blissful eats with Tina Jeffers: Pickled Blueberries

As you all know by now Mrs. French is picking up and moving to Bend Oregon, so I hosted a little party to wish her well on her new adventure.  She’s become such a good friend in such a short time and I’m going to miss her and the family terribly.  One of the benefits of the party was that some of the guests brought me the most beautiful flowers and since I was leaving town I decided to photograph them and I thought I might share some of them with you.  I love getting flowers but it makes me a little sad since they fade so quickly, that’s one of the benefits to photography, you can preserve those moments and events that are special to you and revisit them whenever you want.

Mrs. French brought me these, aren’t they pretty? 

And the loveliest flowers of all, Mrs. French and  Little Lu!

Sometimes when it’s beautiful outside I don’t feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen and that’s where the tartine comes in.  Basically, it’s a slice of bread with some sort of spread.  I like to experiment with different flavor combinations and when I came across this recipe from Saveur for pickled blueberries, I was intrigued.  I do love the salty, sweet, sour bite of a good pickle, but a blueberry?  They are tart and sweet at the same time and I loved this little sandwich, rich creamy brie, pickled blueberries crunchy pistachios and fragrant basil all combined to make the perfect lunch.  There really isn’t much of a recipe, toast some nice crusty bread, spread it with brie or creamy goat cheese and top with some blueberries, pistachios and basil. 

Wondering what else to do with these guys?  They are great on a salad tossed with a little lemon and olive oil, you can spoon some onto yogurt for breakfast or better yet, take all the same ingredients and toss it with some quinoa or couscous for a more substantial lunch.   Enjoy!

Pickled Blueberries

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup white balsamic vinegar
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 ¾ tablespoons kosher salt
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 3 cloves
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 pint blueberries

 

Method:

Combine all the ingredients, except for the blueberries in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar and salt are dissolved.  Let cool to room temperature then add the berries, cover with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate overnight before using.

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