Blueberry Crumble

The online Merriam-Webster dictionary (http://www.m-w.com/) gives the following definitions for "flush":

1. Verb; to expose or chase from a place of concealment
2. Noun: a rinsing or cleansing as if with a flush of water
3. Adjective: filled to overflowing

Well, I can't say they're not appropriate. So today I am starting the daunting task of dealing with whatever it is that my freezers hold, starting with the items that I readily recognize......
The first thing I see when I open the top freezer door on our refrigerator is half a bag of frozen blueberries. I cannot for the life of me remember what I did with the other half but since I'm having friends coming over dinner today, I guess I can make a dessert with blueberries. I also spot a bag with two blueberry bagels, leftovers from a weekend breakfast some time ago.

By the way, if your supermarket sports a Quick Sale section for day old breads or bagels, grab a bag or two on your way out, as bagels freeze beautifully. Slice them, if they don't come pre-sliced, before you freeze them so all you have to do is pop them in the toaster and hey presto! fresh bagels for all :-)

Blueberry Crumble

1 cup (or whatever you have left) of frozen blueberries
2 apples, peeled, cored and wedged
2 blueberry bagels
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 stick butter, divided

Place apples, half of the butter, the cinnamon and ginger and one tablespoon of brown sugar in a microwave bowl and zap them for 2 minutes. All microwaves are different but the goal is for the butter and sugar to melt and soften the apples. If you are not sure how long that will take, go with one minute first, poke the apples with a fork to see if they've tendered, and if not zap them a little longer. When done, pour the apples with the butter/cinnamon sauce in a baking dish, and top with the frozen blueberries. In the meantime, cut the bagels up in little pieces and put them through the blender, until you have a coarse crumbles. Preheat the oven at 350F. Mix the bagel crumbles with the remainder of the sugar and cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. (I never said this was low-cal, no-carb!) Cover the blueberries with the topping. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until bubbly.

Hurrah! I've made a dent, albeit small, in my freezer surplus. By the way, you can vary this recipe with whatever you have available. Cinnamon-raisin bagels are great for an all apple crumble, and onion bagels really add body and taste to a potato gratin dish. Be creative!