In last week’s column, I mentioned how recipe titles often bear the name of someone, have a really crazy name that dates back in history, or have local significance. Well, it has become a game with me as I research cookbooks, new and vintage, to find titles matching that criteria.
My latest discoveries were in a cookbook from our Assistance League Thrift Store in San Luis Obispo. The book, titled Cook’s County Best Lost Suppers, published in 2009, had many fun titles. Some of those “fun” titles included Preacher’s Delight, Martini Mac and Cheese, Salmagundi Bake, Funeral Potatoes With Ham, Oh My God Chicken, Mrs. Rockefeller’s Meatloaf, Salmon Wiggle, International Dateline Chicken, Aunt Fanny’s Pasta Soup, Bubie Alte’s Lukshen Kugel, Snowed-In Potato Hot Dish, WWII Chicken á la King, Maine Blueberry Gunt, and Jefferson Davis Pie. Of course there were just too many to mention all of them, but I think you get the idea.
Since blueberries are readily available in our markets, this week’s recipe is from the Editors of Cooks County. They preface the recipe with this information: “Unlike cobbler or crisp, grunt cooks start to finish on the stovetop. Stewed, spiced berries are topped with dollops of biscuit dough, covered, and cooked until the dumplings are done. The technique can be traced back to 1807, when recipes cooked sweetened dumpling dough in water to make quick “puddings.” It eventually evolved into the grunt, a name given for the sound the fruit made as it bubbled beneath the dumplings.”
My Food Lover’s Companion also indicates it may also be called “slump.”
Maine Blueberry Grunt
Ingredients for Filling:
8 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest and 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Ingredients for Topping:
3/4 cup buttermilk
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions for Filling:
Cook 4 cups of the blueberries, sugar, water, lemon zest, and cinnamon in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thick and jam-like, 10 to 12 minutes. Whisk lemon juice and cornstarch together in a small bowl, then stir into the blueberry mixture. Stir in the remaining 4 cups blueberries and cook until heated through, about 1 minute. Cover to keep warm and let it sit off the heat.
Directions for Topping:
Combine buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla in a measuring cup. Whisk flour, 6 tablespoons of the sugar, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Slowly stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture until a dough forms. Using a small ice cream scoop or two large spoons, spoon golf-ball-sized dumplings on top of the warm berry mixture (you should have 14 dumplings). Wrap the lid of the Dutch oven with a clean kitchen towel (keeping the towel away from the heat source) and cover the pot. Simmer gently until the dumplings have doubled in size and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 16 to 22 minutes. Combine the cinnamon and the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a bowl. Uncover the pot and sprinkle the dumplings evenly with the cinnamon sugar. Serves 12
Note: This dessert is best served warm. Cheers!
