Fabulous Friday Food - Blueberry Crisp
/Snark alert: It's hot here today. Really hot. Not that I'm complaining or anything because my entire family lives in the South where it's REALLY hot. But for us, it's pretty dang hot. And I'm feeling a little snarky because of it. So beware.
But that's stupid. We love the berries and need to use them, and so last night I used them, yes I did, to bless some friends who came to dinner.
I made a blueberry crisp--one of my favorites.
Why "crisp" and not cobbler or pie? Well, we all know that I can't make a pie to save my life. At this point, I've pretty much given up on the whole pie thing. (I'll just have to wait until the next time my mom comes to visit because the woman can bake a pie.) Cobblers are good, but I prefer peach cobbler, not blueberry.
I don't know, there's just something so satisfying and easy about making a crisp. I just love them, and so does my family, so we go with the crisp.
Now, a quick internet search will give you thousands of potential Blueberry Crisp recipes to use, so let me make it easy on you . . . just use this one. It's good. Really good. I've made it twice this summer already, and I'm sure I'll make it again.
[Side note: this is a Gina and Patrick Neely recipe, and while I'm sure they are really wonderful people, they totally annoy me. I can't watch more than five minutes of their show because of all the lovey-dovey-kissy stuff they do. (Sorry, Gina and Pat! I'd love to meet you sometime because I'm sure you're great, but you need to tone down the show a little bit.) That said, their food looks amazing. Everything I've ever tried of theirs has been really good.]
But I digress . . . again. It must be the heat.
Let me cut to the chase and stop these ramblings. First, you take 6 cups of blueberries, rinse them quickly, then toss them with 1 Tablespoon corn starch, 1/4 Cup sugar, and a pinch of salt.
Put them into a 2 quart dish like this. A pretty one, preferably, because that just shows your family that you care.
In another bowl, put 1/2 Cup flour, 1/2 Cup quick-cooking oats, 1/4 Cup packed brown sugar, 1/4 Cup granulated sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.
Shhhhh. Don't tell Gina and Pat, but I used more like 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon because I really like cinnamon and I'm rebellious like that.
Next add 3/4 Cup chopped pecans.
If you like that sort of thing.
If you don't, just leave them out (and maybe put in a little more oatmeal).
Once that's all combined, add a half a stick of cold butter. Gina and Pat tell you to use room temperature butter, but really, who cares if you just take it out of the fridge and mix it in? I don't.
And, again, my rebellious side comes out because the recipe says to use your fingers but I'm all like "gross" about that, so I use a pastry blender.
So mix in the butter and pour the crumbly mixture over the top of the blueberries.
Bake it in a 375 degree oven for about 40 minutes until it's all bubbly and gooey and yummy. [Note: if you're using frozen blueberries, it might take just a little longer. Because they were cold. Get it?]
I would show you a picture of the finished product, but I don't have one because in all the excitement of having guests over last night I forgot to take one. But I served the warm crisp with Costco's vanilla ice cream which, if you've never had Costco's Kirkland Vanilla Ice Cream you haven't lived. It's that good. Amen.
6 Cups blueberries
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 Cup sugar
pinch of salt
Topping:
1/2 Cup all-purpose flour
1/2 Cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 Cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 Cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (or more)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 C. chopped pecans
1/4 C. butter
1. Mix first four ingredients together. Place in a lightly greased baking dish.
2. Mix the rest of the ingredients together. Pour over blueberries in baking dish.
3. Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes.
There! See how easy that was? Even an idiot who can't make a pie can make this stuff.
Enjoy!
Now tell me, because I'd really like to know. . . what are you doing this weekend?
