Old Fashioned Comfort Food

My return to "outside" work and my local public radio station becoming an "all news" station happened to conicide in time. So on the rare days I drive myself to work, I get to listen to a bit of news which I love. One day recently, they were doing a piece called "Found Recipes," stories from cooks about foods which have "surprised or delighted them." The story I heard was about blueberry dumplings.

I decided to make these dumplings for the 4th of July. It sounded perfect for our old-fashioned fourth. They were amazing. A-maze-ing. I could not stop thinking about them. That said, I should warn you that either the recipe has an error or I made one, because my dough was not a soft batter but I actually picked it up and rolled it into balls. Even so they were fantastic. I am going to try again this week and if my batter is thick, I will increase the milk until it is soft. The blueberry sauce is more scarce than I'd have imagined; the dumplings truly are the star of the show.  Try it and let me know what you think.

Dumplings (Adapted from the NPR recipe)

2 cups flour

1 tblsp. sugar (the original calls for a teaspoon)

2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup shortening

1/4 cup butter (the author used all shortening)

6-8 Tblsp. milk (This is the error, I think. I am going to add enough to make it soft enough to  scoop)

Mix the dry ingredients together and cut in the shortening and butter.  Add milk gently until it becomes a very soft dough.

Stewed Blueberries

2 cups blueberries

3/4 cup water (author used 1/2)

1/4 cup sugar

Heavy cream (We used whipped cream)

Bring the blueberries sugar and water to a boil; don't walk off this happens fast! Drop the dumplings on top. Lower heat to a simmer and cover pan. Steam for 12 minutes. Serve warm, pouring cream over the top for serving.