On Sunday while pulling dinner together it was decided that we needed something sweet to complete the meal.  A quick inventory of the kitchen and fridge suggested a sure fire solution.  It turns out that my wife had spirited away several cups worth of fresh blueberries some time back in early October at the tail end of berry season.  Next to the bag of blueberries lay a stash of crisp topping.  Now it was beginning to take shape.  Though the berries weren’t quite enough to make a full on crisp dessert we did have a supply of super apples we had purchased the previous day at the farmers’ market.  The solution was complete.  Apple-Blueberry Crisp.

Now I have to say that all things considered the crisp is probably one of the quickest and easiest desserts out there.  Especially if you have some topping already prepped out.  Chopped up fruit, a squeeze of lemon juice, dash of vanilla or brandy, tablespoon of flour to help thicken the juices, then a generous addition of crisp topping.

The topping part is the highlight of dish most times.  The fruit, though appreciated and delicious in its way is an excuse to delight in the caramel flavored, crunchy, buttery sweet topping.  Here is a recipe for the one we had.   The instructions for the topping will yield a quantity sufficient for several recipes of fruit crisp in a 9 in x 9 in pan.  Stash the extra away in the freezer for future reference.

Crisp Topping (remember this makes more than you’ll need for one crisp so freeze the rest)

• 16 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup flour ( can be All Purpose or even whole wheat, both work fine)
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed firmly as you measure
• Optional -1/2 cup chopped nuts ( your call here.  Can be walnuts, pecans or even hazelnuts.  Its nice because the lend a complexity to the dish not too mention they’re hella nutritious.)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

If you have a food processor fine.  If not that’s okay too.

In the food processor put the butter, flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Pulse the motor until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal.  This should take 8-10 good pulses.  Add in the oats and give it a few more pulses.  Turn it all out into a bowl and add the nuts.  There, its ready.  Best thing to do is store it in a zip-lock bag in the freezer.  That way you can grab what you need when the inspiration strikes.

Alternatively if you do this by hand no worries, life and man existed on earth prior to the invention of the Cuisinart.  Simply put the butter, flour, brown sugar, salt and sugar in a large bowl and with your finger tips mash it all together.  Its kinda fun cause you get down and dirty with your food. Gives you a better connection to the texture of things.  You soon see the mix start to resemble that rough large graininess.  This should take 5 minutes max.  Its okay if there are some smallish lumps of butter in there, not to fret.  They’ll be okay in the end.  Add in the oats (and nuts if you choose) and mix together well, again by hand.  Voila!  Good to go!

Now the fruit.  (in a seperate bowl)

• 6 Apples medium size quartered, core taken out and chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 1-2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen, not thawed)
• 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice + the zest of one
• 2 Tablespoons brandy (optional)
• 1-2 Tablespoons flour

Mix all together in bowl. Turn this fruit mix into a 9 in X 9 in baking dish of some sort.  No need to be picky but if its any larger just add a cup of fruit to compensate. Bake this in a pre-heated 375F oven for about 45- 50 minutes.  It’ll get bubbly around the edges and the top should be nicely browned.  When done remove from oven and let cool for 20 minutes.  I know this is gonna be hard but if you taste it now you’ll burn the bejeezes out of you taste buds, and that sucks.

I recommend eating this as is, or with you favorite vanilla ice cream or with yogurt in the AM.  It warms nicely in the oven or microwave too.

Nutrition Facts Serving Size  (139g) (this includes the use of almonds)

Amount Per Serving Calories 220    Calories from Fat 80    % Daily Value Total Fat 9 g 14 %  Saturated Fat 5 g 25 %  Trans Fat 0 g    Cholesterol 20 mg 7 %  Sodium 45 mg 2 %  Total Carbohydrate 34 g 11 %  Dietary Fiber 5 g 20 %  Sugars 20 g    Protein 2 g

Vitamin A   6 %  Vitamin C   10 %  Calcium   2 %  Iron   4 %