions:

1.       In a medium bowl, season the pork with salt and pepper.  Add the flour and toss to coat. 

2.       In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Shaking off any excess flour, add the pork to the skillet and cook, turning once, until browned, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to platter.

3.       Add the onions to the skillet and cook, stirring over medium-heat for 1 minute.   Add the chicken broth and blueberries,  bring to a boil and cook until reduced by half, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the butter and season with salt and pepper.

4.       Turn off the heat and return pork and any juices to skillet.  Divide the pork among 4 plates and spoon the sauce on top.

Try using chicken instead of pork.  Serve with buttered green beans.

Enjoy!

Blueberry-Beef Burgers

On Sunday, which also happened to be Father's Day, we visited my sister and her family.  My sister has 4 beautiful blueberry bushes.  They are just bursting with fruit right now.  She let Bill and I pick a gallon size bag full of those beautiful blueberries.  The only thing she asked in return was that I post lots of blueberry recipes.  I have done a bunch of blueberry recipes in the past but most of those were of the breakfast/dessert variety.  I decided to seek out some unusual savory blueberry recipes for her.  Here is one that I am definitely going to try very soon.  It sounds yummy and healthy, too.  I found this recipe on the www.eatingwell.com website which is part of Fitness Magazine.

I made these burgers last week.  They were moist and flavorful. I can't say that I noticed any particular "blueberry" flavor.  It was almost like we added some barbecue sauce into the burger meat.  It definitely was not sweet.  We all ate and enjoyed these burgers.

Blueberry-Beef Burgers
Servings:  4
Prep:  20 mins.
Total: 30 mins.

Ingredients:
2 slices whole-wheat country bread, crusts removed, torn into pieces
1/3 cup fresh or frozen and thawed blueberries
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
12 ounces 90% lean ground beef

Directions:
1.  Place bread in food processor and pulse into fine crumbs.  Transfer to a large bowl.  (No need to wash the work bowl.)
2.  Add blueberries, vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire, garlic, salt and pepper to the food processor; process until pureed.  Scrape into the bowl with the breadcrumbs.  Add ground beef and mix well with a potato masher.  Divide the mixture into four equal portions.  Form into 1/2-inch  thick patties, about 4 inches in diameter.
3.  Meanwhile, preheat broiler or heat an indoor or outdoor grill to medium-high.  If using the broiler, coat a broiler pan with cooking spray.  If using a grill, oil the grill rack by rubbing it with an oil-soaked paper towel.  Cook patties until browned and no longer pink in the center, about 4 to 5 minutes per side.  An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should register 160 degrees F.  Serve immediately, with or without rolls and toppings.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Week - Blueberry Ice Cream Parfaits

Sadly, blueberry week has come to an end. I am not sure how I managed to post about sloppy joe's last night. I was just starting that post to keep for a later date and it wound up getting posted without either of the recipes.

I want to end blueberry week on a high note. These parfaits sound absolutely heavenly. I haven't tried them yet but I definitely will. I have a large bag of blueberries in my freezer just waiting.... I can't imagine why I wouldn't be able to use frozen blueberries for this but I'll find out soon enough.

Tomorrow, I'm starting zucchini week. I have also been getting tons of zucchini from my sister's garden. Her hubby loves to grow vegetables. They are always so fresh and good. I can't stand to see them go to waste. When I think of all the years during my youth that I turned up my nose at zucchini and eggplant, it makes me sad. I've even got D eating zucchini and he has tasted the eggplant. As far as I know, my sister still does turn up her nose at zucchini and eggplant but two of her kids (at least) eat both! Good for them.


BLUEBERRY ICE CREAM PARFAITS
Serves 8
Active: 15 Min
Total: 5 Hr (includes freezing)

4 cups blueberries
½ cup sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 qt vanilla ice cream
1 (10-oz) pkg frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed
2 cups sweetened whipped cream or frozen whipped topping, defrosted
1 cup fresh raspberries

1. Place 3 cups blueberries, the sugar and lemon juice in medium saucepan; mash berries well with a potato masher. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer; cook 5 minutes. Pour mixture into a blender and puree. Pour into a 2-cup measure, cover and chill 2 hours. Place a 1-1/2 qt freezer container in freezer to chill.

2. Let vanilla ice cream stand at room temperature until softened. Fold chilled blueberry puree into ice cream until well blended. Scrape ice cream into chilled container in freezer; freeze several hours or until firm enough to scoop.

3. Puree thawed raspberries and syrup in blender until smooth; scrape mixture through a fine sieve to remove seeds.

4. To make parfaits: For each parfait, spoon 1 Tbsp raspberry puree into a dessert glass and top with a small scoop blueberry ice cream. Top with 1 Tbsp whipped cream, and a few blueberries and raspberries. Repeat the layers. Top parfaits with a dollop of whipped cream.



The Creative Cook

Blueberry Week

Do you know what scones are supposed to taste like? If I remember correctly from way back when I was in England, they are dense and a bit dry. I remember needing to put butter on them. I made these scones yesterday but they came out soft and doughy. Not what I had anticipated. It is very hard for me to tell you what they should have been like since the only scones I have eaten recently are from our local grocery store. I thought these scones tasted good but not like what I thought scones are supposed to taste like. They also did not come out very "pretty". I'm quite sure this is all my fault. I did take the butter out of the fridge a bit early so I'm thinking they got doughy because the butter wasn't cold enough. If you know something about how scones should taste/mouth feel, please let me know. I need someone from England to comment on this post! If not, I'm going to have to try making these again or maybe try another scone recipe. D likes the idea of chocolate chip scones so maybe you'll see a recipe for those on here soon. I found a website that gives some tips and suggestions about how to bake and eat scones. Check it out here. I really wish I had read this before I baked these scones!

I also need to tell you that when I went shopping for cardamom, I was very surprised. I found it in only two stores. That in itself wasn't surprising. The really surprising part was the price! I could NOT justify buying a bottle of cardamom for $12.00!! Especially since I am pretty sure I'll never use it again. The cheapest I could find it around here was $11.00 at the local Shoppers Food Warehouse. I did some research (afterwards) and found out that it is one of the most expensive spices. I always thought that honor belonged to saffron. I found out that the TWO most expensive spices are saffron and pure vanilla. Cardamom comes in third. I did further research and found out that you can substitute nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, or mace for cardamom. Apparently, though it has its own unusual taste it is fairly similar to those spices. The website that I read about it on suggests starting with half of the recommended amount. I simply used nutmeg. Since I know that I like nutmeg, I went ahead and used the full 1/4 tsp.

Here is what I found out about cardamom: "Cardamom -The third most expensive spice used frequently in East Indian, Scandinavian, Arabic and Central African cuisines. It is an essential ingredient in Arabic coffee and the scent is most enticing."



BLUEBERRY DESSERT SCONES
Makes 16
Active: 15 Mins.
Total: 1 hr. (includes chilling)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1-1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
¼ tsp each ground cardamom and salt
6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1-1/2 cups blueberries
¾ cup plus 1 Tbsp heavy cream
2 large eggs
¼ tsp almond or vanilla extract

1. Line two small baking sheets with parchment paper. In large bowl, whisk flour, 1/3 cup sugar, the baking powder, zest, cardamom and salt until combined. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Gently fold in blueberries.

2. In 2-cup glass measure, whisk ¾ cup cream, eggs and extract until blended; slowly stir in dry ingredients just until a wet dough comes together. Divide in half.

3. With floured hands, transfer dough to each prepared baking sheet. Pat each into a 6-1/4 inch round, a scant 1 in. thick. With floured knife, cut each round into 8 wedges. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

4. Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Brush dough with remaining 1 Tbsp cream and sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbsp sugar. Bake 24 minutes, or until scones are golden and a pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Serve warm.

Blueberry Week

This salad recipe sounds so summery and refreshing. Unfortunately, I will probably never get a chance to try it. My son doesn't like melon. Have you ever heard of anything like that? I am such a huge watermelon fan that I can't believe it when he tells me that watermelon smells bad. Oh, well maybe I'll try it one day when we have guests or the next time he is away at camp! If you try this recipe, please let me know what you think of it.


BLUEBERRY-MELON SALAD WITH THYME SYRUP
Serves 8
Active: 25 Min
Total: 45 Min

Thyme Syrup:
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
Peel and juice from 1 lemon
4 large sprigs fresh thyme, preferably lemon thyme

Salad:

3 cups each diced cantaloupe, honeydew melon and seedless watermelon
1 pint blueberries

Garnish: lemon thyme sprigs

1. Thyme Syrup: Bring all ingredients to a gentle boil in a small saucepan; simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat; let steep 20 minutes. Discard thyme sprigs and lemon peel. Cool syrup to room temperature or store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

2. Salad: Just before serving, gently toss together fruit in a serving bowl; add 1/3 cup of the thyme syrup and toss. Spoon into dessert bowls or glasses and garnish with thyme sprigs. Serve with extra thyme syrup, if desired.

The Creative Cook

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

I love blueberry muffins. When I saw this recipe, I had to try it. The streusel sounded so yummy to me. And it is really good. The muffins come out large. But since I have only got a regular size twelve muffin tin I simply filled only 6 of the cups instead of all 12. The muffins were not nearly as huge as I imagined they would be, though. I guess I was thinking they would be like the giant muffins I used to get back in the day when I worked in Manhattan. But no. I'm certainly better off that they are just big and not gigantic! I sure don't need the extra calories. Try these when you have time. They are really tasty.

I have pictures of the muffins but I'm getting an error message when I try to add the photos. I'll try again later. Yesterday, I couldn't get on the internet that's why I didn't post a blueberry recipe. I will try to add another one later today to make up for it. I am just experiencing a few technical difficulties! ~ I finally got the photos to post on my blog!


BLUEBERRY STREUSEL MUFFINS
Makes 6 Jumbo Muffins
Active: 30 Min.
Total: 70 Min.

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup blueberries
¼ cup yellow cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup milk
1/3 cup (5 Tbsp plus 1 tsp) unsalted butter, melted
3 Tbsp lemon juice

Streusel
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ cup (4 Tbsp) unsalted butter, softened

Drizzle
½ cup confectioners sugar
2 to 2-1/4 tsp milk

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 6 jumbo –size muffin cups with paper liners or coat with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Make Streusel: With fork or fingers, mix flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Add butter until blended and crumbly.

3. Place flour in medium bowl. Remove 1 Tbsp and toss with blueberries in a small bowl. To remaining flour, add yellow cornmeal, baking powder and salt; mix well, in another bowl, whisk sugar with eggs, milk, melted butter and lemon juice.

4. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just blended; fold in blueberries.

5. Spoon about ½ cup batter into each muffin cup; crumble streusel on top. Bake 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean. Let cool 5 minutes in pan, remove muffins from pan and cool on wire rack.

6. Make Drizzle: Mix ½ cup confectioners’ sugar and 2 to 2-1/4 tsp milk until smooth and pourable. Drizzle over muffins.


Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

Blueberry Week

When I first saw this recipe, I couldn't imagine blueberry and key lime tasting good together. After baking and tasting this cheesecake, I found out that they really do compliment each other. The lime cuts the sweetness of the blueberry and it meshes very well together. I will tell you that my cake did crack. Wait, it was more like a crater that formed in the cake. It really doesn't matter because of the blueberry topping but I did some research and you can make a kind of plaster to fix the cake, you can also use the water bath cooking method. I really should have done that but I wasn't sure how to execute it. I will try it the next time I make a cheesecake that isn't being covered with fruit. I found an excellent website called Baking 911. This site explains how to repair all types of cheesecake problems. It is worth checking out.

I made this cake for my mom's birthday. She loved it. My brother-in-law also said he loved it. I'm still waiting to hear from my nephew. I have a few pieces stashed in the freezer for some other taste-testers.

BLUEBERRY KEY LIME CHEESECAKE
Serves 12
Active: 30 min.
Total: 5 hrs. (includes cooling)

Crust

10 shortbread cookies
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

Filling

3 bricks (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
½ cup sour cream, at room temperature
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 Tbsp grated lime zest
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 drop liquid green food color (optional)

Blueberry Topping

¼ cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp cornstarch
3 Tbsp water
3 cups blueberries
1 Tbsp lime juice

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray an 8 x 3 inch springform pan with nonstick spray.

2. Crust: Process cookies in food processor to make fine crumbs. Add butter; pulse to blend. Press onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake 10 minutes or until set. Cool on wire rack.

3. Filling: In large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and sour cream. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl and beater once or twice. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until blended. Beat in remaining ingredients just until smooth and creamy; pour over crust.

4. Bake 60 minutes or until cake is almost set and center still jiggles slightly when touched. Remove to a rack; cut around outside edges of cake to loosen from sides. Cool on rack 3 hours (cake will sink as it cools). Cover and refrigerate up to several days.

5. Topping: In a small saucepan, mix sugar, cornstarch and water until blended. Add 1 cup blueberries; mash berries well with a potato masher. Cook over medium-high heat until mixture comes to a full boil. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened. Stir in lime juice and another ½ cup blueberries. Spread on top of cheesecake; top cheesecake with remaining 1-1/2 cups blueberries. Refrigerate until serving.

July 7, 2009 Woman’s Day Magazine

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

Blueberry Week

I've been seeing blueberries everywhere lately. My sister has a blueberry bush in her yard. My parents have wild blueberries, raspberries and blackberries growing out behind their house. My neighbor has blueberry bushes in her yard, too. I know there must be some blueberries growing out in the forest behind our house because I'm constantly finding purple bird poop on my front porch. Luckily, I managed to find blueberries fairly inexpensively at my local Martin's grocery store. That's how I decided that it should be blueberry week here at my blog~ Oh, that and I found zounds of great blueberry recipes in the July 7, 2009 Women's Day Magazine! Most of these recipes are coming from that magazine. I have actually made most of them or plan to make them very soon. I really hope to bake the blueberry scones before I get the recipe posted. They sound so yummy to me. The recipe I have for you today is Blueberry Focaccia. It sounded so interesting and delicous that I absolutely had to try it. Admittedly, I am not the best with yeast but I tried it anyway. I found out that this particular bread doesn't require any fancy work with the yeast. It was quite simple. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. I never heard of Blueberry Focaccia before so it is something different.

I also managed to take a few decent pictures of the focaccia before and after baking it.

I hope you try this and let me know how you like it, if you do.

BLUEBERRY FOCACCIA

Serves 12
Active: 20 Mins.
Total: 2 hrs (includes rising)

½ cup sugar
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
3 to 3-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 packet (1/4 oz) rapid rise active dry yeast
¾ tsp salt
1-1/4cups whole milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
½ stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups blueberries

1. Pulse sugar and lemon zest in food processor until zest is finely ground and incorporated into the sugar. In a large bowl, whisk 1/3 cup of the lemon sugar, 3 cups of the flour, the yeast and salt until blended.

2. Heat milk in a 2-cup measure in microwave on high 1-1/2 minutes, or until temperature registers 130 degrees Fahrenheit on an instant –read thermometer; add to flour mixture with egg and butter. Mix with a rubber spatula until a soft, sticky dough forms; scrape dough onto a floured surface. Using a dough scraper to assist, knead with some of the remaining ½ cup flour to form a smooth and pliable dough, about 2 minutes. Cover the dough with the mixing bowl; let rest 10 minutes.

3. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide dough in half. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, stretch and pat out on parchment into 12-in. free-form rectangle, about ¼ in. thick. Scatter with half the blueberries and half of the remaining lemon sugar. On a floured surface, pat out and stretch remaining dough slightly larger than the first piece and place over bottom dough. Press edges together and tuck under loaf. Cover with a sheet of greased plastic wrap. Place baking sheet in a warm area. Let rise 1 hour.

4. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, with floured fingers, dimple surface of loaf (pierce any bubbling with a knife tip to release air pockets). Scatter top of loaf with remaining blueberries and lemon sugar. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Slide focaccia onto a wire rack and cool slightly. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Yesterday was B and my 17th wedding anniversary. I can hardly believe we have been married that long. It really seems like only yesterday that we walked down the aisle together. B gave me (very unexpectedly) a beautiful bouquet of a dozen red roses last week. We don't usually do much to celebrate our anniversary but with D around he likes to celebrate. On Sunday morning, D made a special effort to bring me breakfast (not in bed but at the kitchen table) and he sat and ate with me. I mean he actually sat at the table and ate with me and didn't run off before I was done. It was a really nice treat. On Sunday afternoon, we had my parents, my sister and her husband and my nephew S and his wife over for cake. I had decided to bake Sara Moulton's Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake because my sister gave me a box of blueberries she had in her fridge for a while. She was going away to her high school reunion for the weekend and figured they would go bad if someone didn't use them. I rose to the challenge and did some baking. Fortunately, she was home in time to celebrate with us on Sunday afternoon. The cake came out great as usual. This is one of the recipes I have made several times. I saw Sara Moulton make it on the Food Network probably eight or nine years ago. I am not sure if she still has a show on Food Network. No matter. This recipe is wonderful. You will definitely enjoy it. She suggests using fresh blueberries rather than frozen. I used only 2 cups of blueberries rather than 3 because that was all I had. It really tastes better with the full 3 cups of blueberries in it. It was still very good, though. My nephew S can testify to that. He ate 2 pieces at my house and took some home. Thanks S! I also made Chocolate Buttermilk Cake which I will share with you tomorrow.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Filling

12 ounces Cream cheese; softened
1/3 cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 tablespoon Fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Streusel

1 stick unsalted butter; softened
1 cup Sugar
2/3 cup Flour
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Batter

1 stick unsalted butter; softened
1-1/4 cups sugar
2 Eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 cups Flour
1 tablespoon baking powder; plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Milk
3 cups picked-over blueberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and butter a 13- by 9-inch glass baking dish. Do not use a metal baking dish.

Make filling: With an electric mixer, beat together cream cheese and sugar. Add egg, lemon juice, and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Make streusel: In a small bowl blend together streusel ingredients until crumbly.

Make batter: In another bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla and beat on high speed until light and fluffy. In another bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt and in batches slowly beat into butter mixture alternately with milk. Fold in blueberries gently but thoroughly.

To assemble cake: Spread 2 1/2 cups batter in bottom of baking dish and spread filling evenly on top. Drop spoonfuls of remaining batter on filling and spread evenly (be careful not to mix layers). Sprinkle streusel evenly over batter.

Bake coffeecake in middle of oven 1 hour and 5 minutes, or until golden and a tester comes out clean.

Cool coffeecake completely in baking dish on a rack.


By: Sara Moulton, Gourmet Magazine 1989