Crepes with Blueberry Sauce

Couple weeks ago, we went to Pontius Farm to pick blueberries. (Hurry! Their final season of U-Pick is coming tragically close to an end) I am embarrassed to say the blueberries languished in our fridge in for almost 2 weeks. When I took them out, they were as perfect, fresh and sweet-tart as the day we plucked them.
    
                                                      
                                                        2 lbs berries for $4? Criminal, right?


My husband pleaded for crepes, so I made crepes with blueberry sauce and vanilla ice cream. Because the berries were delightful, I wanted to avoid a complex recipe, let the berries showcase themselves. I found this recipe on Joy of Baking , recipe by Stephanie Jaworski with modifications by me:

Blueberry Sauce:

• 3/4 C sugar (I used turbinado--it's what I had. I also used 1/2 of the sugar recommended in the recipe)
• Scant Tbs cornstarch
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 C water
• 2 lbs blueberries
• 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 1 lemon

1. Place sugar, conrstarch, salt, & water in a saucepan; stir with a fork until smooth;
2. Add the blueberries & cook over medium heat. Stir frequently--sauce will thicken and some berries will burst. Be careful--berries may spill over and make a sticky mess, decrease the heat if needed.
3. Add vanilla, lemon, lemon zest. Without burning your tongue (hardest part of the recipe) sample and add additional sugar, lemon, zest or vanilla if needed.



Sauce can be used immediately or refrigerated. Sauce will continue to thicken, more so if refrigerated. 

                                       A cauldron of blueberries...Amazed at the color change




Crepes
This recipe comes from Marion Cunningham's The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. I do not have a crepe pan, I use a Le Creuset cast-iron skillet. I struggle to get my crepes to be nice and circular--let me know your secrets to round crepes!

• 2 eggs
• 1 C milk (I use whole--let's not kid ourselves)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1C flour
• 2 Tbs melted butter

1. Beat the eggs well, then add milk, salt, flour  & butter. Let stand 30 mins. Don't worry if the batter is a bit lumpy--the lumps will smooth out when you cook the crepes.
2. Melt some additional butter in the crepe pan on medium-high heat. When butter is foamy, but not browned, add a small ladle of batter or 2 and swirl around in a pan. 
3. Cook for a minute or 2, so the underside is a bit browned--top should still look raw--and flip over. Cook for another minute or 2. 


Repeat til the batter is gone. If you don't feel like making all the crepes at once, the batter stays fresh for 2-3 days in the fridge. Usually, with me the 1st crepe is a loss--make your dog happy with that one. Frequently, I need the lower the heat partway through the cooking process. As your working, keep crepes in a low temp oven or warming drawer before serving. 


Spoon some of the blueberry sauce in the crepe, fold over. Add additional sauce, a sprinkle of powdered sugar, and a small scoop of ice cream. 

                                                   
   You can tell I'm new at this blog thing, especially with photography--the crepe looks green and you can see the chip on the plate. Oops.


Verdict? The blueberry sauce caused the fresh blueberries to loose their impact. The sauce, while tasty, imparted a vague vegetable flavor. If I make the sauce again, I think I'd make a ginger-blueberry flavor, mixed berry, or replace the lemon/lemon zest with orange. I've got a lot of leftover sauce, so I'll keep brainstorming what to do with the remainder.