I adore blueberry season. Blueberry sauce for ice cream, blueberry pancakes, blueberry smoothies, blueberry bars, blueberry jam, blueberry pie, blueberry muffins and blueberry loaf. I can’t get enough of those brilliant little indigo spherical bursts of tender sweetness. They are also very good for you, containing vitamins A, B1, B2, C, as well as niacin, potassium, calcium, phosphorous and iron. Yummy AND healthy hasn’t come along very often in my lifetime.
I also love Rosemary season. There is something about the smell – like pine but slightly more appetizing – a woodsy pine with just a hint of zesty lemon. The scent is actually thought to function as an antidepressant and has shown to improve concentration and memory.
One might not think that these two powerhouse ingredients would work well together. I thought differently this weekend when I brought both home in my fabric grocery bag from the market. The smells of the few smashed berries that had somehow managed to escape their basket and the strongly scented herb linger in that bag, hours later.
I considered walking around with it on my head all day and then it hit me (literally, with the bag over my head I stubbed my toe on a chair leg). Why risk bumping into things just to have that aromatic combination within my grasp…? Why not simply bake them together…? Make the scent combination into a flavor combination? Ah-ha. The light above my head clicked on. I cleared my schedule and immediately got down to work.
A sweet-savory focaccia was born. I may not be considered the mother of invention, but this has certainly brought me ever-so-slightly closer, I believe. I know you don’t believe me, so you’ll just have to try it for yourself.