Iron Chef: Blueberries!

Blueberries are quite possibly the most perfect fruit.  I love them.  Matthew could eat his weight in blueberries (that's a lot of weight by the way).  And that was my secret ingredient for Iron Chef this weekend.

Blueberries. 

Could it get any better?

This was a very successful iron chef for me.  In fact, I was very pleased with all my dishes - they were yummy (ummmm....blueberries are awesome!). 

I made:

1. Blueberry basil smoothie.  This is an odd flavor combination that you don't see often yet it worked. The basil complemented the blueberry and it was very refreshing.  I used yogurt but I think it would have been better with ice cream.  I just didn't have any on hand. If I was in kitchen stadium I would have had ice cream but Gina's Kitchen is not as well stocked.
2. Apple Blueberry Chutney with crackers.  I love mango chutney and thought I would put a twist on traditional mango chutney but using an apple blueberry combination with apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, onions, and cinnamon. It was pretty good but Erik didn't like it that much.  He thought the flavors clashed.
3. Blueberry cinnamon pork chops with blueberry orzo.  Blueberry pork chops?? Ohhh yea! These were SO good.  I made a blueberry sauce with lemon juice, jam, cinnamon and butter. Then I coated the pork chops with bread crumbs mixed with cinnamon.  The sweetness of the breading and the sauce went well with the pork chops.  I also made orzo and mixed the blueberry sauce with the orzo too.  It was a really good dish - even Erik loved it!
4. Blueberry nectarine crepes.  I made traditional crepes then topped them with blueberry nectarine cheese mixture.  This was delicious, light, and pretty easy.  I put blue sugar on top as a decoration but the blue sugar kind of melted and made the crepes look a little green.  Next time - no blue sugar.
5. Red, White, and Blueberry shortcake.  So this dessert was just plain fabulous.  I made yellow cake and put in a little lemon extract to give it a nice lemon flavor.  Then I cut the cake in half and filled it with pudding, red raspberries, blueberries, and white raspberries (Erik found these at the store - totally cool).  To top it off, I made blueberry whip cream with blueberry gelatin.  This was such a hit and a fun dessert.  The blueberry whip cream was surprisingly good too.

This iron chef was so much fun. 

Now I have to think of a good secret ingredient for Erik....

59 points on Quiddler today!