Recipe: Compote of Stewed Blackberries

COMPOTE OF STEWED BLACKBERRIES

"Everyone seems to have forgotten how delicious blackberries were-if they ever knew. We picked them mainly for canning, for making wine and jelly to use in the winter, but how we did enjoy them too during the summer season in blackberry pie, rolypoly, or with cream and sugar, as well as stewed and served warm. Blackberries are still gathered from the wild and they are the one frozen fruit that still tastes good. Put up in Marion, Oregon, they can be purchased in the A & P frozen, and they are just as delicious when stewed for 10 minutes with a little water and sugar to taste. Serve warm with cookies or cold with warm, plain cake."

1 cup sugar
1 cup well water or bottled water
1 pint blackberries

Set the sugar and water to boil briskly for 10 to 12 minutes.

Pick over the berries, wash them off, and drain on a clean towel. Then add them to the boiled syrup. Bring this to a near boil and stew gently for 10 minutes.

Turn the heat off and leave in a warm spot if they are to be served warm.

Serves 4 to 5
Excerpted from The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis
Copyright 2006 by Edna Lewis. Excerpted by permission of Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.