Question For Cooks

[bartfull]

I'm starting to get my sweet tooth back and I'd like to do something with blueberries. I can't have wheat OR corn, and am trying to stay low carb right now too.

I'm not much of a cook, but I was thinking that if I cooked my bluberries on the stove and thickened them with gelatin, I should be able to make a sort of blueberry jam, right? But I'd like something crunchy with it.

I was thinking, (yeah, I know it sounds crazy) maybe I could crumble a few Kettle Brand chips and sprinkle them in. I mean, yeah, they're salty, but even pie crust is a little salty. I know I could put some almonds or pecans in there too, but I'm staying away from nuts for now. (Not sure if it's just the fiber, but they seem to bother me.)

I was even thinking i could make a sort of rice pudding, but use brown rice and replace the raisins (YUCK!) with bluberries. I don't think cinnamon would taste good with blueberries though. What should I use instead?

Thanks for the help. I NEED it!

[Roda]

If you can do eggs you can bake with coconut flour. It is low carb and lots of fiber. I make banana muffins all the time out of it so it would be easy to make something with blueberries.

[Maggie Mermaid]

Real Simple magazine had a really simple and tasty blueberry jam recipe that only has 4 ingredients and NO pectin or gelatin: Open Original Shared Link

Although I did start off with half of the sugar called for in the recipe & it tasted sweet enough for us.

We put it on brown rice cakes or stirred into plain yogurt for a nice snack.

[love2travel]

In order to make blueberry jam or jelly you would not necessarily need gelatin as they have quite a lot of pectin anyway. Let me know if you want recipes - I make all sorts of jams, jellies, chutneys, relishes, syrups, etc. all the time. I make blueberry basil simple syrup, vinegars... Try boiling blueberries with some sugar for several minutes until thickened; add some lemon (or lime) juice and zest and bring to a boil. Boil until thick.

If you were to add chips to the "jam" they would not remain crunchy for long and become a soggy mess as they are so thin. And you are staying away from nuts. Tough one. You could make a rice pudding with some blueberry sauce (easy peasy) and toss on some cacao nibs (pure chocolate) for a bit of crunch. You could crumble on some homemade shortbread or sugar cookie chunks (or purchased). Ginger also goes well with blueberries - even candied ginger.

Cinnamon DOES go well with blueberries but you know what goes best with them? Lemon. So, you could make a lemon curd if you can have dairy. A fab dessert that is EASY is making pavlova (a meringue) - the inside stays chewy and pillowy - the outside becomes crisp. Then you throw on some sort of whipped cream or curd and top with berries. Or Eton Mess (lots of recipes online).

I frequently make blueberry smoothies with flax seed for crunch.

[pricklypear1971]

Or just make some pancakes, waffles or crepes and Put the blueberry sauce on it. Top with whipped cream (or not).

If you put just a bit of sugar or honey it will be pretty thick, depending on how juicy the berries are.

Don't "can" the blueberries without using a tested method; don't alter the sugar ratio for canning. That can render preservation useless and kill you.

There are some freezer jam recipes that you may like. Look them up. Ball has free recipes on their site, I believe.

[bartfull]

Thanks everybody! I didn't know the bluberries would thicken on their own. This is going to be easier than I thought. I won't be making enough to can because it's really hard to get good bluberries here. They won't grow in the soil here in the Black Hills so I have to buy them. A while back they had some on sale at our local grocer. First day of the sale, I went in to buy some and they were already moldy! I did manage to get some at a later date and they were OK. I put them in my freezer knowing I didn't know how to cook with them. (Now I do!)

Because I'm trying to stay low carb for a while, I won't be making pancakes soon. I'm thinking when I DO go back to eating carbs, they would taste so good on homemade biscuits. In the meantime, I guess I'll have to use styrofoam, I mean ricecakes. But I've GOT to try the potato chips, at least once. If I put them in right before I eat it, they should stay crunchy. Heck, those Kettle chips are so crunchy you could break a tooth on them - they'd probably hold up to the blueberries.

I know, I'm wierd. But you know, long before you could get chocolate covered bacon and the like, I discovered that grilled steak and hot fudge are WONDERFUL together. Before those chocolate oranges you can get at the holidays came out, I was eating hot fudge sundaes with orange sherbert. Someone has to be the food guinea pig, and seeing I can't cook, I guess it's me.

[love2travel]

Thanks everybody! I didn't know the bluberries would thicken on their own. This is going to be easier than I thought. I won't be making enough to can because it's really hard to get good bluberries here. They won't grow in the soil here in the Black Hills so I have to buy them. A while back they had some on sale at our local grocer. First day of the sale, I went in to buy some and they were already moldy! I did manage to get some at a later date and they were OK. I put them in my freezer knowing I didn't know how to cook with them. (Now I do!)

Because I'm trying to stay low carb for a while, I won't be making pancakes soon. I'm thinking when I DO go back to eating carbs, they would taste so good on homemade biscuits. In the meantime, I guess I'll have to use styrofoam, I mean ricecakes. But I've GOT to try the potato chips, at least once. If I put them in right before I eat it, they should stay crunchy. Heck, those Kettle chips are so crunchy you could break a tooth on them - they'd probably hold up to the blueberries.

I know, I'm wierd. But you know, long before you could get chocolate covered bacon and the like, I discovered that grilled steak and hot fudge are WONDERFUL together. Before those chocolate oranges you can get at the holidays came out, I was eating hot fudge sundaes with orange sherbert. Someone has to be the food guinea pig, and seeing I can't cook, I guess it's me.

You're not strange - there are some combinations that appear strange but make sense from a culinary standpoint (i.e. beef with chocolate). I always add chocolate to my chili con carne (akin to a mole sauce); I make a mean gorgonzola chocolate sauce for beef and potatoes; I brush bacon with maple syrup; make shrimp and chocolate mousse; I make blueberry gastrique for venison; pomegranate glaze for quail; and so on. Chocolate and orange is an old traditional classic combination that goes back hundreds of years. Adding smoky chile to brownies is decadent - same with roasted garlic ice cream.

So, you are going to use Kettle chips - I was wondering which chips you would try that would be thick enough! I know what you mean about crunch. My palate craves crunch and crispness and I enjoy the juxtoposition of that with something velvety smooth like a souffle with parmesan tuiles or dacquoise (hazelnut buttercream with layers of chocolate, vanilla and chocolate meringues...).