A Not-So-Primal Evening

My friend, Debe, likes to go up to Nova Scotia every year for their blueberry festival. She's been going for years, but couldn't go this year. So she invited a bunch of friends to her house for her own blueberry festival. Everyone brought meat for the grill and something with blueberries in it. Everything was SO good. I know that almost everything had sugar and/or wheat in it, but I couldn't resist. I love blueberries and just had to try it.

But first things first, we brought a couple t-bone steaks and some kabobs for the grill. We picked up half of our 1/2 cow order a week or so ago and we wanted to try some of it. All we used for seasoning was Montreal Steak Seasoning. The kabobs had beef, red onion and red bell pepper and the steak seasoning. They were all so good. The meat really tasted beefy, unlike many steaks you buy at the supermarket. Just one dinner with this grass-fed beef and I'm convinced. It's more expensive at one time but cheaper by the pound if you buy locally and buy a 1/2 or full cow. Worth it!



On to the blueberry goodness. There was pie and a couple cobblers, smoothies, crepes with cream cheese filling topped with blueberry sauce (so good that I ate two! and had a big sugar high and crash not long after), chocolate covered blueberries (also super tasty) and my pretty purple gelato. Sadly, my gelato refused to freeze properly because the ice cream maker bowl thawed too much on the way to Debe's house. So, I froze it the best I could and we called it a milkshake. It was yummy and Primal too, if you still eat dairy. I'll be trying a non-dairy version soon cause we're going to try to cut out dairy. (EEEK! no cheese!)

Here's the recipe I used:

3 1/2 c fresh blueberries
3/4 c water
9 tsp Truvia
1 1/2 c heavy cream
1 1/2 c 1% milk - it would be better with whole, but this is all I had one hand
3 Tbsp honey - or more to taste
5 egg yolks

In heavy sauce pan, combine blueberries, water and Truvia and bring to boil. Simmer 5 minutes or until blueberries pop and turn into a sauce. Pour into blender jar and allow to cool before pureeing. Alternatively, if you have a stick blender, buzz it all up in the pan. Set aside while making the custard.

You can use the same pot, don't even have to wash it out. Combine the cream and milk. Bring to a bare simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally so it doesn't scorch to the bottom of the pan. Meanwhile, whisk the honey into the egg yolks. When dairy mixture is hot, slowly whisk 1/2 of it into the eggs. The slower the better, you don't want to end up with scrambled eggs. Once 1/2 the dairy is whisked into the eggs, pour the mixture back into the pan and cook on med-low, stirring constantly until thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. If you run your finger through the custard on the spoon, it should leave a trail.
Stir the blueberry puree into the custard. Pour the gelato base into an air-tight container and refrigerate overnight.
Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions.

I'll be freezing mine again today. Hopefully it'll work this time. The bowl has been in the deep freeze overnight, so it should be plenty frozen now. I'll add pictures once it's done.

Here's a blueberry smoothie recipe too. I had this a couple times this week and it kept me full all day. That's good since it ended up being about 750 calories. Yikes!

4 oz Greek Gods Honey yogurt
1/4 c whipping cream
2 servings Pure Whey Protein Isolate
3/4 c blueberries

Buzz it all up in a blender. So tasty. You could add a bit of honey if the berries are very sweet.