I’m currently in Maine, and when you’re in Maine you eat blueberries – about everyway that you can come up with.  One ‘ole favorite is simply stewing fresh blueberries on the stove with a little water and sugar, and serving this hot blueberry sauce over warm biscuits (using Bisquick makes it ultra easy).

My sister brought along the following recipe, just a simple cobbler recipe, but a delicious and oh so easy one, so I thought it was worth logging it into the WWCC archives.  The recipe calls for cooking in ramekins, but we doubled the recipe and baked it in a 9 by 12 inch casserole dish.  We tried it with blueberries, and also with frozen mixed berries (blue, black and raz) which was particularly yummy.  Here it is:

Berry Cobbler

2 pounds of frozen berries, thawed

1 cup sugar plus more for dusting

3 T instant tapioca

1 T lemon juice

1 (7.75 oz) packet butter biscuit mix (recommended:  Bisquick Complete)

3/4 cup cream soda, divided

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 8 (4-inch) ramekins with butter flavored cooking spray (we just used regular canola spray) and set aside.  In a bowl combine thawed berries, tapioca, lemon juice, 1/4 cup of cream soda and sugar.  Transfer to ramekins. 

In a large bowl, combine biscuit mix and remaining cream soda.  Mix until well blended.  Sprinkle biscuit mix over berries.  Dust with sugar.  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Source:  Sandra Lee

And while I’m on a blueberry kick, this is another favorite recipe of mine from the Saltwater Seasonings Cookbook, Good Food from Coastal Maine written by Sarah Leah Chase (of Silver Palate fame) and Jonathan Chase.

Wild Blueberry Pie:

Crust (although I must admit I typically always resort to the Pillsbury pie crust):

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

1/2 cup Crisco shotening

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup water

Filling:

4.5 cups fresh wild blueberries

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 T unbleached all purpose flour

1 T fresh lemon juice (optional)

1/2 to 1 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of grated nutmeg

1 T unsalted butter

1. To make the crust, combine flour, butter, Crisco, and salt in a mixing bowl.  Using a pastry cutter, blend the shortnening into the flour until the mixture is the consistency of coarse meal.  Add all the ice water and continue to work into a soft dough.  Shape the dough into a flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.  (Alternatively, make the dough in a food processor by the usual machine method).

2.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

3.  Divide the pastry dough in half and roll one half out on a floured surface to fit into a 9 inch pie pan.  Line the pan with dough, trimming the edges to fit.

4.  In a mixing bowl, toss the blueberries with the sugar and flour to coat evenly.  Stir in the lemon juice (if using), cinnamon and numeg.  Pile the filling into the pie shell.  Dot the top with the T of butter cut into small pieces.

5.  Roll out remaining half of the crust into an 11 inch circle.  Place over the top of the pie and crimp the edges to seal the pie and make a decorative crust.  Cut several slashes in the top of the pie with a sharp knife to seve as steam vents.

6.  Bake the pie until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling, 40-45 minutes.  Note that this pie bakes at a relatively high temperature for a relatively short period of time.  Serve the pie either warm or at room temperature.  Be sure to top with a scoop of vanilla ice scream.

Ta Da!  Dessert (which ever one suits your fancy) is done in a flash, and you’ll have a most appreciative audience.