Blueberry Breakfast Strata

What do you get when you cross  bread pudding with french toast and throw in a cheese blintz?  If you add some blueberries, you get this Blueberry Breakfast Strata.  She wasn't the prettiest girl at the prom, but she had a good time.

An overload of both bread in the pantry and a freezer full of blueberries from last summer's bounty inspired me to find something to do with them.  Although I really didn't plan to use them together, it was a serendipitous marriage.

There are a couple few things I would do differently next time around -- and I think I can see the grandkids liking to wake up to this for breakfast:

• I'd use whole cream cheese.  The neufchatel didn't melt as much as I wanted. 
• I'll toss the frozen blueberries with both a little sugar and flour, because, believe it or not, it wasn't quite sweet enough for me.
• I'll leave out the blueberries in the syrup topping.  (I love blueberries; I just think plain maple syrup would be better.  PP = personal preference.)

It was a good experiment nevertheless.  And I'm happy to have put the bread to good use, even though the birds may have liked it.  I'm writing the recipe as I did make it, not like I will when the grandkids come.  I can picture studding it with dried cranberries or maybe sprinkling some almonds on top and putting some almond extract in the custard.  Possibilities!

Blueberry Strata
adapted from Kraft Foods
makes 12 servings
8 cups firm (preferably stale) white bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, divided
1 tablespoon flour
1 8-ounce package neufchatel cheese, cut into small cubes
8 eggs
2 1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup maple syrup, divided
1/4 cup packed brown sugar

Toss the blueberries with  the flour.  Spread half the bread cubes onto the bottom of a 13 x 9 baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Cover with 1 cup of the blueberries, scatter the cream cheese pieces and the remaining bread over all.

Whisk the eggs, milk and cinnamon together until blended.  Add 1/3 cup syrup and sugar.  Mix well and pour evenly over the bread.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to bake, remove strata from fridge and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake strata covered for 1/2 hour; then remove cover and bake for another 30 to 45 minutes or until center is set and top is slightly browned.

Bring remaining syrup and blueberries to boil in saucepan, stirring constantly, simmer on medium-low stirring constantly about 1 minutes, stirring constantly.  Serve over individual servings of strata.

An Unlikely Pair: Corn & Blueberries

Some foods just naturally go together: peas and carrots, red beans and rice, strawberries and cream. But blueberries and corn? Hmmm. When I first spied a recipe for a blueberry and corn salad, I was intrigued. I’m always on the lookout for blueberry recipes, especially savory ones. There’s only so many blueberry muffins, blueberry pancakes, blueberry pies, that one can consume! And since I have ten healthy blueberry bushes, I’ve got ’em! I freeze a bunch every year, and we eat a lot fresh, just naked.  They're so good; that they're good for you is just a plus!   I’m always looking for an idea to use my bounty in a new recipe of some kind. And I’m still hanging onto the notion of a blueberry chicken dish I’ve put in the “gotta try” pile.

I found this recipe in my mother-in-law’s Better Homes & Gardens, a magazine to which I’ve subscribed and un-subscribed several times. (I’m currently in an “un-subscribed” mode.) I saved the recipe, intrigued more by the beautiful picture that accompanied it than the ingredient list. I was waiting for the day that fresh locally grown corn was ready, along with my own berries. Once armed, I made the salad early in the day and let it marinate till dinnertime. It was scrumptious, another great blending of hot and cold, crunchy, soft, tangy and sweet. I really couldn’t think of a thing I’d change! The only thing I did differently was to cook the corn in the microwave instead of in boiling water. Six ears, in their husks, take about 14 minutes on high. The silk and husks are easy to remove once cooked -- and cooled a little, of course. Oh, and I used two jalapenos. (They were small.)

Corn & Blueberry Salad
From Better Homes & Garden, June 2010

PREP: 25 min, Chill overnight

6 ears fresh sweet corn, husked
1 C fresh blueberries
1 small cucumber, sliced
¼ cup finely chopped red onion
¼ cup chopped cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 T lime juice
2 T olive oil
1 T honey
½ t cumin
½ t salt

In Dutch oven, bring salted water to boil. Add corn. Cook, covered, 5 minutes, or until tender. When cool enough to handle, cut corn from cobs.

In a serving bowl, combine corn, blueberries, cucumber, red onion, cilantro, and jalapeno. For dressing, in screw-top jar, combine lime juice, oil, honey, cumin and salt. Cover and shake well to combine. Add to salad; toss. Cover and refrigerate overnight (up to 24 hours). Makes 6 to 8 servings.