Fresh & Local: Top it with huckleberry

Nothing can beat simple huckleberry pie with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, but these recipes are delicious additions to any collection.

The first is a recipe that appeared in Pacific Northwest Magazine. I discovered it last year while searching for a huckleberry topping for ice cream or cheesecake.

The second recipe for huckleberry ice cream appeared in the Second Harvest Food Bank’s “Our Cookbook” released last year. The book contains recipes from the annual Taking a Bite Out of Hunger fundraiser.

It was shared with them by the gurus at Mary Lou’s Ice Cream.

Huckleberry Compote

This recipe first appeared in the Recipe from Scott Staples, chef/owner at Restaurant Zoë, Pacific Northwest Magazine, 2001. I serve it over New York-Style Cheesecake.

1 cup port wine

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon orange zest

1 pound huckleberries, rinsed and stemmed

Dash freshly ground black pepper

Combine the port, lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and maintain a high simmer until the mixture has the consistency of syrup.

Add the zests, berries and pepper to the saucepan and gently stir to mix well. Remove from heat and let cool. Serve over cheesecake, pound cake or ice cream.

Yield: 8 servings

Approximate nutrition per 3-ounce serving: 125 calories, less than 1 gram fat (1 percent fat calories), .5 grams protein, 24 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, 1.5 grams dietary fiber, 6 milligrams sodium.

Huckleberry Ice Cream

From Mary Lou’s Ice Cream. Printed in “Our Cookbook,” from the Second Harvest Food Bank

For the ice cream:

5 cups huckleberries

6 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons water

1 1/4 cups whipping cream

For the topping:

4 cups huckleberries

1 cup water

1 box pectin

5 1/2 cups sugar

To make the ice cream: Put the huckleberries in a pan. Add the water and sugar. Cover and simmer 5 minutes, until just soft.

Transfer the fruit to a colander placed over a bowl and press it through the holes using a wooden spoon. Let cool, then chill.

Whip the cream by hand until it is thick but still soft enough to fall from a spoon.

Mix the whipped cream with the chilled fruit puree.

Pour into a plastic or other freezer-safe container. Freeze two hours.

To make the topping: Pour huckleberries into a large pan. Add the water and bring to a simmer.

Slowly stir the pectin into the simmering water and berries. Slowly add the sugar and continue to stir until it reaches a boil.

Boil for 1 minute and remove from the heat. Let cool, then pour into a large plastic bowl and chill.

Scoop ice cream into dishes and decorate with topping and extra huckleberries. Store leftover topping in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer.

Yield: 6 servings ice cream

Approximate nutrition per serving, with 2 tablespoons topping: 475 calories, 16 grams fat (9.6 grams saturated, 29 percent fat calories), 2 grams protein, 31 grams carbohydrate, 55 milligrams cholesterol, 4 grams dietary fiber, 27 milligrams sodium.