Montana Huckleberry Recipes, Sweet and Savory

What do you do with a huckleberry once you have some?

Most people know the answer for pancakes and stop there. Huckleberries carry more acid than a blueberry and a deeper, almost wine-like flavor, which makes them work against salt and fat in a way blueberries cannot. They belong next to elk and bison as much as next to ice cream, and that is the half most people never try.

Three preparations follow. The first is the one everything else builds on.

Huckleberry Syrup

Make this once and you will find uses for it all week. It goes on pancakes, into soda water, over vanilla ice cream, and into the pan sauce further down this page.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups. 5 minutes to prepare, 20 to cook.

• 2 cups huckleberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• A pinch of salt

1. Combine the berries, sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
2. Bring to a gentle simmer and hold it there for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until the berries have broken down and the liquid coats the back of a spoon.
3. Take it off the heat and stir in the lemon juice and salt. The lemon keeps the color bright and the salt keeps it from tasting flat.
4. Strain through a fine sieve for a clear syrup, or leave the fruit in for something closer to a sauce.
5. Cool, then refrigerate in a sealed jar. It keeps about two weeks.

No berries on hand? Warm our syrup with a squeeze of lemon and you are most of the way there.

Quick Huckleberry Compote

Faster than jam and better than jam for anything you are eating today. No pectin, no canning, no thermometer.

Makes about 1 cup. 15 minutes start to finish.

• 2 cups huckleberries, fresh or frozen
• 1/3 cup sugar, or less if the berries are sweet
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon cold butter, optional

1. Put the berries, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, pressing about half the berries against the side of the pan with a spoon and leaving the rest whole. The contrast in texture is the whole point.
3. Pull it off the heat, stir in the zest, and swirl in the cold butter if you want it glossy.
4. Serve warm over pancakes, waffles, yogurt, cheesecake, or a wedge of sharp cheddar.

That last one surprises people. A spoon of warm compote beside an aged cheddar does the same job a fruit paste does on a cheese board.

Huckleberry Pan Sauce for Elk or Bison

Huckleberries earn their place outside dessert right here. Game meat is lean and mineral-heavy, and a sauce with enough acid in it does more for a steak than butter alone ever will.

Serves 4. About 10 minutes, made in the pan you cooked the meat in.

• 1/2 cup huckleberries, or 1/3 cup huckleberry syrup
• 1/2 cup dry red wine or beef stock
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons cold butter, cut in pieces
• Salt and black pepper

1. Cook your elk or bison steaks and move them to a plate to rest. Leave the drippings in the pan.
2. Lower the heat to medium, add the shallot, and cook about a minute until it softens.
3. Pour in the wine or stock and scrape the bottom of the pan, then add the berries, vinegar and thyme.
4. Simmer 4 to 5 minutes until it reduces by about half and the berries collapse.
5. Off the heat, whisk in the cold butter one piece at a time until the sauce turns glossy. Fish out the thyme, season, and spoon it over the rested meat.

Any resting juices on the plate go back into the pan. That is free flavor and people pour it down the sink every day.

Working with huckleberries

Do not thaw frozen berries before cooking. They release less liquid and hold more shape going into the pan frozen, and thawed berries turn to mush before the sugar has done anything.

Go easier on the sugar than a blueberry recipe tells you to. Huckleberries are more acidic and more assertive, and burying that under sugar wastes what makes them worth the price.

Always add acid at the end. Lemon juice or vinegar stirred in off the heat keeps the color from going brown and keeps the flavor from going flat, and heat drives off the brightness you are adding.

What goes with huckleberry

On the sweet side, vanilla, cream, almond, lemon, and dark chocolate. Cheesecake, shortcake, and anything with a buttery crumb.

On the savory side, and this is the more interesting half: elk, bison, duck, pork, aged cheddar, blue cheese, rosemary, thyme, black pepper, and balsamic. If a pairing works with cherry, it will usually work with huckleberry.

Questions we get

Can I use blueberries instead? You can, and it will be a blueberry dish. Blueberries carry less acid and less perfume, so cut the sugar back and add extra lemon if you are substituting.

Where do I get huckleberries? Nobody farms them. They resist cultivation, so every huckleberry is picked wild, which is why the season is short and the price is what it is. Frozen berries work in all three recipes here, and our jam and syrup work when berries are not available at all.

How long does the syrup keep? About two weeks refrigerated in a sealed jar, and several months frozen. Freeze it in an ice cube tray and you have single servings.

Do I need to strain the syrup? Only if you want it clear for drinks. Left unstrained it is a sauce, and for pancakes the sauce is better.

Where to find us

Chalet Market of Montana, 6410 Jackrabbit Ln, Belgrade, MT 59714. Call us at (406) 388-4687, or browse the huckleberry shelf.