In season? Early August through to late September.
Buy? Size isn’t everything when it comes to blueberries – often it is the smaller ones that are the most delicious. Look for plump, firm berries with no trace of red. If you’re buying in a container, avoid batches where there are signs of “leaking” when you look underneath.
Store?
Blueberries store quite well. As long as you remove any suspect ones before storing, they should keep for between one and two weeks
Freeze?
Blueberries freeze well. Avoid washing them first – simply lay them in a single layer on a baking tray in the freezer. Once frozen, you can transfer them to a freezer bag or tub. The time to wash them is once you’re ready to use them. And it’s best to add them to your cooking whilst still frozen, to prevent mooshing and too much colour leakage
Cook?
Oh you bet! Think muffins, pancakes, jellys, jams and sauces. Of course, they are also perfect eaten raw as a snack, as a dessert topping, in savoury dishes (see the recipe on the next page for blueberry salsa) or “bathed in cream” as Sylvia Plath once wrote…
Blueberries are very rich in colour, and this colour leaches quickly into warm food when they’re added, so if you’re baking, and you prefer not to have grey-blue coloured cake, it’s best to fold the berries in at the last minute. This is true whether you are using fresh or frozen berries.
As my friend Stina wrote to me the day she went blueberry picking in the forest near her home in Sweden:
“Tomorrow we are making blueberry porridge! That’s something which looks pretty nasty but tastes very good.”
I guess they put the berries in at the beginning!
About Blueberries...
Blueberries are pretty much the ultimate superfood. Rich in fibre, calcium, Vitamins A and C, they are thought be excellent for eyesight, reducing cholesterol, preventing and combating infection. They are low in calories, and contain more of those famous antioxidants than most other fruit and vegetables. Specifically, blueberries contain anthocyanidins, which eliminate damage done to our cells by so-called free radicals. Free radical cell damage is linked to cataracts, glaucoma, varicose veins, haemorrhoids, peptic ulcers, heart disease and cancer.
Blueberries grow best in acidic, sandy soils, and most of the blueberry producers in the UK are to be found coastally, in Dorset, Norfolk and Suffolk. So if you live in one of these areas (you lucky devils!), you are most likely to be finding blueberries arriving in your organic fruit orders.
Little Known Blueberry Facts...
Historical records suggest that the Native American Indians gave blueberries to the first settlers, helping them through their first winter in a new land.
In turn, the colonists learned how to use blueberries combined with milk to make paint that is the signature colour of “shaker” kitchens!
The white waxy sheen or “bloom” on the surface of blueberries helps protect the berry.
Beware using blueberries in recipes that contain a lot of baking soda – your food may end up looking unexpectedly green!
Blueberry Recipes...Check out our new recipe for
Blueberry Salsa and how could we miss the chance to publish a recipe for
Blueberry muffins?!
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www.VegBox-Recipes.co.uk - Simply delicious recipes for seasonal food