Sunday, August 8, 2010

A Blueberry Grunt

Heating up the oven is about the last thing I want to do on a 90 degree day, especially with the air conditioner running full blast, and the SCARY electric bill we got last month. Still there’s all this summer fruit, and sometimes, you need a crumble. Or crisp, cobbler or buckle. Or a betty or a grunt.

A grunt is a like a cobbler, but it’s made on the stovetop. Sweet holy dumplings!

Here's the recipe:

Filling
about 3 pints of blueberries
1 c. sugar (plus 1 teaspoon)
1 lemon
1 t. cinnamon

Batter
½ stick of butter
2/3 c. buttermilk
1 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
½ t. salt

Start 2 with pints of blueberries in a dutch oven or large saucepan. Add about a half cup of sugar, along with the zest and juice of one lemon, and a half teaspoon of cinnamon. Cook on medium heat, stirring occassionally until it resembles jam. Then add a least another pint of fresh blueberries, remove from heat.

Melt a half stick of butter, and mix it with 2/3 cup of buttermilk and 1 tsp. vanilla. (make sure the buttermilk is room temp. when you combine it, otherwise the butter will solidify again!)

Mix 2 cups of flour, a half cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, a half teaspoon of baking soda, and a half teaspoon of salt. Stir in the buttermilk mixture until a dough forms.

Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, place dumplings on top of the fruit.

Simmer 20 minutes until dumplings double in size, and toothpick comes out clean. Sprinkle with another 1/2 t. of cinnamon combined with a teaspoon of sugar and serve.

Furthermore:
Betty – fruit is topped by buttered crumbs and baked
Buckle- cake-like bottom with berries mixed in, crumble on top
Clafouti – fruit is topped with cake or pudding and baked
Cobbler – fruit is covered by a biscuit-like dough and baked
Crisp – similar to a crumble, but with a crunchier topping
Crumble – topping is sprinkled over fruit in a pan and baked
Crostata – similar to a one-crust pie, but the dough is folded around the fruit
Pandowdy – a rolled-out dough is baked on top of fruit
Pie – fruit inside a baked crust
Slump –same as a grunt
Slap – pureed fruit used as a facial scrub (kidding, I made that one up.)

Names for these desserts can vary regionally. What’s the most popular one where you are?

4 comments:

patti said...

I bought berries yesterday at the Farmers Market and WILL MAKE THIS TOMORROW, Lord willing!

THANK YOU for telling this Southern girl the difference between bettys and cobblers, etc.!!
You are the best!!
P

TALON said...

I never heard of a grunt before and I sooo hear you on the unrelenting heat and have zero desire to turn on an oven. This is perfect! My Mom is up for a visit and I think I know what we're having for dessert tomorrow!

Thank you so much, JGH!

Ash said...

Hey Kudos for posting a prep after sometime.... I loved the prep... looks very very scrumptious.... Hugs )))))

Ash....
(http://asha-oceanichope.blogspot.com/)

Skeeter said...

It looks so yummy to the tummy! I know what you mean about how scary the electric bill was last month. I was so shocked I moved the computer and desk downstairs so I could keep the air off more during the day hours. Yikes, that bit into my monthly budget for sure...