I made several quick breads last week and my new favorite one is blueberry cobbler bread. It was a great use of last spring’s frozen berries and was the fruitiest of the three I made — strawberry and banana being the others. I’ve become a big fan of quick breads because … they are quick! And since I’m also a big fan of freezing market bounty at its freshest, this is a great use of previously pureed and frozen fruit.
I’m sure you all have your favorite banana bread recipe, but let me tell you what I recently learned. If you roast the bananas at low (250 F.) heat for 15 to 25 minutes, you’ll get more banana bang for your banana buck. It really brings out the sweetness and flavor. You want the skins to get black. The recipe is below for the blueberry bread.
Labor Day weekend was planned around simple food for four of us. Slow-baked ribs in the oven finished under the broiler for a crust. I served the ribs with barbecued Gulf shrimp. It’s so easy, just roast on high heat or prepare in an iron skillet with butter, Worcestershire, lemon and a few other things. You could add a little of your favorite barbecue sauce for sweetness if you like. A loaf of crusty bread and a simple salad with lemon and olive oil finished out the meal. Because it was the lake, dessert was mini Blue Bunny ice cream cones.
Hope your weekend was fun and filled with family and love.
BLUEBERRY COBBLER BREAD
Makes 1 loaf
2 cups flour
1 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberry puree (about 3 cups blueberries, blended) plus 1 cup blueberries reserved
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
For the crumble topping:
1/4 cup cold butter, cubed
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
· Preheat oven to 350 F.
· Spray a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Line pan with a strip of parchment the width of the pan and long enough to hang over the sides a bit. Spray parchment with cooking spray.
n·Combine first 5 ingredients in a stand mixer and stir until mixed together evenly.
· In a medium sized bowl, combine blueberry puree, melted butter, eggs and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
· Pour blueberry mixture into the dry mixture and mix on low until batter forms, scraping sides as necessary. Batter will be purple. Pour batter into prepared pan.
· For crumble, mix all ingredients with a pastry cutter, fork or your fingertips. Sprinkle this over the top of your batter and scatter reserved blueberries on top.
· Bake 50-60 minutes until center is done. Allow to cool 15 minutes, then remove from pan to cool completely.
BARBECUED SHRIMP
Makes 4 appetizers or 2 entrees
16 jumbo shrimp (12 per pound, about 1 1/2 pounds), with heads and unpeeled (large works as well, and I take the heads off before freezing so mine are headless)
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
2 teaspoons Creole seasoning
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cubed
French bread as accompaniment
· In a large skillet combine shrimp, Worcestershire, lemon juice, black peppers, Creole seasoning and garlic and cook over moderately high heat until shrimp turn pink, about 1 minute on each side.
· Reduce heat to moderate and stir in butter, a few cubes at a time, stirring constantly and adding more only when butter is melted. Remove skillet from heat. Place shrimp in a bowl and pour sauce over top. Serve with French bread for dipping.
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