Birthday Blueberry Cobbler

Stella's regular Friday customer, June, who tends to order the soup of the day, no matter the weather, has a special request. "Stella, dear," she says, her aged but strong right arm leaning on the counter like she means business. "I'm going to be celebrating a milestone birthday this week."

"Are you? Well, isn't that wonderful," says Stella wishing she could ask June which particular milestone this birthday represents. "I hope you will be celebrating appropriately."

"That's where you come in, my dear," says June, her arm still resting on the counter and her head leaning in conspiratorily toward Stella's. "I want to have a little afternoon tea here with Harvey and some of our friends, and I want you to make us something special to have with our tea."

"Something special? Okay, how about a nice vanilla bean layer cake or maybe some tiramisu?"

"No, no, nothing fancy. What I would really like is an old lady dessert, nothing too rich."

"Oh, I see. Hmmm...oh, I know, the blueberries this year are wonderful. I could make you a nice cobbler and serve it with vanilla ice cream. I made one for the girls just the other day, and it was very nice. How does that sound?"

June suddenly jerks up to her full height and claps her hands together. "Fresh blueberry cobbler would be absolutely perfect!"

"Well, we do aim to please," says Stella. "When would you like to have your tea?

"Would this Friday be too soon? That is my actual birthday, and we would like to come in and have some nice sandwiches, too."

"I'm sure that can be arranged. Shall we reserve your usual table? For how many?"

"Yes, that would be wonderful. There should be six of us" says June. "Well, tra-la-la! Isn't that something to look forward to? Yes it is indeed."

Stella glances beyond June to the other waiting customers, then back at June. "Alright, June. We will see you on Friday afternoon then."

June turns around to face the lineup. "I'm sorry everyone, just planning my birthday celebration," she says loudly. "I'll leave quietly now like a polite old lady." She turns and waves to Stella. "Goodbye my dear. You are a gem, an absolute gem."

Stella, not batting an eyelash, looks enquiringly at the next couple, a pair in their twenties who have obviously perfected the look of stylish ennui, as they reach the counter. "Can I help you?"

*****

Fresh Blueberry Cobbler from The Joy of Cooking

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees farenheit. Have ready an unbuttered enameled cast-iron, earthenware, or glass baking pan of about 2-quart (2 litre) capacity and 2 inches deep. (A glass pie pan, a pottery dish such as the one pictured above, or a 12 inch gratin dish will all work well.)

Wash and drain well:
3 pints (six cups) blueberries

Combine and toss with the berries:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour or two Tbsps cornstarch
1 teaspoon grated lime zest (or a combo of lemon and lime zest)

Spread evenly in the baking dish. Prepare Sour Cream Cobbler Biscuit Dough:

Sour Cream Cobbler Biscuit Dough: 

1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour (or whatever combo suits you of whole wheat and all purpose flours, as long as it makes a total of 1 and 1/3 cup)
2 Tbsps sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Add:
5 Tbsps cold butter, cut into small pieces
Toss with the dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add:
1/2 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup milk or cream whisked together.
Mix with a fork only until the dough comes together and can be rolled or patted. Gently knead the dough 5-10 times if needed, turning and pressing any loose pieces into the dough. Dust the top and bottom of the dough with a little flour, then roll or pat the dough with your hands to the shape of the top of the baking dish, between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick. (You can also cut the dough into circles or other shapes and place on top of the berries. The finished product will resemble cobblestones, hence the name cobbler.) If leaving the dough whole, cut three small holes for steam vents. Place the dough on the fruit. Lightly brush the top with 1-2 Tbsps milk and dust with 1 Tbsp sugar. Bake the cobbler until the top is golden brown and the juices have thickened slightly, 45-50 minutes. It is a good idea to place a pan underneath the dish to catch any juices.
Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve with:
Softly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

Nana's Fresh, Almost No-bake Blueberry Pie

One of Stella's favourite past times is creating delicious food with seasonal ingredients. Creating seasonal food not only keeps the cafe menu interesting for the customers it also keeps cooking from getting monotonous. It is also a well known fact that fruit and veggies taste their best when they are freshly picked from a local farm or garden. Stella is lucky, for she has her employee Kevin sourcing the best local produce and even growing some of it in his own garden plot. This week he has found a source for beautiful plump organic blueberries and has brought in a ten pound box. Stella tries a few and remarks on their firmness and sweet juicy flavour which has a slight tartness - perfect. Suddenly she is transported back in time to her own mother's kitchen. She remembers the first heavenly bite of her mother's first fresh blueberry pie of the season, and decides she must make that pie for the cafe.

An email requesting the recipe is dispatched post-haste to Stella's mother, whom they all call Nana, and she responds within the hour - another lucky break for Stella. Nana is always happy to share a recipe as long as she gets some credit in the cafe. Stella and Savannah make the pies in the afternoon, while Kevin serves the customers, and let them chill in the fridge overnight. The next day Savannah draws an appealing picture on the cafe's chalkboard menu and writes in her well practiced script: 'Nana's Fresh Blueberry Pie: a graham cracker crust topped with a thin layer of lemon-infused whipped cream cheese, heaped with blueberries and topped with a sweet blueberry sauce. Whipped cream is optional. Delectable!'

After the lunch rush is over and most of the highly praised pie is gone, the cafe staff take a break. Stella pulls out a pie she'd been keeping in the back of the fridge, gives them each a generous slice topped with cream, and saves two pieces for her girls, Kendra and Zoe, who are at a summer theater day camp. She makes everyone their favourite drinks and then sits down at the staff table with them. 'You worked hard today. You work hard everyday. Thank you!' Words are then said to the effect that Stella is the best boss in the world, but she quickly brushes those aside. 'Oh, just eat your pie,' she says with a laugh, blushing to the roots of her red hair, 'and don't forget to credit Nana.'

Stella is happy to share her mother's recipe with you. A friend of hers has also made it with wild mountain purple huckleberries and it was even better. Another friend tried it with blackberries and it was also quite wonderful.

Nana's Fresh, Almost No-bake Blueberry Pie

1) Graham cracker crust
Mix together and press into the bottom and sides of a pie dish:

1 and 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (either bought already crushed or made from rolling a rolling pin over enough graham crackers to make the correct amount of crumbs)
3 tsp sugar
1/3 cup melted butter

Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees Farenheit, and let cool completely

2) Cream cheese layer
4 oz (1/2 cup) softened cream cheese
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Beat together until fluffy, place in a piping bag or frosting bottle with easy flowing tip, and pipe into crust, distributing the mixture evenly on the pie crust

3) Berry sauce
Take 1 cup berries, add 1/3 cup water, and simmer together for three minutes.
Blend 1/2 cup sugar and 2 Tbsps cornstarch and add 3 Tbsps water. Add to cooked berries and thicken to a good sauce-like consistency (not too thin and watery, but not too thick or jelly-like).

Put 3 cups fresh blueberries on whipped cream cheese layer. Cover with an even layer of cooked berry sauce - spread to distribute.

Chill pie for two to three hours or overnight. The sauce will gel around the fresh berries and make it easy to slice. Slice and serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

Enjoy! (We do.)

Blueberry cleaning tip: before making the pie, measure four cups of berries. Place them in a sink filled with a few inches of cold water. Pick up handfuls of berries and discard any rotten ones, pick off the stems and place berries in a colander to drain.

Writing by Rebecca, Photography by Emma