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Blueberries are starting to gain in popularity

Freshly picked blueberries can stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Not everyone has to be a huckleberry hound.

Some area foragers might consider it disrespectful to talk about anything else at this time of year, but here goes: There’s another berry ripening in the Inland Northwest – blueberries.

Families who don’t have their own secret forest patch of huckleberries – and even those who do – might want to consider an outing to pick some of the blueberry crop ripening at area farms.

At Riley Creek Blueberry Farm in Laclede, Idaho, the berries are ready now and will continue to ripen through the beginning of September, says owner Stan Urmann.

The family farm has been in business for 18 years and harvests some 40,000 pounds of blueberries, half of which go to local stores. The other half are available to pick or pick up at the farm, 13 miles west of Sandpoint on Highway 2.

“I think for a long time there was a misconception that a blueberry just wouldn’t grow here … and for a long time blueberries just weren’t a popular food item,” Urmann says.

When his family first planted bushes, the berries were largely a seasonal crop and came from the Midwest and Oregon Coast.

According to cookbook author Janie Hibler in “The Berry Bible,” the blueberry industry was born in the early 1900s, when commercial cranberry farmer Elizabeth White and USDA researcher Dr. Frederick Coville began working together to collect to best wild highbush blueberry plants in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

The best bushes were planted and used for crossbreeding and propagation to encourage the best flavor, size, color and hardiness. White later began a nursery that supplied blueberry bushes to farmers in southern New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon and Washington, according to the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council.

About a decade ago researchers began to publish reports about the high levels of antioxidants and potential health benefits from blueberries and other fruit. That’s when the limited market began to grow.

Now berries are flowing into markets year-round from Southern California, Florida and as far away as Chile when this area is cold and snowy.

Blueberry bushes do well around here, Urmann says, with a little attention to watering, pruning and soil amendments. He’s selling blueberry bushes to gardeners and others who want to try their hand at a harvest of their own.

Urmann warns buyers that it’s a long-term project that won’t bring many immediate rewards. It takes the bushes eight to 10 years to become mature enough to produce a decent crop of berries.

Of course, he’s biased, but Urmann says he has noticed that customers are more educated about the nutritional charms of blueberries. Many like to buy their berries closer to home, believing, like he does, that the local berries taste better than the insipid orbs shipped from the southern hemisphere and that locally grown foods are better for them.

Local berries have another advantage, he says. Freshly picked berries can stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

“Unfortunately, when you buy them at the store, they can already be 10 days old,” he says.

Despite the huckleberry fever in these parts, Urmann says he’s won over a few people over the years.

“When we first started out here almost 20 years ago, people would say, ‘Sorry, I’m a huckleberry guy,’ ” he says. “But people have realized that you can be both, you don’t have to choose.”

Best Blueberry Muffins

From Cook’s Illustrated magazine, May 2009. My husband made these incredible blueberry muffins for Mother’s Day brunch a few years ago. I’m sure he made something else that day, but I can’t remember anything but these delectable muffins. If buttermilk is unavailable, Cook’s Illustrated editors suggest substituting 3/4 cup plain whole-milk or low-fat yogurt thinned with 1/4 cup milk.

For the lemon-sugar topping:

1/3 cup sugar (2 1/3 ounces)

1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated zest from 1 lemon

For the muffins:

2 cups fresh blueberries (about 10 ounces), picked over

1 1/8 cups sugar (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon

2 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces)

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt

2 large eggs

4 tablespoons ( 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk (see note above)

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

For the topping: Stir together sugar and lemon zest in small bowl until combined; set aside.

For the muffins: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.

Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined.

Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining 1 cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not over mix.)

Use ice cream scoop or large spoon to divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon a teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins.

Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

Yield: 12 muffins

Blueberry Braised Short Ribs with Blue Cheese Polenta Cake

From “Sip, Swirl and Savor: Northwest Wine and Small Plate Pairings” by Carol Frieberg with Andy Perdue, editor-in-chief of Wine Press Northwest magazine. The recipe comes from The Victoria Rd Deli and Bistro, in Summerland, B.C. The authors recommend cooking and pairing the recipe with The Legacy, a blend of merlot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and malbec aged in French oak made by Poplar Grove Winery of Penticton, B.C. They also recommend Poplar Grove Tiger Blue Cheese, if you can find it.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1 medium sweet white onion, thinly sliced

1 cup beef stock

1 cup dry red wine

1 generous tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or ½ tablespoon dried crushed thyme leaves

1 generous tablespoon chopped fresh sage or ½ tablespoon dried crushed sage leaves

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1 pound beef short ribs

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the Blue Cheese Polenta Cake:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 small shallots, finely chopped

1 cup cornmeal

1 ¼ cups chicken stock

4 ounces (1 cup) crumbled blue cheese

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the short ribs: Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook the garlic for 1 or 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the onions and caramelize, stirring until translucent and slightly golden, about 5 minutes. Pour the beef stock and wine and add the thyme, sage and blueberries.

Season the short ribs with the salt and pepper and place them in a slow cooker. Pour the onion mixture over the ribs. Cover and cook on low heat for 8 hours, or until the short ribs are tender.

For the Blue Cheese Polenta Cake: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Spray four 4-inch ramekins with cooking spray. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Add the garlic and shallot and cook until translucent, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the cornmeal and chicken stock, stirring constantly until fairly firm (the mixture will pull away from the pan), 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the blue cheese until combined, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spoon the polenta into the ramekins. Place them in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until slightly crisp. Let cool slightly before serving.

To serve, unmold the Blue Cheese Polenta Cakes in the center of a small plate. Cut the short ribs into four pieces. Place the short ribs on top of the polenta cake. Drizzle a spoonful of the juice from the slow cooker over the ribs. If desired, garnish with crumbled blue cheese and a sprig of sage.

Yield: 4 small plate servings

From “Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving,” (Robert Rose, 2006)

4 cups blueberries

4 cups white wine vinegar, divided use

1 cup loosely packed basil leaves, crushed (see note)

Grated zest of 1 lemon

In a large glass bowl, combine blueberries and 1 cup of the vinegar. Using a potato masher, lightly crush blueberries. Add remaining 3 cups vinegar, crushed basil leaves and lemon zest, stirring to combine.

Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let stand in a dark, cool place (70 to 75 degrees) for up to 4 weeks, stirring every 2 to 3 days. Taste weekly until desired strength is achieved.

Prepare canner, jars and lids. Line a strainer with several layers of cheesecloth and place over a large stainless steel saucepan. Strain vinegar without squeezing cheesecloth. Discard cheesecloth and residue. Place saucepan over medium heat and heat vinegar to 180 degrees.

Ladle hot vinegar into hot jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

Place the jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water by 1 to 2 inches. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes at sea level, adjusting for altitude (increase processing time 5 minutes for each 1,000 feet of elevation above sea level). Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

Variation: If you wish to keep fresh blueberries in the vinegar, add ¼ cup fresh blueberries to the mixture before ladling into jars.

Yield: About 10 (4-ounce) jars or 5 (8-ounce) jars

Adapted from Deborah Madison’s “Seasonal Fruit Desserts.” Madison writes, “Living as I do, far from wild blueberry territory, I’m thrilled to have discovered frozen wild blueberries – tiny dark blue spheres, not very sweet, but with that wild flavor. Since there aren’t quite enough in the package to make a tart, I mix them with fresh cultivated blueberries and end up with a pretty jumble of big and little berries.”

The truth is, I’m slipping this one in because I can’t wait to try it with a combination of blueberries and huckleberries.

For the tart shell:

7/8 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons whole-wheat pastry flour

3 tablespoons maple sugar or brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks

1 tablespoon ice water

For the berries:

4 cups wild blueberries or huckleberries, or a mixture of wild and cultivated berries, or one 12-ounce package frozen wild blueberries and 2 cups fresh berries

1/3 cup maple sugar or light brown sugar

4 teaspoons quick-cooking tapioca or arrowroot

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

For the glaze:

Reserved juice from frozen berries, if you used frozen

2 tablespoons organic sugar

2 teaspoons Kirsch

If using frozen wild blueberries, remove them from the package and let them thaw in a strainer set over a bowl while you make and partially bake the tart shell.

To make the tart shell: Put the flours, sugar and salt in a food processor; pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is broken up into pieces the size of baby peas. Drizzle in the water and pulse just until large, moist-looking crumbs have formed.

Gather the crumbs together into a mass. They should stick together. If there is any dry flour left in the bowl, add a few more drops of water to bring it together as well, then add it to the rest of the dough. Shape the dough into a disk about an inch thick. If rolling the dough, refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

If patting the dough into the pan, put it in the center of your pan and then start pressing it out using the heel of your hand. When you get to the edge, begin building the dough up the sides. The walls should be about 1/4 inch thick.

It will probably take some going over the dough to get it evenly distributed, but don’t worry, it won’t toughen. Remove the dough that rises over the rim with your fingers and use it to patch another part of the tart that looks thin. Use a finger to make a slightly shallow impression at the base of the rim so that when the dough slides down during baking it won’t end up too thick at that point. Refrigerate the tart until ready to bake.

If you’ve chosen to roll the dough, remove it from refrigerator, lightly flour your rolling surface (a pastry cloth is great here) and roll dough into a 10-inch round. Ease it into a 9-inch tart pan without stretching it. Fold and then press any excess dough to form the sides about 1/4 inch thick.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and set the pastry-lined tart pan on a sheet pan. Line the tart with foil and fill it with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, then carefully pull the foil away from the dough. If the dough sticks, return the shell to the oven for a few more minutes, or until the foil comes away with ease.

Once you’ve removed the foil and the weights, return the empty shell to the oven and continue to bake until the crust is clearly set and pale gold, 10 to 15 minutes longer.

Toss the berries with the sugar, tapioca and spices, add the lemon juice and let stand for at least 15 minutes.

Fill the partially baked tart shell with the berries and bake in the center of the oven until the fruit has begun to release its juices, about 35 minutes. Remove and let the tart cool nearly to room temperature before cutting so the filling has a chance to set.

To make the glaze, simmer the juice – there should be about 2/3 cup – with the 2 tablespoons sugar until it has reduced by half or up to about 1/3 cup. Add the Kirsch. Then brush or drizzle it over the tart. If you used all fresh berries, sprinkle the Kirsch over the finished tart.

Yield: 1 (9-inch) tart, about 8 servings