"Instant" Blueberry Crumble and Grilled Fruit Desserts

OK. (Yeah, OK!) More of those wonderful inexpensive frozen bags of frozen fruits from Dollar Tree. I had a good day and made some money (always a good day, right?) and wanted something a little sweet for dessert after the most amazing steak dinner. Not the healthiest, but...a 2" thick steak seared on the stove top grill, some skin on garlic mashed potatoes and some french style green beans. It was good, I mean come on...it was the big ass thick rare steak with garlic, salt, pepper, beautiful grill marks, crisped on the outside and so juicy....(OK, I'm making myself drool). But after, with my cup of coffee, I wanted something sweet. Then I remembered, there's still a half a bag of blueberries in the freezer...

I still don't understand why people think cooking is something magical, or "I don't have time to cook". Our mothers did it every day of our childhoods. Cooking does not have to be this huge hassle or trash your kitchen. Seriously, this took all of two minutes to get oven ready. I had to wait for the oven to finish preheating.

Learn a few basics. Some basic knife skills, some basic techniques and the sky is the limit. This blog will continue to explore both adventurous cooking, as well as some really wonderful come home from work and get a delicious home made meal on the table in 45 minutes or less. Without trashing the kitchen, without breaking a sweat.

Please, learn to cook some basic things. We are all killing ourselves with packaged and processed meals. Once you get over the fear or belief that you don't "have time" to cook and realize just how damned easy it really is, and how much BETTER it tastes when you made it yourself, controlled what went INTO your meal and your body...you cannot beat it!

Anyway, this is the easiest damn thing to make. And who doesn't love a hot bubbly fruit crumble, all gooey and sweet with a crunchy streusel type topping? You can use any fruit you desire for this. Berries, peaches, cherries, apples...it's all good. I made this one in a small corning ware dish. This is a more "eyeball" recipe than anything. You will dirty, in the course of making this, a bowl, a spoon, a fork and the baking dish. I mean, come on, just dump the stuff in there, go on you really can't mess it up! This made 4 small (well, correctly portioned ROFL) servings. A nice bit of something sweet after a wonderful meal. OK, the picture is 1/4 of what it made, but we'll go back and kill this off before bed, I just know it.

1 cup (give or take) frozen blueberries
3 Tbls sugar, divided. (We found a wonderful organic sugar!)
1/3 cup of flour
2 Tbls butter
dash of cinnamon
pinch of salt
(optional 1/8 cup chopped pecans or walnuts)

Preheat your oven to 350. Pour the frozen fruit from the bag into the dish. Sprinkle with 2 Tbls sugar, use a little less if desired. Sprinkle with a dash of cinnamon. In a small bowl, add the flour, butter, 1 Tbls sugar, pinch of salt and another dash of cinnamon. Mash with a fork until the flour is incorporated and it is crumbly, mix in the chopped nuts if using. Sprinkle it over the blueberries. Put it in the oven and let it go for 30-35 minutes until the topping is nicely browned and the blueberries are hot and bubbly.

Remove from oven and let it cool for 10-15 minutes. (There is nothing more horrible than scalding your tongue on molten berry lava!) Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Admit it, you want it. Make it. Tell me about it.

Fruit Cobbler Graham Crumbles are easy on the grill as well. We do this when camping and cooking out often. Make them ahead and let them cook on the coals while you are eating the dinner.

Take heavy duty foil and make a square for each serving. In the center of each square of foil, place 2-3 Tablespoons of graham cracker crumbs. Add about 1/2 teaspoon of butter on top of the graham crackers. Place a scant quarter cup of cut fresh or frozen fruit on top of this. Sprinkle with a small teaspoon of sugar, a dash of salt, nutmeg, cinnamon. Bring corners of foil up to meet each other and twist or fold to close. Set aside until after the meal is cooked on the grill. while you are eating, nestle the packets either into the dying coals, or on the lowest grate height in a moderately warm part of the grill. They will take 10-20 minutes to cook, depending on how hot your coals remain and whether using fresh or frozen fruit. You should see some steam escaping, or poke into one and insure it is hot and bubbly.

To serve, remove from coals or off grate, cut open the top of the packet in an "X" and fold open the foil. (Watch for steam!) Add a scoop of ice dream and you have a delicious fruit dessert on from the grill. The butter and graham made a crust, the sugar and fruit become soft and bubbly...what a wonderful way to use fresh fruits of summer! (And not heat up your kitchen!)