Delicious Wild Blueberry Dishes Will Turn You Into a Top Chef
Why do chefs love cooking with wild blueberries? Steve Corry, Owner and Chef at Portland’s 555 and Petite Jacqueline Restaurants (and a Food & Wine pick for its 10 Best Chefs) breaks it down: deeper color and more intense flavor than their cultivated cousins. Wild is a requirement for recipes at Corry’s restaurants where there are no compromises, and for many award-winning chefs wild means better performance in the kitchen and better reviews in the dining room.
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| Spicy Tortilla Salad with Wild Blueberries |
Feel like channeling a top chef? With summer upon us, wild blueberries provide vibrant color and uniquely sweet taste that creates seasonal dishes worth raving about. Plus, if you live in Maine or Canada, serving dishes with a nod to the region is simply de rigueur. Here are three recipe ideas that exemplify these virtues to kick off your own personal culinary extravaganza.
Super Summer Salad
Spicy Tortilla Salad with Wild Blueberries elevates salad with an inspired mixture of fruit and warmth that is dazzling to look at and utter fun to eat. Apples and peppers combine with wild blueberries, flour tortillas, and goat cheese to complete the flavor profile. (Check out other delicious salads for summer.)
An Ideal Duck Pairing
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| Duck Breast with Wild Blueberry Sauce |
If you are looking for a special entrée that shows off the unique sweet-sour taste of wild blueberries, try duck. Duck with wild blueberries is a signature combination at Corry’s restaurants – its popularity is due to a flavor that works tangy blues against savory duck. Wild blues are also ideal to add acidity and cut the fat content of the dish. This Duck Breast with Wild Blueberry Sauce is the perfect example. You can buy conveniently packaged duck breasts at most the grocery stores (and stop by the freezer section to stock up on wild blues).
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| Wild Blueberry Baselito |
Summer Cocktail
It may not be first on your list of ways to use wild blueberries, but in fact, this underrated drink ingredient shines in summer cocktails. This Wild Blueberry Baselito is one example of how blues play a part in celebrating the season. Wild blueberries, basil and rum (though this drink is fantastic with or without) make an ultracool cocktail for sipping on the porch.
Top Maine Chefs Love Wild Blueberries. Watch What Makes Chefs Go Wild and see why area chefs use exclusively wild, and how they are inspired to use them in award-winning baked goods and dishes.
Find more wild blue recipe ideas at WildBlueberries.com.