Blueberry Tortilla Wraps

I found this recipe in an old magazine - I will admit I haven't tried it, but I think that it might be quite a tasty treat to take along on a picnic for dessert.

The recipe was co-sponsored by Mission 98% Fat Free Tortillas and the US Highbush Blueberry Council . I haven't poked around their website much but they seem to have some unique recipes for anything blueberry that you could want - beverages, breakfast, desserts, main dishes, salads, sauces and soups - make sure you take a look!


Creamy Minted Blueberry Tortilla Wraps (serves 8)

Combine in a small bowl and beat until well blended (set aside):

8 oz. Philadelphia brand "Light" cream cheese (the original recipe calls for "fat free", but seriously, that stuff is like rubber!) (make sure it's at room temperature)
2 Tbsp lime juice (roll your lime on the counter before you cut it and you'll get more juice from it. You might also use a little itty bit of lime zest here too)
2-3 Tbsp. chopped FRESH mint (or less to taste)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
A couple tsp. of sugar or honey or Splenda if desired

Toss together in a smaller bowl:

3 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup diced mango or pineapple, drained

Heat an ungreased skillet or griddle over medium heat. Take your tortillas (one at a time) and warm for about 10 seconds on a side - you want them pliable, not toasted .

4 Mission 98% fat free Burrito Size Flour Tortillas

Spread each tortilla with one quarter of the cheese mixture then distribute one cup of the blueberry mixture over the bottom three-quarters of the tortilla, leaving the top with the cheese only. Gently press the fruit into the cheese. Fold in both sides of the tortilla about one inch then roll up snugly toward the cheese end. To serve, slice each wrap in half on a slight diagonal cut. If you are going to pack them for a picnic, wrap each whole one in waxed paper or plastic cling wrap and cut when you get to your destination.

Ideas for additions or changes -

• Use lemon juice instead of lime juice -

• Add a tsp. of poppy seeds instead of the mint.

• Sprinkle the filling with sunflower seeds (shelled, of course!) before you wrap it.

• Use diced peaches instead of mangos

Blueberry Galette

When Marie Antoinette said "Let them eat cake" maybe she was really talking about Galettes. The definition of galette is from the French and designates a type of "free form" pie or tart. Sweet or savory, these rustic and easy to make "pies" leave your family or guests thinking that, like the lady who splashes flour on her face after making Rice Krispie treats, you have slaved for hours over a hot stove. In all actuality, they are "as easy as pie" only easier.

If you have a favorite pie crust recipe, make it, but you also can grab a pre-made crust - the type that comes from the refrigerator case - let it sit out for a bit so it become pliable - you don't want it to crack and let all the good juices from your fruit filling out!

Blueberry Gallette

Turn your oven on 375 degrees.

Make (or take out of the fridge) One pie crust for single crust pie. Lay it out on a large baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper. If you have a pizza stone even better - but remove all the traces of pizza from it first - no one wants a piece of blueberry tart that tastes like garlic......(like the iced tea with lemon that I got at Arby's the other day - they had, apparently cut their lemon slices on their food slicer - pretty smart idea - all your slices will be uniform - but a bad idea if you have just sliced the onions and NOT cleaned the slicer first - Onion iced tea doesn't hold a candle to that with raspberry stuff...) Sorry, I digress.......

In a medium sized bowl, toss
2 1/2 - 3 cups of fresh (or frozen) blueberries
1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar, depending upon how sweet your berries are
(if your berries are kind of bland you could add a little lemon zest or a tablespoon of lemon juice here)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp of cornstarch

Mound your berry mixture onto the middle of the pie crust leaving at least a 3 inch border all the way around. Carefully fold up the crust around the berries (leaving a saucer sized hole in the center - your dough will not meet in the middle.) This is why you want to make sure that your crust is at room temperature because if it is too cold, it will crack around the folds and all the juice from your tart will run out! If you want to, sprinkle a little sugar around the edges.

Bake galette at 375 degrees for 35 minutes (if you are using a refrigerated pie crust, I would suggest 350 degrees for 40 - 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and run a thin spatula under your tart and carefully transfer it to a service platter. A nice touch is to make a little powdered sugar glaze with 1/2 cup powdered sugar and about a tablespoon of water - drizzle this over the galette and serve. (you could also sift a little powdered sugar over the top - ala Emerill - you know "Bam"

Some recipes I found for galettes said this made 12 servings - egads - I was thinking 4 at the most!

You can also make this with any kind of fruit that you might have on hand - apples, blackberries, plums, apricots, peaches, singularly or a mix of two or three. Try layering them on top of some sweetened cream cheese, or go savory with an onion jam and sliced almonds or maybe sauteed spinach, mushrooms, onions and feta cheese. Now, doesn't that sound tasty? Enjoy!

Blue Blueberry Muffins

I have recently been reading Joanne Fluke's "Bakery" mystery novels. The third book in the series (there are 11 to date) is called "The Blueberry Muffin Murder" - and the murdered woman is found with one of bakery shop owner Hannah Swensen's new Blue Blueberry Muffins in her hand - a lively search for the murderer ensues - all I can tell you is that the muffin did NOT do it.

All of the books come complete with the recipes for the tasty treats that Ms. Swenson sells in her shop, The Cookie Jar. I haven't tried these out yet, but they sounded good - heavy on the butter and sugar, how could they not be?

Blue Blueberry Muffins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees - rach in middle position.

3/4 cup melted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 cup sugar
2 beaten eggs (whip them up with a fork)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (if frozen, do not thaw)
1/2 cup blueberry pie filling
2 cups plus 1 Tblsp. flour (no need to sift)
1/2 cup milk

Crumb topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup softened butter (1/4 stick)
**Now here's where I would add about 1/2 tsp of cinnamon - it would really be good with this muffin)

Grease the bottom only of a 12 cup muffin pan (or line the cups with cupcake papers). Melt the butter. Mix in the sugar. then add the beaten eggs, baking powder and salt and mix thoroughly.

Put one tablespoon of the flour in a plastic bag with your cup of fresh or frozen blueberries. Shake it gently to coat the blueberries, and leave them in the bag for now.

Add half the remaining two cups of flour to your bowl and mix it in in with half the milk, then add the rest of the flour and milk and mix thoroughly.

Here comes the fun part. Add 1/2 cup blueberry pie filling to your bowl and mix it in (Your dough will turn a shade of blue, but don't let that stop you - once the muffins are baked, they'll look just fine. When your dough is thoroughly mixed, fold in the flour-coated fresh or frozen blueberries.

Fill your muffin tins three-quarters full and set them aside. If you have dough left over, grease the bottom of a small tea-bred loaf pan and fill it with your remaining dough.

For the crumb topping, Mix the sugar and the flour in a small bowl. Add the softened butter and cut it in until it's crumbly (you can also do this in a food processor with hard butter using the steel blade)

Sprinkle the crumb topping over your muffins and bake them in a 375 degree oven for 25 - 30 minutes (the tea bread should take about ten minutes longer than the muffins.

When the muffins are baked, set the muffin pan on a wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes. They will come out of the pan much easier that way.

The author suggests freezing the rest of the blueberry pie filling in paper cups filled with 1/2 cups measured out in each one - Keep them in a plastic freezer bag and that way the next time you want to make some muffins just thaw out one of the pre-measured 1/2 cups for your next batch.

If you are looking for some fun summer reading, bake up a batch of these Blue Blueberry Muffins and sit down with a cup of tea and one of Ms. Fluke's delicious murder mysteries - you won't know where the day went.

Recipe copyright Joanne Fluke, 2002.

Blueberry Bliss

One of the very best web sites for baking is the Land 'o Lakes site and their collection of blueberry recipes is outstanding. There are 52 fantastic blueberry recipes and you can access it by clicking here and typing in blueberry as the key word in the search bar!

Lemon-Blueberry Cream Pie

I got this recipe out of a Better Homes & Gardens magazine years ago before blueberries were the "favored fruit" - It is, quite honestly, one of the best pies I've ever had. Fresh blueberries are folded into a thick lemony filling that's been given a little more tang and richness with sour cream. Best eaten the day it's made, make your best pastry pie shell for this pie, but if "push comes to shove" I think that a graham cracker crust would be OK too.

(BTW, If you don't have a microplane grater, get one. If nothing more, just for grating lemon rind. Then grate all the rind off the lemons as they come in the house - put it in the freezer wrapped in plastic wrap - it will last for a month or so - put it in salad dressings, on chicken or fish - works on limes, oranges too - and although I've never used it - fresh nutmeg) Anyhow, I digress - here is the recipe for Lemon-Blueberry Cream Pie

LEMON BLUEBERRY CREAM PIE

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
1/4 cup butter, cut up
1 Tbsp finely grated fresh lemon peel

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 8oz. carton sour cream
2 cups fresh blueberries

1 9-inch baked pie shell

Sweetened whipped cream (optional)
Lemon slices, to garnish (optional)

To make the filling:

In a saucepan combine 1 cup sugar and cornstarch. Add milk, egg yolks, butter or margarine, and 1 tablespoon lemon peel. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly; cook and stir 2 minutes more. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice. Transfer to a bowl; cover with plastic wrap and cool. When cool, stir sour cream and blueberries into mixture; pour into baked pastry shell. Cover and chill at least 4 hours. If desired, stir a little lemon peel into sweetened whipped cream. Pipe or spoon atop pie. Garnish with lemon slices.


Number of servings: 8

SALMON WITH CRANBERRY-BLUEBERRY VINAIGRETTE AND BABY GREENS

I found this recipe in a newsletter I subscribe to - It sounded awfully good - I tweaked it a little to suite my family's tastes. I have not tried this, but I think if you were to double the dressing recipe and use part of it to lightly brush on the salmon before it bakes, it would make a nice marinade. Make sure you keep the marinade part separate from the dressing you put on the salads though, so your salad dressing is not contaminated with unbaked fish.

SALMON WITH CRANBERRY-BLUEBERRY VINAIGRETTE AND BABY GREENS
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:
For Dressing:
6 tablespoons Ocean Spray® 100% Juice Cranberry & Blueberry
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind

1 salmon filet, 20-24 ounces
1 lemon - slice into 8 slices (removing the ends first), divided
Lightly sprinkle with Garlic salt

4 cups mixed baby greens
1/4 cup blueberries

DIRECTIONS:

Whisk together juice, 4 tablespoons olive oil, vinegar, honey, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in small bowl; set aside.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper, with enough on the ends to meet in the middle and seal. Spray with cooking spray. Place the salmon filet skin side down, in the center of the sheet. Sprinkle with garlic salt and place 4 of the lemon slices down the center. Fold the foil (or parchment) to the center and seal, folding up all edges to create a packet. Bake for about 25 minutes per pound (aprox 40-45 minutes for 24 oz. filet or until the salmon flakes easily) Slow baking at a lower temperature makes the fish stay moist. When the fish is done, replace the baked lemon slices with fresh ones (sliced 1/2 way through and twisted so they look pretty) Divide the salmon into four portions and place on dinner plates.

Divide greens between plates and drizzle greens and salmon with vinaigrette; sprinkle with blueberries.

Makes 4 servings.

The Power of Blue

Blueberries rank No. 1 in antioxidant benefits compared to 40 other fresh fruits and vegetables (USDA Human Nutrition Center). Antioxidants help neutralize harmful "free radicals" that can lead to cancer and other age-related diseases. The total antioxidant capacity of blueberries is twice that of spinach and three times that of oranges.

Blueberries are also rich in pectin, a soluble fiber that has been shown in several research studies to be effective in lowering cholesterol.

Live Longer, Live Better - Eat Blueberries!