The best of the summer needs little dressing to make extraordinary meals – the sweetness of corn, the tang of tomatoes, and the smooth softness of fresh mozzarella or ricotta cheese pairs perfectly with a whole grain and sings once kissed with a bit of olive oil, salt & pepper.
I hope that you are enjoying the local bounty of the season and savoring the sweetness of what the fields are offering now.
As Labor Day meant the bell tolling for the end of summer, now is the time to take advantage of what warmer weather produce is still at market, including juicy fresh fruits. In case you can’t find any more ripe berries at market this recipe also works well with frozen ones. If you can still get your hands on a bunch of berries, by all means get extra and make some space in that freezer! Just put the blueberries on a tray first, and then after they have frozen gently roll them into a bag for the long haul. You’ll be thrilled in winter when a few of those blue morsels bring back the taste of summer sunshine.
Blueberries are a fickle fruit – they like very acidic soil, need lots of sunshine, can take 3 years to bear good fruit and can take up to 6 years to bear a full and luscious crop. They are also beloved by birds, so plant protection can also be an important factor. Shallow-rooted and in need of sustained moisture, these little orbs are a challenge to grow so either preserving or enjoying them while they last are great ways to appreciate what might be the last of summer’s gifts for the year.
Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from Joy of Cooking
Dry ingredients:
2 c. all purpose flour
1 T. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
½ t. cinnamon
Wet ingredients:
2 large eggs
1 c. whole milk yogurt
2/3 c. granulated sugar
1 t. vanilla
6 T. butter, melted
1 ½ – 2 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen)
Preheat the oven to 400˚F Grease 2 muffin tins (makes 18 -24 muffins depending on size) or line with muffin cups.
In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Gently stir in the dry ingredients, until the mixture just barely comes together. Fold in the blueberries, breaking as few as possible (unless you like all-blue muffins!).
Bake for 15-18 minutes, until cooked through and just browned on top.
Just about every year, in late May or early June, I indulge in a guilty pleasure – one that I can’t help myself from committing, unable to resist the siren call of those delicate orbs blushing golden and calling to me with their perfectly ripe sweetness. Even though they come from the other side of the country and sell for what seems to be an exorbitantly indulgent price, I can never resist: Rainier cherries.
One of a slew of sweet cherry cultivars, Rainier cherries were developed at Washington State University and thusly named for that noble mountain which dominates the Evergreen State’s Cascade Range. A cross between Bing and Van, these cherries are golden inside with a tinge of red on the outside, and are as delicate as they are sweet. Susceptible to rain (which causes the fruit to split), wind (which can lead to bruising when the fruit bumps against others close-by), and temperature (the hotter the temperature the shorter the ripeness window) these are the princesses of the cherry crop and bring princely prices along with them.
While Washington State dominates in overall cherry production, with the USDA predicting a crop that will outpace California by 125,000 tons this year, there are some orchards in the mid-Atlantic region that grow beautiful varieties. There are the sour Montmorencys for pies and tarts, sweet ruby red Bings for eating out of hand or enjoying with ice cream, and last but not least the leading lady for snacking: Queen Annes. Often destined for the maraschino jar, this cultivar is considered to be one of the older varieties and has been subject to various names since the 1800’s including Napoleon, White Napoleon, and Royal Ann. Some even posit that this cultivar spawned the most-popular and most-selling Bing cherry.
