Midnight martinis and a blueberry bonus

By Katherine

Shrink me down and I would dive in there

I’ve had awful luck with blueberries this year. Don’t get me wrong, the berries themselves have been amazing. I’ve just made a series of kitchen mistakes, for example not adding a thickener to a blueberry pie. (My dutiful, pie-loving husband still ate, err drank, it.) I made a lovely blueberry sauce from The Silver Spoon, but the simple custard to go with it never set. This can happen when you forget to add sugar when you beat the egg yolks. I tried to thicken it with cornstarch — twice — when Greg wasn’t looking. The blueberry sauce called for draining the liquid and well I’m not one to let all that juicy goodness go, so here’s what I concocted. Store-bought blueberry juice, or a mixed berry juice will work just fine. If it’s sweet, skip the simple syrup. I’ve included the super simple blueberry sauce recipe in the notes below in case you’d like to have a martini one night and blueberry pancakes the following morning.

Midnight Martinis

• 3 ounces vodka
• 1 ounce Chambord
• 4 ounces blueberry juice
• 1 ounce simple syrup

Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake to incorporate. Divide between two martini glasses. Garnish with fresh blueberries.

Notes: Blueberry juice can be messy. If I were really clever, I’d garnish my next round with these sugared berries over at Gourmandistan. To make the blueberry juice from scratch, combine a tablespoon of sugar and two tablespoons of water. I threw in a splash of lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until dissolved. Add 2 cups blueberries and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool and drain juice.