recipe lab: imagine...a blueberry.

Imagine...a blueberry.
Now....imagine it some more.
I never did like you.

-Terrill Soules.


File this post under work-in-progress. Aren't they all. Had one of my infrequent duck-eating experiences last night. The preparation was simple (briefly saute 1 cm-thick duck breast slices in a very hot pan to get some browning; add chicken or ideally duck stock, a couple splashes red wine vinegar, and a little cassis; reduce for 10 minutes or so, add chopped mint and whole blueberries, I believe), while the results were nearly amazing, definitely in a way that other birds never are for me. But I don't really want to start eating duck, do I? My little duck friends at the park would look at me differently, and they way they currently look at me is so cute that I don't think I'm ready to change our relationship. So I thought maybe I'd consider a non-duck version of a savory blueberry dish. By the way, here's a nice Slate article on the magic of a warm blueberry.

After poking about on Epicurious and Foodtv for non-dessert blueberry recipes, I entered all of the ingredient lists into the massively malfunctioning computer that is my brain, and threw out the obvious bonehead plays. While it's nothing at all like last night's duck (couldn't really find a featured player), here's one possible outcome. This might be hard to fully recreate since I can't remember if you can readily find ginger syrup in America. I imagine not, but reg'l'r ol' sugar'll do right fine.

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field greens with green apple, gingered almonds, feta, and blueberries.

two big healthy handfuls of young leafy greens
1/2 to 1 granny smith apple, chopped
1/2 to 1 red onion, thinly sliced
up to a cup of blanched almonds, lightly toasted and salted
you could also sub pecans for some or all of the almonds
1 to 2 tbsp ginger syrup (gemberstroop), or some darker sugar (palm, cane, etc.)

3/4 cup mild feta, chopped in 1cm cubes
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

1/8 cup walnut oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/8 cup maple syrup

1 to 2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped fine
salt and pepper

Put the greens in a bowl. Toss with the onion and apple. Take the feta cubes and roll them in the thyme leaves to sparsley coat. You can also buy feta that already comes this way, that might be smarter/easier but the pre-herbed stuff always seems harsher. Add the feta to the bowl with the greens.

Make dressing: whisk together the walnut oil, vinegar, and maple syrup. Set aside.

Heat a dry saute pan on medium-low. Add the almonds/pecans and the ginger syrup or sugar, stirring constantly until the syrup or sugar dissolves and the nuts are caramelized and lightly crunchy. Add the nuts to the salad bowl. Sprinkle mint on top. Mix everything around a little and add dressing. Serves 2-4.

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This could also have gone the direction of a blueberry chutney (onions, thyme, balsamic, pecans, maple syrup) over a nice soft goat cheese and greens. Which is still a salad, really, isn't it. A bacon-eating person could probably add a little chipotle and a little bacon to this, replace the balsamic with cider vinegar, and have them a real nice carnivorous moment.