Mt. Vernon Blueberry & Lemon Gravy
One of my most favorite things to purchase while on Orcas is fresh blueberries! They are local, fresh, beautiful and dependably perfect. Exactly what I always hope blueberries will taste like – but rarely do in OK. So you can imagine my delight when I saw this flat for $15!!
After munching on the blueberries for the remainder of the drive and ferry ride to Orcas, we still managed to have 5 full pints of these gorgeous berries.
First thing this morning, I started imagining all of the ways we could enjoy our blueberry treasures — muffins, pancakes, biscuits, waffles…and then it came to me: blueberry gravy. Now, I have never heard of blueberry gravy – have you? But with cream, butter, sugar and a lemon – what could possibly go wrong?
Probably a lot – but this morning, nothing! The blueberry gravy accompanied some of the most delicious homemade pancakes I have ever tasted, and certainly the most delicious pancakes I have ever made.
This morning my internet wasn’t cooperating as quickly as I needed, so I sos’ed my BF Laura – “need the best pancake recipe ASAP!” She responded with this recipe ((from Alton Brown)) with specific instructions: “Be sure to read the instructions. It really does make a diff to combine fats and proteins separately.” ((she was right, as usual))
The instructions are for using an electric griddle, which I didn’t have – but that was no problem. A skillet on the stove worked fine. I just made silver dollar pancakes using a tablespoon measuring spoon & a lot of butter (hah!).
Wondering why I called this ‘gravy’ instead of syrup? Well, I couldn’t resist adding cream & butter to the equation. Additionally, I added all the ingredients into the same skillet I cooked the pancakes in – because of that there was a nice amount of residual pancake batter that helped thicken the “gravy” too. So, with cream, butter & flour – gravy seemed like a reasonable name!
I hope you find some perfectly ripe and sweet blueberries to use with this recipe, but if your area doesn’t specialize in blueberry awesomeness, try blackberries or raspberries. I am sure frozen fruit would be a great substitute as well!
- 1 pint fresh blueberries, washed and dried
- 1/3 c pure cane sugar
- 1/2 stick of salted butter
- 1/2 c cream
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- pint of sea salt
- Over medium low heat, melt butter. Add blueberries, taking special care not to mash them. Add sugar, cream and a pinch of salt. Bring to a low boil, allowing sugar to dissolve & gravy to thicken. Continue on a low boil until sauce thickens to desired consistency. Add lemon juice and zest, stir and allow to boil for one more minute.
- Serve with pancakes, biscuits, waffles - or even over warm cake and ice cream!
- *I made this gravy in the same skillet I cooked pancakes in. The residual pancake bits dissolved and helped thicken the sauce. This isn't necessary, but I will repeat this step again the next time I make this recipe.