BLUEBERY CRISP IN A JIFF!

Frozen blueberries in lightly greased pie plate. 

I got this recipe from Ruth Reichl's wonderful novel, Delicious! I have been an avid follower of Gourmet Magazine for 30 years and was saddened when they closed their doors a few years back. Ruth was the editor for many years and I loved how she treasured the magazine showing deep respect and integrity for food. Her love of good food is evident and this novel reflects that and so much more. My favorite quote from the book is Lulu quoting James Beard who in real life was a contributor to Gourmet Magazine and in the story is also a contributor to Delicious Magazine: "The only thing that will make a souffle fail is if it knows you're afraid".  How perfect is that sentiment and pretty much sums up my attitude about all cooking! Don't be afraid and there are no mistakes. And if it were not for my old friend, Trudy Goldfarb Silverman, I would not even have known Ruth Reichl was a novelist. Trudy sent me this book and one more along with some wonderfully comforting tea to help my cancer recovery earlier this year. We share a passion for food and Trudy is one of the best home chefs I know. Here's Ruth's recipe...

BLUEBERRY CRISP

Ingredients:

1 stick butter, plus more for buttering the pan

3/4 cup brown or white sugar

Pinch of salt

Pinch of cinnamon

1 cup flour

4 cups frozen wild blueberries

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt butter and stir in the sugar. Add the salt, cinnamon, and stir in the flour until the mixture is dry and crumbly. If it's not crumbly enough to pick up with your fingers add some more flour. Instead I added about 1/2 cup oats. It should be very dry. You could also add chopped toasted almonds or chopped walnuts.

Liberally butter an 8" cake pan. Pour in the blueberries. Sprinkle the topping over the berries and bake in a 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes, until topping is golden and the whole house smells so insanely delicious that everyone is standing next to the stove, waiting for the crisp to emerge. (Copied exactly from Ruth's recipe.)

Right from the oven!

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

We're back in Ireland so get ready for some Irish treats. Tonight I'm making salmon cakes. The salmon is from a sustainable farm right here in Galway. More about that next time. This is our 10th day in a row of sunny days with temps at 80 degrees or above. No rain. It's glorious.

HAPPY SUMMER!

Tune in again soon for another episode of:

www.cookwithcindy.com

Coming to you direct from Spiddal,

County Galway, Ireland