Blueberry Time

Nothing says summer to me more than the start of the blueberry season, and this year it has come early to New Jersey because of our warm weather. Not only does the blueberry herald the start of summer, it brings with it all manner of festivals throughout the state to celebrate the harvest of our official state fruit, the second most popular berry in the country.

Blueberries have been trumpeted as one of the so-called super foods, their deep blue hue tipping you off to the anti-aging and preventative qualities they may contain. Their sweet natural goodness is second to none.

So the first thing I thought of was blueberry muffins. But I was really longing for corn muffins and thought why not combine the two.

This weekend I had just bought some more blueberries and the cutest ramekins I could not resist,so blueberry crisp seemed like the perfect ending to a dinner with friends.

I used this recipe from Williams-Sonoma, adding just a pinch of salt to the topping and using the food processor instead of a pastry blender.

Enjoy this short-lived season while you can, and remember July 11 is National Blueberry Muffin Day!


Blueberry Corn Muffins

1 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 T. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 vegetable oil 
1 egg, beaten
1 pint blueberries

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and butter a 12-cup muffin tin.

Rinse and dry blueberries and toss with about 2 T. flour so that they won't sink  to the bottom of the batter.

Combine dry ingredients in bowl.  Combine milk, oil and egg, then add to dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Gently add the blueberries to the batter.


Fill muffin tins 2/3 full and rap tin on counter to release any air pockets that might have formed.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. Makes 12

Cook's Note:  Next time I would increase the sugar to 3/4 and perhaps add an additional egg. But they were still delicious as they were.




  

Weekends

The comic strip writer, Bill Watterson, once said, "Weekends don't count unless you spend them doing something pointless."  And as much as I would like to spend the weekends doing just fun things, most   weekends around here are a combination. You know, the dry cleaner, the post office, the gas station and dinner with friends.

This past weekend none of the usual suspects was around to play; but fear not, a couple married as long as we had no trouble finding something to do.  Friday evening the skies cleared and we were able to enjoy martinis on the deck before dinner.

I took a piece of tuna, briefly marinated it in a lightened teryiaki-type sauce, then pressed some toasted sesame seeds onto the suface. After the grill had heated to HOT, we barely seared it for a couple of minutes, then sliced it thinly on the diagonal and served it with some soy sauce combined with lime juice and a splash of sesame oil for dipping. Delicious with or without a martini.

  

For dinner we shared a nicely marbled rib eye steak (blurry photo below) and a Greek salad.

Saturday's weather forecast was promising, so we blew off our errands and went to  the beach. When we returned and were ready for dinner, I prepped some wild sockeye salmon for the grill, cut some farmstand corn off the cob standing ready to be sauteed in sweet butter and topped with a chiffonnade of basil. And figs for dessert.

By Sunday dinner  all we could manage was a farro salad and a bunch of grapes!

Not too bad for an old couple left to their own devices. Let's see what next weekend brings.