Mint-Lime Blueberry Crisp

Back again, and let me tell you, tendinitis is no joke.

My hands, wrists, and arms might be getting slightly better now after three weeks of resting them, but it’s hard to say. Part of the problem? I’ve realized how difficult it is to really “rest” my hands – without them, I am helpless in front of a computer; without them, Paula is stuck cooking and washing the dishes every single night. (And I really miss cooking!)

So of course, although I’ve cheated a little and used the keyboard here and there, editing photos, typing up recipes, and responding to your comments over this past month has been out of the question. I’m sorry I was gone so long, though!

Before you get all worried on my behalf, I’m not actually typing this – I’m dictating it using voice recognition software. It’s frustrating sometimes, but I am slowly getting used to it and I don’t know what I would do without it.

A month ago, though, back when I was in denial and still typing/cooking through the pain, I made you these blueberry crisps! And they were so, so good. But yes, I can sense what you’re about to tell me, and you’re right: I definitely shouldn’t have done that.

I should have been resting my arms, icing them with a bag of frozen peas, and watching food documentaries on Netflix. Now I know better. At least I had the good sense to choose a fruit to crisp-ify that wouldn’t require any chopping.

Blueberry (or blackberry) crisp is up there with the easiest and most delicious of all summer desserts. The seasonal berries are already perfectly bite-sized, so the only thing that’s left for a hungry baker to do is to create a crumbly topping and stick it all in the oven.

I couldn’t help but make it a tiny bit more complicated than that, adding fresh mint sugar, fresh lime juice, and lime zest to the blueberries before I sprinkled them with their topping. I guess I was imagining it to be a baked dessert version of a blueberry mojito. The fresh mint perks up the blueberries and the tart lime juice keeps the crumble from becoming too sweet – in my humble opinion, blueberry and lime is just as nice of a combination as blueberry and lemon (if not a nicer one!).

I also baked the crisps into individual ramekins, which makes them the perfect size to sneak one at a time for yourself out of the fridge. The following week, though, I had Paula re-create it in a large baking dish, and that worked fine too, with only five minutes extra baking time.

All around, a dessert worthy of the height of the summer and of my 3-year blogiversary! I can’t believe it’s been that long! (I missed the chance to mark the occasion back in mid-July, but better late than never.)

I have a few more already-photographed recipes to share with you, too, so I hope I can get back to posting on Thursdays as usual now, but the photos are tricky to insert and manage using the speech recognition software, so that means still using the keyboard and mouse a little with my hands. In fact, it was probably a combination of all the dragging around of photos that I did with my mouse, paired with my dissertation, that made my tendinitis so bad. If anyone has any advice for photo managing shortcuts, it would be much appreciated.

I also might still be slow to respond to your comments, since I’m trying to spend as little time as possible in front of the computer screen so that I can avoid the temptation to use the keyboard altogether (and meanwhile, I still have plenty of food documentaries on Netflix to catch up on…).

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RECIPE:

Mint-Lime Blueberry Crisp

(Serves 6-8)

Active time: 15 min.; Total time: 55 minutes.

Ingredients:
~ 6 cups fresh blueberries or blackberries (about 30 oz.)
~ ¼ cup sugar
~ 4-5 fresh mint leaves
~ zest from half of one lime (optional)
~ 1½ Tbsp. cornstarch
~ 2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
~ 5 Tbsp. butter, cut into small cubes and softened
~ ½ cup oats
~ ½ cup flour
~ ½ cup brown sugar
~ pinch of salt
~ additional lime zest (optional)

Special equipment needed:
~ 6-8 ramekins or an 8-inch square baking dish

How to Make it:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350°. Rinse berries and place them in a bowl. Tear or chiffonade mint leaves and use a mortar and pestle to grind the fresh mint, and the lime zest if using, into the sugar. Sprinkle the mint sugar over the berries, add the cornstarch and fresh lime juice, and gently mix.

2. Once the butter has softened, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, and salt (and additional lime zest, if using) in a medium bowl and use a pastry cutter (or your fingers) to cut the butter into the other ingredients and to mix them all together well.

3. Pour the berry mixture into individual ramekins (or into an 8-inch square baking dish), then use your hands to pinch together the topping as you crumble it over the fruit. Assemble the ramekins on a baking sheet, to easily get them in and out of the oven.

4. Bake for around 35 minutes for ramekins, or around 40 minutes if using a large baking dish, until blueberries are bubbling. Allow to cool completely so that the berries can gel more, or enjoy it while it’s still warm, although it might still be pretty juicy. Once cooled, cover and refrigerate for up to several days. Reheat in the oven, or serve cold or at room temperature, with ice cream, or not.

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