Blueberry Muffins ala Ina Garten minus the streusel

Whenever I make a recipe for the first time I don't like to get all crazy
with it and start adding stuff or subtracting stuff. So because this is a first time recipe I will try it exactly how it is in her new book, Barefoot Contessa back to basics minus the streusel (I don't have enough butter).

The better the ingredients the better the food. It is hard to convince most people of this simple fact. They would prefer to get the better deal on an apple than on most other things. I, on the other hand, probably would choose a five dollar specialty heirloom apple in hopes of simply making my food taste better. So for this recipe I have used farmer's market blueberries, local buttermilk, and local flour. I always have issues with sugar. It is hard to bake with organic sugar and after trying to several times in attempts to make all organic everything, I cannot bring myself to say that organic sugar is better. Maybe if I go to culinary school and someone teaches me exactly how to make it work I will change my mind.


The recipe:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I like organic King Arthur flour)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (regular sugar)
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (I use aluminum-free)
1 teaspoon baking soda (aluminum free)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups buttermilk, shaken
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest (totally not local, but I did ask for a dwarf rangpur lime tree for my birthday)
2 extra-large eggs (from Grasshopper CSA)
2 cups fresh blueberries (from farmer's market)

Oven temp: 375

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.


Whisk buttermilk, butter, lemon zest, and eggs in separate bowl.


Stir buttermilk mixture into dry mixture very gently.


Fold in blueberries.


Now here is where my mom always gets me. I overfill muffin tins because I like muffins to be big, but most people fill them only 3/4 of the way full. It's up to you, but the cooking time varies. If 3/4 full cook for 20-25 minutes. If overly full, cook for about 35-40 minutes, until golden brown.


Serve warm with some butter. My favorite spreading butter is cultured butter with sea salt. Delicious.

and let it begin...

Of course I waited until I left Berkeley, the mecca of all things local and delicious, to embark on this journey of eating local. I set out initially to do exactly what Barbara Kingsolver did in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Her family ate completely local for one whole year with the exception of coffee, olive oil, capers, flour, and pasta. I thought if I set my mind to it I could do it, but unfortunately, after making an initial meal using a recipe from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle I was disheartened. It was horrible--completely flavorless and not fresh at all. I am a foodie, and admittedly a food snob. Unfortunately, this snobbery has become an unconscious reaction to food placed in front of me. I'm working on eating it politely. When it is something that I made and it doesn't live up to my wildest expectations, I do not eat it politely and the entire conversation revolves around just that. So I have amended our journey.

The amendments:
I will eat local to the best of my ability hoping to create meals that are delicious in the process. I also cannot end my lifelong love affair with avocados.

Without further ado...
This is what I have left from the farmer's market after the really yucky chicken dish:
1 bunch carrots
yellow beets
rainbow chard
1 large tomato
1 basket cherry tomatoes
blueberries
peaches
green garlic
uncured onion
milk
1 carton eggs
2 chicken breasts
lettuce

Tomorrow I will go to the grocery store and pick up a few essentials:
white wine vinegar
flour
dry pasta
dried beans
rice
(avocados)
butter (I refuse to make my own butter)

I forgot to mention that I planned and planted an entire garden with heirloom everything ordered from the seeds of change catalog and it refuses to grow. I used the lasagna gardening method and it did not work. I am about to till the whole thing and start over. It will definitely be a very late harvest.

From now on, I'm sticking to Alice Waters!