Mango & Blueberry Fruit Salad

My nephew and his boyfriend brought us some delicious mangoes from their trip to Key West, a gift for taking care of their sweet, sweet dog, Cooper.  After devouring two just on their own, I used another one for this great fruit salad since blueberries are also in season.  This is sort of a non-recipe recipe, so amounts are approximate.  The grated fresh ginger adds a wonderful element to this dish, and worth the trip to the store if you don't have any on hand.  (I keep a knob or two of fresh ginger in the freezer and grate it frozen for occasions like these.)  If you don't have a nephew who brings you gifts of mangoes, then you could use peaches (also in season!).  The best place hands down to get peaches in this area is McConnell's Farm. Check out the link!

Mango & Blueberry Fruit Salad 
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
1 mango, cut into cubes (scroll down for a mango cutting lesson)
about 1 cup of fresh blueberries

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the lime juice, honey and ginger to blend.  Add the mango cubes and blueberries and toss to distribute the honey/juice mixture.  Can be refrigerated for a few hours--and truth be told, this was still very good the day after it was made. Some chopped fresh mint would also be nice, but the taste of mangoes, blueberry and ginger doesn't need any embellishment.  Makes--oh, about two cups or so of salad--enough, certainly, for four as a side dish.

Mango cutting lesson:
Before I learned how to cut a mango, I wound up mangling a few into a pulp.  Here's how I avoid that now!  Mangoes have a large pit in their center that the fruit meat tends to cling to. The trick to getting around the pit is to lay the mango on a cutting board with the flat side down.  Estimating where the pit is--about a third of the way into the center from the edge or so, slice off one side of the mango, like this:

Do the same with the other side.  Then, using your knife, score the flesh lengthwise and across (see photo below) being a bit careful not to cut entirely through the skin (though it's not a big deal if you do).

Using your thumb and fingers, push on the mango skin to turn it sort of inside out, so that the scored flesh stands up, like this:

You can then easily (well...) slice the cubes off the skin and into a bowl.  Trim the skin off of the fruit that remains around the pit and score and cut into cubes around the pit as best you can. Voila! An un-mangled mango!

Blueberry Mint Honey Vinegar & Salad Dressing

That white dot in the center of the two bottles is a blurry shot of one of our colonies!

My blueberry growing friend and colleague (and blog fan!) Ruth has promised to freeze a few of her delicious berries for me for when I return to campus in the fall (thanks, Ruth!).  We're lucky that we also live by a pick-your-own blueberry farm where I send Robert to bring back some of the bounty.  You can't have too many blueberries, that's for sure!

Miriam Rubin's "Miriam's Garden" column in the food section of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently included this great recipe for Blueberry-Mint Vinegar that she credits to Nancy Hanst, whose recipes often show up in Post-Gazette's food section.  The vinegar (which takes a few days to steep) makes a great base for an on-the-sweet-side salad dressing that would be lovely on a spinach or lettuce salad or used to dress some freshly roasted beets.  Instead of mint, you could use basil (which is from the mint family after all).




Blueberry-Mint-Honey Vinegar
1 cup white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup fresh (or frozen and thawed) blueberries
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves--I used spearmint, but peppermint would be nice, too.

Bring the vinegar and honey to a boil.  Place the berries and mint in a jar and pour the vinegar-honey over them.  Cover and let steep for about 48 hours.  Strain out the berries and mint (not pressing on the berries) and then decant the vinegar into a bottle.

Blueberry-Mint-Honey Salad Dressing
1 small garlic clove
1/4 cup blueberry-mint-honey vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon mayonnaise (optional but helps the dressing to stay emulsified)
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

In a small food processor, mince the garlic clove.  Add the vinegar, honey & mayonnaise and whirl to blend. With processor running, slowly stream in the olive oil and blend until fully emulsified.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Store in the refrigerator.  Makes 1 cup and keeps for about a week.

Berries!

Summer 2012 is proving to be an amazing one for berries.  Our raspberry patch is coming in fast and furious along with the blackcap berries that are ripening along the hillside. They made for a delicious lunch today.  Just a drizzle of honey and some yogurt rounded out the dish.  Robert added some whipped cream to his, which was a bit like gilding the lily in my opinion.  

Blueberries aren't quite ready, but we still have a few pints of frozen blues from last year that made a perfect pie for dessert.  I had to act fast to get this photo before the last piece of pie was devoured. This would be the place for some whipped cream if you have it.

BLUEBERRY PIE SWEETENED WITH HONEY
The ground tapioca in this pie makes it sturdy and not at all soupy.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

For the all-butter pie crust:
1 and 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (12 tablespoons), cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Place in the freezer while you gather the rest of the ingredients.
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1/3 cup ice water
Briefly (about 5 seconds) pulse the flour, salt and very cold butter in a food processor until the butter is pea-sized. Sprinkle water on top and briefly pulse again to evenly distribute it. The dough will be in loose pellets. Pour onto a lightly floured surface and knead it three or four times to bring it together. Form into a flat disk. Roll out to about 16 or 17 inches (1/4th inch thick). Fit into a 9-inch pie plate, letting dough hang over the edge (this overhang will be folded over the filling to form the top crust).


For the blueberry pie
4 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/4 cup summer (or spring) honey
1/4 cup tapioca pudding, ground into a powder in a coffee grinder or blender
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (or nutmeg)--optional
2 tablespoons butter

Combine the berries, honey, tapioca and spice if using in a bowl and mix gently but well.  Place the berries in the prepared crust. Dot with the two tablespoons of butter.  Fold the overhanging crust over the berries, leaving a vent hole in the center. You can lightly brush the crust with milk or water and sprinkle some sugar on top if you'd like.

Place the pie in the preheated oven and put a cookie sheet underneath just in case there are any drips.  Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the filling bubbles up from the vent hole.  Cool before slicing.

Blueberry Honey Scones

These scones would make a lovely weekend breakfast. They are not very sweet, so you could serve them with some more honey and butter. They are especially good fresh from the oven, but managed to choke one down while I was at work the next day

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

INGREDIENTS: 

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (divided)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter, diced and frozen

1 cup blueberries (frozen is fine)

1/4 cup honey

3/4 cup half-and-half

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add the frozen butter and cut into the flour mixture until it is about the size of peas.  Add the other 1/2 cupt of the flour to the berries in a separate bowl and mix.  Set the blueberries aside.  Put the half-and-half in a liquid measuring cup.  Add the honey, egg and vanilla and mix well.  Add this to the flour and butter and gingerly combine, stirring just until the entire mixture is wet.  Fold in the blueberries and flour that you set aside and gently knead a few times in the bowl until it all comes together.  (This is basically a biscuit, so the more you work it, the tougher it'll be.)

 

When all is incorporated, turn out onto a floured surface and pat into about a 9 inch circle.  Cut into 8 wedges.  Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet (or use parchment paper).  If you'd like, you can lightly wet the tops with some half-and-half and sprinkle with sugar or brown sugar.  Bake for about 15 minutes, until the bottoms are nicely browned.

Jennie's Honey Blueberry Cake (with photos!)

Jennie's Honey Blueberry Cake

I adapted this recipe from one that uses white sugar.  It makes a very delicate cake when it first comes out of the oven, which ripens into almost a pound cake consistency after a day or two. This is not a very sweet cake, though the flavors intensify a bit if you wait for a day. This cake can be baked in a  9x5 loaf pan, but I find when baking with honey that a spring form tube pan works especially well.  The center hole reduces the baking time needed and lessens the chance that the honey in the recipe will scorch and burn the crust. The recipe in a more printable form follows the photos along with some variations to try.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cream 1/2 softened unsalted butter with 1/2 cup summer (amber) honey.

Add two eggs, combining well after each addition.

Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a separate bowl, whisk 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Add 1/3 of the flour to the butter mixture and combine well.  Add 1/4 cup milk and combine well. Add another 1/3 of the flour, then another 1/4 cup of milk and the final 1/3 flour, combining well after each addition.

fold in 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Spoon batter into greased spring form tube pan

Bake at 325 for about 45 minutes

Cake is done when it's golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean

Voila!

JENNIE'S HONEY BLUEBERRY CAKE
Oven:  325 degrees; grease a 9 inch spring form tube pan*

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup summer (amber) honey
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Cream butter and honey until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Stir in vanilla.  In a separate bowl, whisk dry ingredients together.  Add dry ingredients alternately with milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.  Stir well after each addition.  Fold in blueberries.  Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake about 45 minutes, until cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool, remove from pan and slice.  Cake keeps if well wrapped. The flavors strengthen after a day. *If you don't have a spring form tube pan, you can use a 9x5 loaf pan instead.  Hope you enjoy!

VARIATIONS:
MUCHO Blueberry Honey Blueberry Cake:  You can up the amount of blueberries to 2 cups, though the cake will need to be eaten with a fork! :)

Lemon Honey Blueberry Cake:  Add 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind.  You can also ditch the vanilla extract for 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice.  If you want a sweeter cake, make a glaze of 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 4 tablespoons honey.  Right when the cake comes out of the oven, prick in several times with a toothpick and pour the glaze over the cake.  Let cool.  This will be a bit sticky, so it's also best eaten with a fork!

Honey Blueberry Nut Cake: Add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or almonds when you add the blueberries.

Cooling Chilled Soups (and Robert's Blueberry Blast)

A cold soup on a hot day can revive even the most wilted diner. When it's too hot to cook, pair the carrot, mango or cucumber soups with fresh tomato/feta/basil salad and some crusty bread or crackers.  The berry soup or blueberry blast make great hot-weather desserts!

Cold Carrot Honey Soup 

I served this as a first course for my niece Alison's wedding shower a few years ago.  It now makes a regular appearance at our table at least a few times during the summer. 

1 lb carrots scraped & chopped in a 1/2 inch dice

1 med. onion, chopped in a 1/2 inch dice

1/4 tsp. each: ground cumin, coriander & paprika

1/8 tsp. cayenne

1 cup vegetable broth

3 cups water

1 TBSP lemon juice

2 TBSP summer honey

Place ingredients in saucepan & simmer until carrots are soft.  Cool.  Blend until smooth & chill for a few hours before serving.  Nice garnish options (and or all):  a dollop of Greek yogurt, a drizzle of honey, a pinch of lemon zest.  Makes 4 cups.  

Cold Curried Mango Soup

This makes a gorgeous, bright yellow soup with just the slightest hint of spicy heat.  You can ramp up the spiciness a bit by adding more curry (or a dash of cayenne pepper). 

1 large mango, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup Greek yogurt (or regular yogurt--low fat is fine)

1 1/2 cups skim milk 

2 tablespoons summer honey

1 teaspoon curry powder (or to taste)

Pinch of salt to taste.

Place the ingredients in a blender (or use an immersion blender) and blend until smooth.  Chill for at least two hours.  Makes about 3 cups. 

Chilled Cucumber-Yogurt Soup

This recipe is adapted from Mollie Katzen's classic Moosewood Cookbook (rev. edition).  It's one of the few vegetarian cookbooks I own that I still use frequently.  Her recipes are simple and nearly all of them result in great tasting dishes. This is one of the most refreshing cold soups you can make!

4 cups peeled, seeded and grated cucumber

2 cups water

2 cups yogurt

salt to taste

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon freshly minced dill

2 tablespoons honey

Garnish with chopped mint and chives

Combine all of the ingredients and stir until well-blended.  Chill until very cold--at least a few hours.  Makes 6 cups.

Chilled Berry Soup

Another great chilled soup recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook. It's like dessert in a soup bowl!

3 cups orange juice

1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice

3 cups buttermilk (can use yogurt instead)

2 tablespoons summer honey

2-3 cups of berries:  strawberries (should be sliced), raspberries, blackberries and/or blueberries

Dash of cinnamon

Place juices, buttermilk (or yogurt) and honey in a blender and blend well.  Add 1/2 cup of berries to blender and blend until smooth.  Cover and chill until very cold.  Place remaining berries in bowls (about 1/2 cup in each bowl) and pour soup on top.  Dust with cinnamon.  Makes about 6 cups.

Robert's Blueberry Blast 

We must have about 40 cups of blueberries stashed in our freezer right now. They won't be there long, though, because we're making these blasts almost every day.  I'm an ice cream junkie and these taste just like milkshakes to me!

1/2 cup nonfat milk

1/2 cup nonfat yogurt

1 cup frozen blueberries (you could use frozen strawberries, peaches, or raspberries)

1-2 tablespoons honey

Blend all in a blender and pour in a glass.  Makes about 1 1/2 cups.  

Honey Blueberry Muffins

It's blueberry season here in Western PA and it's hard to think of a better combination than blueberries and honey. Blueberries and honey on your oatmeal. Blueberries and honey in your smoothie. Blueberries and honey for dessert.

Here's a basic blueberry muffin recipe that uses honey for the sweetener. I adapted it from Joanne Barrett's Cooking with Honey (reviewed in Review of Honey Cookbooks, Part I).

HONEY BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
4 tablespoons honey (I used summer)
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup milk (I used nonfat)
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 3/4 cup blueberries
Turbinado or sanding sugar for sprinkling on top (optional)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin (or use paper liners). Stir the honey into the butter and blend well. Add the milk and eggs and mix until well combined. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to the honey butter mixture and mix just until combined and no flour pockets remain (try not to over mix). Fold in the blueberries. Fill prepared muffin tins 2/3rds full and sprinkle with sugar if using. Bake for about 20 minutes. Serve warm!