Fore Street's Blueberry Crisp & A Giveaway
Ok. We've got a lot to talk about today, cupcakes, so settle down and pay close attention.
First of all, if you consider yourself a foodie and you have never been to Portland, Maine, then you should be very, very sad. Yes, sad! Because outside of New York City, Portland, Maine has more restaurants per capita than any other city in the United States! Seriously. Can you believe it? We couldn't believe it either.
But, then we went there and we were all "where did all these restaurants come from? why are they all amazing? and more importantly, why are they all crowded? who knew there were so many people in Maine?"
Really. Go to there. Now. Especially when it's warmer outside. Because it gets COLD in Maine, in case you hadn't heard.
But, seriously, folks. Portland has the most incredible collection of restaurants we have seen in a looooong time. Each one is better than the last! They all typically focus on farm-to-table cuisine or fresh-from-the-ocean seafood that results in creative dishes that are fresh, fresh, fresh.
Our favorites as of today are Duckfat (I mean, really, how could you not like a place with a name like that), Bresca (super mini and amazing), Five Fifty-Five (in an old fire house, get the grilled cesar salad) and Bar Lola.
Of course there is also Street & Co for fish, Standard Baking Company for everything baked, Hugo's and the Grill Room which will prolly all be our favorites tomorrow.
But, our favorite restaurant in Portland as of always is most certainly Fore Street. Like favorite as in top 5 restaurant meal experiences every time we go. The ambience is so perfectly Maine-y and the food is to-die-for and the desserts will blow you away. And we are tough dessert critics. Well, we're just tough critics period but you get the idea.
Now, very unfortunately, Fore Street doesn't have a cookbook for the home chef (WHY WHY WHY, Fore Street, please get on that) but we've uncovered a little Blueberry Crisp recipe from the blueberry capital of the country and the best restaurant in Maine (as of today). Make it.
Aaaaaaannnd, speaking of cookbooks, since you all have been such troopers this month with all our restaurant recipes, we're giving away not one, but TWO restaurant cookbooks!! YAY!! Giveaway!!!
Specifically, we're giving away Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc cookbook and Sam Beall's Blackberry Farm cookbook (featured here by yours' truly). We know. We're awesome. You love us.
So here's how you get to enter; (1) leave a comment below with your favorite restaurant or restaurant recipe (2) follow us on Twitter and let us know that too (3) link to us from your own lovely blog. Enter as many times as you like!
TWO winners will be picked at random and announced in Monday's final restaurant post. You have until 11:59pm EDT on Saturday, May 28th to enter.
Fore Street's Blueberry Crisp
Serves 8-10
Adapted from Epicurious
4 pints fresh blueberries (about 8 cups)
3/4 cup plus 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
6 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for serving
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt butter in small bowl in the microwave and set aside.
Combine 2 1/2 cups of blueberries and 3/4 cup of granulated sugar in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat until the berries soften and release their juices, stirring frequently so they don't stick. This will take about 8 minutes and will be marked by the subtle hissing and bubbling of the berries. Mix in the remaining blueberries and turn into a 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish.
In another bowl, mix together the flour, walnuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and remaining 6 tablespoons of granulated sugar. Slowly add in the cooled, melted butter, mixing everything together with a fork until moist clumps form. Sprinkle this crumble topping over the blueberries.
Bake the dish until the topping is golden and bubbling, about 45 minutes. Allow to cool so the juices thicken a bit and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
PS- This is another recipe that could easily be made in ramekins for individual servings.
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Reader Comments (47)
I also linked to you on my blogroll! hooray!
Ohhh how you make me miss my sweet home State of Maine! I am so thrilled to be moving back in a few months...I have been living away from "Home" for over 30 years! How I miss the Lobster, Whoopie Pies and Fresh Blueberries!
I did just visit Maine in April and have to recommend "The Stonewall Kitchen" in York, Maine. What a wonderful experience...it was so difficult to decide what to have for lunch...EVERYTHING looked scrumptious!!
My favorite restaurant is the Chocolate Bar in Cleveland, OH. Do I even need to explain?? :)
This blueberry crisp looks amazing - I need to use a lot of blueberries in a dessert this weekend for a family BBQ, and this crisp is at the top of my list right now!
My favorite restaurant was Houston's in Chicago... had an AMAZING chicken salad and mexican chicken soup... it's gone now, but never forgotten!
Those would be fantastic cookbooks to own! I also followed you on twitter (@sierra_luther) and linked to you in a blog post (http://inspiraamor.blogspot.com/2011/05/brownies.html). Here's to hoping I get to soon expand my kitchen repertoire :)
oops, forgot to post my fave restaurant - it would have to be El Serrano (two locations - York and Lancaster, PA)...the owner is Peruvian, he went to culinary school in Mexico, and he's created an INCREDIBLE fusion of the two cuisines...so good! I miss it tons
Made this tonight and it was quite good. However, I did make a few changes. I used frozen blueberries so there was a bit more liquid and had to cook a bit longer. I found the amount of sugar in the blueberry bit a tad too much so I put in the juice and zest of a whole lemon. That really cut through the sweetness and complimented the blueberries quite nicely. Overall I would say that it is a good recipe, just a tad sweet for us and my husband said he would want to have it again! I think the recipe as it is would work great with morello cherries (frozen this time of year!) to get that perfect balance of sweet and tart! Anyway, thanks for the recipe.