The CookingBites recipe challenge: berries

[caseydog]

Blackberries and black raspberries grow wild around three sides of our property. I’m always trying to mow them down, MrsT is always trying to eat them!

The short time I lived in Cincinnati, my friends and I ate a lot of blackberries from bushes near the lake in our backyard.

Wow, it has a name, now. It didn't when we lived there. It would freeze solid in the winter, and we would ice skate on it. Who knows if it still freezes enough to safely skate on.

The blackberries were mostly on the West end (widest end). We lived where the red X is.

CD

 

[JAS_OH1]

The short time I lived in Cincinnati, my friends and I ate a lot of blackberries from bushes near the lake in our backyard.

Wow, it has a name, now. It didn't when we lived there. It would freeze solid in the winter, and we would ice skate on it. Who knows if it still freezes enough to safely skate on.

CD

I am betting at least for a few weeks, yes. We have deeper fingerlakes nearby here, not just ponds, and they freeze enough nearly every winter for people to go ice fishing, so I think a pond would freeze solid at some point for a good bit. But then again, I am considerably further north than Cinci. TastyReuben would know.

 

[Morning Glory]

There´s a HUGE park in Maidstone, called Mote Park. As I wandered around the other day, I couldn´t help but notice hundreds, and thousands of blackberry brambles. They grow wild, all over the place, so I did a bit of foraging and picked a couple of kilos in about 10 minutes. "Why don´t people pick them?" I thought - but they don´t. Perhaps the old instinct of foraging for free fruit has died off.
Not for me, though.

Blackberry and Apple Jelly​

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And of course I know Mote park well! Yes - the blackberries are everywhere in Maidstone and I'm picking them too. They are really early - its usually end of August/September.

 

[karadekoolaid]

Which bears the question: are they legal to harvest in the park where @karadekoolaid was picking?

Public park, public ownership, public treasure. And anyway, do you think I´m going to get a cop coming round to my house asking me if I´ve got any "stolen" wild blackberries?

 

[TastyReuben]

Public park, public ownership, public treasure. And anyway, do you think I´m going to get a cop coming round to my house asking me if I´ve got any "stolen" wild blackberries?

“Did you nick some blackberries from Mote Park?”
“Honest sir, no I did not!”
“Let me see your fingers……cuff ‘im!”

 

[JAS_OH1]

Public park, public ownership, public treasure. And anyway, do you think I´m going to get a cop coming round to my house asking me if I´ve got any "stolen" wild blackberries?

Well it'd be really funny if you offered him the opportunity to inspect the roughage for evidence if he wanted.

 

[Yorky]

Just so you know, I am allowing until midnight my time, just in case there are some other entries hiding out there.

Actually, after this is over, I would like to propose future deadlines be midnight for whomever hosts the challenge. This would then require posting the time zone, so there is no confusion. Really, it’s much clearer for the person doing the judging to cut it off at midnight where they are.

Not for me it wouldn't. Unless it's a Formula 1 weekend, I've been in bed 4 hours by midnight!

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

I am now looking over the entries, and I hope to render a verdict no later than Tuesday. I might have been able to get things together today, but I am getting three wisdom teeth pulled in a few hours, and I don't expect to be smart enough to pick a winner afterward.

 

[TastyReuben]

I am now looking over the entries, and I hope to render a verdict no later than Tuesday. I might have been able to get things together today, but I am getting three wisdom teeth pulled in a few hours, and I don't expect to be smart enough to pick a winner afterward.

Good luck with the teeth!

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Good luck with the teeth!

Thank you...I think I will enjoy something like your sherbet or Morning Glory's gelato to soothe my gums.

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

In fact, the challenge used to end at midday which is perhaps clearer. Then it got accidentally changed to midnight so we thought we would stick with it to see if it suited people better. Do you want to stick with 'close of day UK time' Sunday?

While it may not apply here, since the challenge is over, I like the idea of going back to noon for the deadline...there's less confusion about what midnight means (I think it's the first minute of the day, while some think it's the last minute of the day).

 

[TastyReuben]

While it may not apply here, since the challenge is over, I like the idea of going back to noon for the deadline...there's less confusion about what midnight means (I think it's the first minute of the day, while some think it's the last minute of the day).

I would agree with that.

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Pencils down, everyone.

Here are the recipes up for consideration. Please let me know if I've missed one. As with the past few challenges, I will be announcing Awards for certain dishes, leading up to the winner. Despite what seemed like sparse participation, we still got double-digit entries:

• Strawberry Coulis - karadekoolaid
• Blackberry and Apple Jelly - karadekoolaid
• Strawberry muffins - Herbaceous
• Crispy Skin Duck with a Berries And Chocolate Sauce - murphyscreek
• Flourless Banana Pancakes & Maple-Berry Syrup - TastyReuben
• Pan-seared chicken with berry-balsamic salsa - TastyReuben
• Strawberry-Banana-Pistachio Frozen Dessert - TastyReuben
• Spicy raspberry chicken wings - Morning Glory
• Sherry berry gelato - Morning Glory
• Goat's cheese, beetroot, blackberries, physalis - Morning Glory

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

And now, the runner-up awards

The Picasso Award
awarded to the most prolific "food artist"

This time, we had two cooks submit 3 recipes each. I expect the two of you to manage activities related to this award fairly (ribbon cutting ceremonies, chat show appearances, etc.):

• Morning Glory
• TastyReuben

The Beyoncé Award
awarded to the most beautiful dish

There weren't many entries, but we still got sufficient participation for some good looking recipes. Still, it came down to a presentation that could be printed, framed, and hung on my wall:

• Goat's cheese, beetroot, blackberries, physalis - Morning Glory

The Usain Bolt Award
awarded to the first one to post a recipe

• Strawberry Coulis - karadekoolaid posted this "practical solution" 2 days after the contest started.

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

And now, the winner.

I was half-joking that this challenge is more about quality than quantity, more as a reaction to the number of entries than anything else. But, there really were some excellent recipes submitted. What impresses me most in any recipe challenge is when an ingredient is used in a new way. That sort of thing does more than just give you a new recipe....it also gives you a tool to use in the future in similar preparations.

That's why I picked murphyscreek's Crispy Skin Duck with a Berries And Chocolate Sauce. It's a beautiful preparation, to be sure, but it's more than that:

• Bitter chocolate was blended into the blackberry/raspberry sauce. This wasn't a wacky sweet thing layered into a savory dish. Instead, it's an element of richness and depth added to the overall experience.
• Starting the cook with a cold pan allows a more gradual rendering of the fat
• Also, extra credit for preparing the sauce in the same pan as the duck. I see a lot of recipes that would have you use 5 separate clean pans for 5 separate elements in a dish. Besides filling your dishwasher, you miss out on all the wonderful flavors you've developed in the pan.