Gimme your best berry recipes!

[aggie94]

I just picked up a fabulous 1/2 flat of berries at our local Farmer's Market this morning - 1/2 pints of blueberries, marionberries, raspberries, boysenberries, and loganberries. Yummmmmm! I am planning to use the blueberries in pancakes, but I could definitely use some suggestions for the rest (that's assuming I don't eat them all before I even get home!).

[DmOrtega]

I reccomend the Mixed Berry Cobbler. Here is a link to a review : http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6297&highlight=berry+cobbler

[kwormann]

1. open mouth

2. insert berry

3. chew

4. swallow

5. repeat until satisfied


(you could insert a step before #1 which is dip in chocolate....)

[daner94]

Kim,

LOL!!!!

[Maggie]

The September 2001 issue of Fine Cooking has a double crust berry pie on the cover and it looks wonderful! It's made with about 3 or 4 different types of berries. I don't have the magazine with me at work, so I can't post the recipe, but you could check their website for the recipe (www.finecooking.com).

I haven't made the recipe yet but I'm planning to try it this weekend--if I can find good berries at the farmer's market.

[Gail]

Shouldn't that be "berry best recipes?" :D

[KathrynY]

My current favorite berry recipe is the Blueberry Crisp a la Mode from the cover of July 2000 CL. I make it with 3 cups raspberries and 3 cups blueberries (instead of all blueberries) and it's very tasty, and light too! :)

[aggie94]

Thanks, guys! Those recipes all sound fabulous. Since I actually have the mixed berry cobbler recipe on hand, and it seemed to get good reviews, I'll probably try that one.

Kim: That's exactly what I've been doing in my office all day! I'll be lucky to have enough berries when I get home tonight to make even a smoothie, much less a cobbler.

[Peeps]

Wise choice aggie94 - I second the Mixed Berry Cobbler - I've made it a number of times and it is great - especially with some vanilla frozen yogurt or light ice cream on top!

[Terrytx]

I was just entering recipes from Bon Appetit to my MC and thought this sounded good.


* Exported from MasterCook *

Summer Pudding with Low-Fat Vanilla Custard Sauce*

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Dessert

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 (16 ounce) package fresh strawberries, hulled, cut into
1/2-inch pieces (about 3 1/2 cups)
2 (1/2 pint) baskets fresh raspberries
2 (1/2 pint) baskets fresh blueberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 (3 ounce) packages (about) soft sponge-cake ladyfingers
Low-Fat Vanilla Custard Sauce:
2 cups low-fat (1%) milk
1 (3-inch) piece vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 large egg

Stir 3/4 cups water and sugar in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Add strawberries and raspberries and bring just to a boil, stirring constantly until berries release their juices, about 5 minutes. Stir in blueberries. Remove from heat. Let stand until lukewarm, about 30 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Strain berry mixture, reserving berries and juices separately.

Arrange 15 ladyfingers, side by side and standing upright, around inside of 5-to6-cup souffle dish (about 7 inches in diameter and 3 inches high). Arrange 6 ladyfingers in bottom of dish, trimming to fit. Spoon half the berries into lined dish. Top with 6 ladyfingers, trimming to fit. Spoon remaining berries over. Top with 8 ladyfingers, trimming to fit. Cover with plastic wrap; place small plate atop pudding to weigh down. Chill pudding and juices separately overnight.

Peel back plastic wrap. Invert pudding onto plate. Spoon some of the reserved juices over. Cut into wedges and serve with Low Fat Vanilla Custard Sauce.

Per serving (without custard sauce): 206 cal, 3g fat, 104mg chol.

For sauce, pour milk into heavy medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to a simmer. Whisk sugar and cornstarch in medium bowl until no lumps remain. Add egg; whisk until well blended. Gradually whisk hot milk mixture into egg mixture. Return to same saucepan; whisk over medium heat until sauce thickens and boils, about 5 minutes. Pour into another medium bowl. Chill until cold, stirring occasionally, about 4 hours. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and keep chilled. Before serving, remove vanilla bean and whisk to loosen.)

Yield: about 2 cups (serving size: 1 tablespoon). 16 cal, 0.5g fat, 7mg chol

Source:
"Bon Apittet-8/01"

NOTES : Look for the soft ladyfingers in the cookie or specialty foods aisle of the supermarket.

[RobinC]

I just made a mixed berry pie over the weekend. I was inspired by the Fine Cooking pie in the Sept 2001 issue. I tossed a bunch of berries in a bowl - raspberries, blackberries, marionberried, and blueberries - and created my pie filling. MMMMMM....the pie was sooooo good. My cooking friend and I agree that straight raspberry pie might as well be a dollop of jam between pie crust. But raspberries mixed with more sturdy berries for a pie is wonderful.

[Susann]

Fantastic recipe, Kim. I am discovering that very same recipe works with a variety of foods! :)

[beejayw1]

I could definitely use some suggestions for the rest (that's assuming I don't eat them all before I even get home!).

OK, here's my very best Summer Berry liqueur:

In the summertime, when they are ripe, take:
2 quarts berries - raspberry, black raspberry, blackberry or boysenberry. Strawberries and blueberries don't work
mix with:
2 C granulated sugar
Allow to sit for about an hour. You may mash them together if you wish to.

In a large (as close to a gallon as you can get) glass jar, combine berries and two fifths of vodka or bourbon or brandy, depending on the taste you want.

For a straight berry taste, use vodka. Get a cheap brand.
For a more 'liqueur' taste, use brandy or bourbon. I prefer bourbon. Again, don't waste your money on expensive brands: the star of this recipe is the berries.

Mix all together in the large jar (you can use 2 or 3 smaller jars, but make sure you have a proper balance between liquid and solid), cap securely, and put it in a closet or somewhere fairly dark until after Thanksgiving. Whenever you see it, shake it up well.

After Thanksgiving, strain the liquid, squeeze excess liquids out of the solids, and discard them. (A friend suggested that I try to make jam with the solids, but I don't wish to have the kitchen explode from the alcohol fumes.) At this point you should let the bottle sit so that the sediment can settle to the bottom.

Once the sediment has settled, carefully decant the clear liquid out. Using a clean coffee filter and basket, filter the remaining liquid.

You can drink the liqueur at this point, but it's best if you can wait till after New Years. In fact, the longer you wait, the better it is.

[munchies]

I just finished making a blackberry lemonade that I saw on Cooking Live (with Sara M.) I am waiting for it to chill, so I can't tell you how it is, but it looks and smells delicious. I will post the recipe if someone is interested (or you can find it at foodtv.com). I must say that it seems to be a little more work than I would usually put into lemonade, so next time I may double the recipe so that it is more worthwhile. (The original makes only 6 cups!)

Let me know if you're interested!

Heather

[aggie94]

I ended up making the Mixed Fruit Cobbler, because I happened to have almost all the ingredients on hand. I didn't make it home with quite enough berries to make the whole cobbler, so I cut the recipe in half. It was DELICIOUS!! I did run out of sugar, so ended up subbing about half brown sugar. I found myself wishing there was twice as much topping, as that was my favorite part. Afterwards, I realized that I halved all the ingredients except the butter. Well, no wonder the topping was so yummy! Oops! I think I'll pick up a tub of vanilla frozen yogurt to finish off the rest of it. Thanks, guys!

[Grace]

Here's one I posted a long, long time ago, but they are a staple in our house. I just made these on Monday, using blueberries I bought at the store, mixed in with raspberries I picked from my garden. MMMmmmm!!!

Berry Galettes

From Baking with Julia Cookbook

Galette Dough

Makes enough for two 8-inch galettes. The cornmeal in this wonderully buttery dough not only gives it a bit of crunch, it makes it crisp enough to stand up to soft and syrupy fillings and sturdy enough to be rolled to extreme thinness. You can use this dough to line a tart pan, but it is particularly well suited to rustic tarts called galettes - flat, open-face, free-form tarts whose edges are folded over the filling like the ruffled top of a drawstring purse.

The dough is made quickly either by hand or in a food processor and produces enough for two galettes.

3 Tablespoons sour cream (or yogurt or buttermilk) [I have used all three - whatever I have on hand - all of them are good]
1/3 cup (approximately) ice water
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 Tablespoons cold unstalted butter, cut into 6 to 8 pieces.

To Make the Dough by Hand: Stir the sour cream and 1/3 cup ice water together in a small bowl and set aside. Put the flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt in a large bowl and stir with a fork to mix. Drop the butter pieces into the bowl, tossing them once or twice just to coat them with flour. With a pastry blender, work the butter into the flour, aiming for pieces of butter that range in size from bread crumbs to small peas. The smaller pieces will make the dough tender, the larger ones will make it flaky.

Sprinkle the cold sour cream mixture over the dough, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork to evenly distribute it. After you've added all of the sour cream, the dough should be moist enough to stick together when pressed; if it's not, add additional cold water, 1 teaspoon at a time. With your hands, gather the curds of dough together. (You'll have a soft, malleable dough, the kind you might want to overwork). Turn the dough out of the bowl and divide it in half. Press each piece of dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

To Make the Dough In A Food Processor: Stir the sour cream and 1/3 cup ice water together in a small bowl; set aside. Put the flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt in the work bowl of a processor fitted with the metal blade; pulse to combine. Drop the butter pieces into the bowl and pulse 8 to 10 times, or until the mixture is speckled with pieces of butter that vary in size from bread crumbs to peas. With the machine running, add the sour cream mixture and process just until the dough forms soft, moist curds. Remove the dough from the processor, divide it in half, and press each half into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least two hours.

Storing: The dough can be kept in the refrigerator for a day or two, or it can be wrapped airtight and frozen for a month. Thaw, still wrapped in the refrigerator. It is convenient to roll the dough into rounds, place parchment between each round and freeze them wrapped in plastic, this way you'll need only about 20 minutes to defrost a round of dough before it can be filled, folded into a galette and baked.

Berry Galette

Makes 4 to 6 servings. This, as heirloom cookbooks used to say, is a a keeper It is so simple and inviting and so enjoyable to construct that you'll find yourself turning to it frequently (that's true, I do!!). It's called a galette because it's flat, open-faced and free-form - the crust is rolled into a circle, the filling is piled in the center and the edges of the crust are turned in and ruffled. The filling can be mixed berries, peeled soft fruits like peaches or apricots, or in fall and winter, tart apples or sweet pears.

1/2 recipe Galette Dough, chilled
1-1/2 cups mixed fresh berries (or cut-up peeled fruit)
1 tablespoon plus 1 tsp. sugar
1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Put the dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll it into an 11-inch circle that's about 1/8" thick. Since the dough is soft, you'll need to lift it now and then and toss some more flour under it and over the top. Roll up the dough around your rolling pin (or fold it in half twice like I do) and transfer it to the prepared baking sheet.

Spread the berries over the dough, leaving a 2 to 3 inch border. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the sugar over the fruit. Cut the butter into slivers and scatter it on top of the fruit. Fold the uncovered border of dough up over the filling, allowing the dough to pleat as you lift it up and work your way around the galette (Because you're folding a wide edge of dough onto a smaller part of the circle, it will pleat naturally - just go with it.) Dip a pastry brush in water, give the edge of the crust a light coating, and then sprinkle the wet crust with the remaining teaspoon of sugar.

Bake the galette for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and crisp. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the galette rest on the sheet for 10 minutes. Slip a wide spatula or a small baking sheet under the galette and slide it onto the cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature, cutting the tart with a pizza wheel or a sharp knife.

The galette is best eaten the day it is made (if you're able to keep any for longer than a day, I would say you live with zombies or something!)

[LGBurns]

Originally posted by KathrynY
My current favorite berry recipe is the Blueberry Crisp a la Mode from the cover of July 2000 CL. I make it with 3 cups raspberries and 3 cups blueberries (instead of all blueberries) and it's very tasty, and light too! :)

Oh yes! My husband and friends all request this frequently, and it's so easy to make. I usually have it with low-fat vanilla ice cream instead of frozen yogurt.

[browneye]

I made the Mixed Berry Cobbler last night for dinner guests. It was FABULOUS! I used fresh Marionberries, Raspberries and Blueberries. I followed the recipe fairly close, but was very low on WW flour, so I used more of the regular flour.
I too wished there had been twice the topping- but it was very, very good.
I am going to repeat it next weekend while the berries are still in season.

We ate it with Vanilla Ice cream. Soooo yummy.

[KristaMB]

I'm planning on making the berry cobbler this afternoon. How much extra topping would you say it needed? Twice as much?

[browneye]

Yes, I think I would double it, myself. That would be the easiest, and I think it could definitely take that much extra topping. Everyone commented that they wished there was more topping!

[BlueMoose]

When making the galettes, do you totally cover the filling with the edges of the dough, or does the dough just go aroung the outside with some of the filling showing in the center?

[Grace]

Hi Chrisi....

Some of the filling does show - the edges are just folded up part way. Are you making these? Oh you will love these. Let me know how they come out for you if you do make them! Hope you're having a nice weekend - the board sure is quiet over the weekends, I'll be glad for Monday just because there'll be some action on the board again! But I sure hope everyone gets back to food and recipe reviews soon - almost every topic in the last several days (or more?) has been "OT".....I guess it's too hot to cook!