What's new
By:
Filters
Cooking Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Berries!

An apple blackberry pie recipe with cinnamon and nutmeg. Scroll down to see more blackberry desserts and apple pie recipes.
Ingredients:

* 2 1/2 pounds apples, peeled, cored, sliced
* 2 cups blackberries, fresh or frozen
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 2 tablespoons flour
* 1 tablespoon butter, cut in small pieces
* pie shell for two-crust 9-inch pie

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375°.

Mix the apples and blackberries together in a large bowl.

In another bowl, combine the sugar, spices, and flour; gently mix into the fruit mixture. Line a 9-inch pie plate with bottom crust. Spoon the fruit filling into the prepared crust, then dot with butter. Top with the remaining pie crust, leaving a slight overhang. Crimp the edges of the top and bottom crusts together, sealing the fruit into the shell. Whisk the egg yolk and milk together, and brush this wash over the top crust. With a sharp knive, make several slits in the top crisp to allow steam to escape.

Bake at 375° for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until the apples are tender. If crust seems to be browning too quickly, reduce the heat to 325 degrees.
 
KYHeirloomer said:
Many years ago, when there were wolves in Wales and snakes in Ireland, we had a white mulbery tree in the backyard. I had never even heard of white mulberries before we'd moved there, and have never seen one since.

My folks insisted they were decorative only, and not edible (turns out they were wrong :(). So they just fell and rotted. Actually, they fermented.

Y'all ever seen a tipsey squirrel negotiating a telepone wire? Funniest thing you'll ever see in your life.
Click to expand...

LOL @ the squirrel part :)

I grew up in rural areas, and various places where there were mublery trees. And I used to eat all of the kinds there were, all the various colors (black, red, white, pinkish etc') but now I live in the city, and there aren't any to be found. nor there are places to buy the berries from (that I know of) :(
 
That white mulberry tree actually was in Queens, Sabi.

You'd be surprised what you find in the backyards of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. For mulberries, in particular, check some of the Italian neighborhoods---which are also good for figs, btw.

Where in the city are you? There have been a rash of green markets sprung up since I lived there, and you might find your berries in some of them. Or in the upscale shops in places like Chelsea Market.

Out in the boroughs there are still numerous ethnic neighborhoods, with their own specialty markets. Pretty much anything you might want, in the way of foodstuffs, is available if you search out those places. Brooklyn, especially, is the place to search, because it remains, at base, a collection of ethnic and cultural neighborhoods

Also, see if you can find a source for back-issues of New York magazine. Their "Best ____ in New York" articles often provide you with clues. Years back, for instance, they did one on the best bread in New York, and included these oversized pita baked with olive oil and herbs. When we checked out the bakery it turns out there was a whole Syrian neighborhood there that we were unaware of. Some of Gael Greene's restaurant reviews provide clues, too. "Why," ask yourself, "is there a Hungarian restaurant at that location?"

One thing you can say about New York: Whatever you're looking for can be found there, somewhere, if you look hard enough.
 
One other possibility. Have you asked your greengrocer (Lord, I love being able to say that. Closest thing we have to a greencrocer is the produce manager at Kroger---and he's lucky to be able to order apples. But I digress)? Even if they don't normally stock something, chances are they can order it from their suppliers, or find it at the terminal market.

I betcha some of those Italian markets on 9th Ave. can get you mulberries.
 
I just moved to the Bronx, a month ago, feels like it was yesterday.
I bet you're right, and I wish I had the time to go berry hunting.
Unfortunately I work 10-15 hrs a day.
But that's internet working, so it could be much worse :)
Leaves me just enough time to get back home, make something fun to eat, and fall asleep :eek:
 
Strange. I grew up spending every Christmas in the Bronx. And I worked at Yankee Stadium for three years. And I met Friend Wife at a party in the Bronx.

And yet I know very little about it. Go figure.

I can see your problem, though. Working that many hours does put a damper on extra activities. But it won't last forever. When I started freelancing I worked about 18 hours/day. Every day. But after a couple of years of that you realize that you have to cut back or you won't survive.

Work is supposed to be what you do to make everything else happen.
 
Funny story, Brook! Squirrels are funny creatures to watch anyway- much less throw in a couple of fruity umbrella-drinks!

I haven't seen mulberries since I was a kid, but as I remember the little new berries are tiny and white and HARD. They slowly turn pale green, then red, then they get large and ripen into big ole juicy succulent fruits- some of which grow to the size of a ping-pong ball if they don't drop to the ground, get swiped by birds or l'il barefooted boys first!
 
Last edited:
Your blueberry cake sounds YUMMY, sabi... by the way, welcome to this site! I'm rather new myself and I'm lovin' it here! The folks are wonderfully knowledegable- they love to share and allow others to share too as well- and you'll never find a finer bunch of NUTS!
 
Wonderful contributions, sabi!

One hint for those who don't have beautiful fresh blueberries easily available to them... if using frozen or canned blueberries that typically are extra-wet, to avoid gray pancake batter, sometimes it can be best not to add the berries to the actual batter, but to ladle plain batter onto a griddle or into a skillet first, then as the raw batter on top of the cooking pancake starts to bubble indicating time to fliip it, scatter a few berries across ths wet raw side just prior to flipping. Once flipped, the still raw batter ooozes and flows around, surrounds the blueberries and one still gets the impression that the blueberries are locked inside the pancake, but the super wet frozen or canned berries haven't juiced-up the pancake batter and turned it a weird gray.

One learns a valueable lesson like this the hard way when they've prepared a five-gallon pickle-bucket of pancake batter full of leaking, juicy frozen berries for breakfast service in a restaurant! I ain't never seen such ugly pancakes in my life- delicious, mind you- but ugLY, let me tell you! Ha! I only made that mistake once!
 
Last edited:
Of all the berries I've seen available for sale- mulberries haven't been among them. I always just assumed they were an obscure seasonal thing that were too rare or difficult to harvest for mass sale. If anyone ever locates any available commercially, please share your source! Similarly in Alaska, we have a variety of raspberry called a "salmon-berry" which as you might guess, doesn't get as deep-red as a raspberry... more of a "salmon" pinkish-orange. Not sold commercially at all, yet they are absolutely delicious, and can get the size of a golf ball!
 
Seems like the further north you travel the great diversity of berries. Many of which, unfortunately, grow one to a plant, and the plants are close to the ground. Which means no mechanical harvesting. Which means you rarely see them.

Of them all, cloud berries are, IMO, the best. But you only find them north of the arctic circle, and that's a very short growing season.
 
yep- cloudberries, and low-bush cranberries which are still tart, but also oddy sweeter and much smaller than your usual cranberry... plus they remind me a bit of pomegranates 'cause they kind of pop/burst in your mouth when you eat them...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top