I’m posting several videos of fun blueberry recipes today. Here’s the first:
Tags: blueberries, cooking with blueberries, blueberry desserts, blueberry turnovers, baking with blueberries
Tag Archive | blueberries
Blueberry Pie Recipe from “My Mother’s Footsteps” Blog
I found this really cool blueberry pie recipe posted on My Mother’s Footsteps blog and decided to re-post it for all of us blueberry lovers everywhere. I think the author of the blog is perhaps from the UK. She expressed how fascinated she has always been with the idea of blueberry pie, and stated they didn’t have things like that where she is from. But I couldn’t find out exactly where she is blogging from. I’m guessing the UK from photos I saw on her blog. At any rate, she posted a very thorough pie recipe. Enjoy!
Leigh, webmistress, for Hazen’s Riverside Blueberries
Blue Berry Pie
Posted on May 10, 2013 by Beckerling
I’ve heard that America is just how we imagine it. With large McDonalds, Wendy’s and krisy cream doughnuts. I heard that diners actually exist, and so does blueberry pie. I have always been fascinated by blue berry pie. We just don’t have anything that is really similar. Blueberry pie, chocolate pie… I know about savory pie, with flaky pastry.
Normally when I make something, or bake something, I never really eat much of it. But I ate three slices of this for pudding. Then ate some more the next day. And some more. It was tart, sweet, sour, amazing. The pastry was like a fuit mince pie type pastry. I can’t explain that shortcrust taste.
I am not going to try and duplicate the method here. Both the pie and crust I got from Simply Recipe. Going to copy and paste here:
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar (increase to 1 1/2 teaspoons if for a sweet recipe)
- 8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 3 to 4 Tbsp ice water, very cold
Method
1 The minute you even think you might want to make a pie crust, cut up a stick of butter into smallish (about 1/2-inch) cubes, and put it into the freezer. The colder the butter the better luck you’ll have with creating a flaky crust. Freeze the butter at least 15 minutes, better an hour, best overnight. (I usually keep cubed butter in the freezer ready to go for making pie crusts.)
2 Place the flour, salt, and sugar into a food processor and pulse until well combined. Add half of the butter cubes and pulse 6 to 8 times. Then add the other half of the butter cubes and pulse 6 to 8 more times. You should have a mixture that resembles a coarse meal, with many butter pieces the size of peas.
3 Add a couple of tablespoons of ice cold water (without the ice!) to the food processor bowl and pulse a couple of times. Then add more ice water, slowly, about a tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition, until the mixture just barely begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it’s ready, if not, add a little more water and pulse again. Try to keep the water to a minimum. Too much water will make your crust tough.
4 Remove the crumbly mixture from the food processor and place on a very clean, smooth surface. If you want an extra flaky crust, you can press the heel of your palm into the crumbly mixture, pressing down and shmooshing the mixture into the table top. This is a French technique, called “fraisage”. Do this a few times, maybe 4 to 6 times, and it will help your crust be extra flaky. Then, use your hands to press the crumbly dough together and shape into a disc. Work the dough only enough to just bring the dough together. Do not over-knead or your crust will end up tough. You should be able to see little bits of butter, speckling the dough. When these bits of butter melt as the crust cooks, the butter will help separate the dough into flaky layers. So, visible pieces of butter are a good thing, what you are aiming for, in the dough. Sprinkle the disc with a little flour on all sides. Wrap the disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour. (At this point you can freeze the dough disk for several months until ready to use. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before proceeding.)
5 When you are ready to roll out the dough, remove the disk from the refrigerator and place on a clean, smooth, lightly floured surface. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes to take just enough of a chill off of it so that it becomes easier to roll out. Sprinkle some flour on top of the disk. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a 12 inch circle, to a thickness of about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. Add a few sprinkles of flour if necessary to keep the dough from sticking. Place on to a 9-inch pie plate, lining up the fold with the center of the pan. Gently unfold and press down to line the pie dish with the dough.
Yield: Makes 1 pâte brisée crust, enough for one tart.
Filling ingredients:
- 6 cups (about 2 1/4 pounds or 1 kilo) of fresh (or frozen) blueberries, rinsed and stems removed (if using frozen, defrost and drain first)
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup (about 30g) all-purpose flour (for thickening)
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar (100g)
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 Tbsp butter (unsalted), cut into small pieces
Egg wash ingredients:
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
Method
1 Prepare the crust. Roll out half of the dough to 1/8-inch-thick circle on a lightly floured work surface, about 13 inches in diameter. Fit the dough over a 9-inch pie pan, and trim the edges to a 1/2 inch over the edge all around the pan. Put into the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes.
2 Gently mix the blueberries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a large bowl. Transfer them to the chilled bottom crust of the pie pan. Dot with butter pieces. Roll out remaining dough to the same size and thickness as the first. Place on top of the berry filling. Tuck the top dough over and under the edge of the bottom dough, and crimp the edges with your fingers. Transfer the pie to the refrigerator to chill until the dough is firm, about 30 minutes. Heat oven to 425°F.
3 Whisk egg and milk together to make an egg wash.
4 Remove the unbaked pie from refrigerator. Brush the top with egg wash. Score the pie on the top with 4 cuts (so steam can escape while cooking). Place the pie on the middle rack of the oven with a parchment paper or Silpat lined baking pan positioned on the lower rack to catch any filling that may bubble over. Bake for 20 minutes at 425°. Reduce heat to 350°F and bake for 30 to 40 minutes more or until juices are bubbling and have thickened. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Let cool completely before serving.
Yield: Makes one pie with 8 servings.
More Good News for Blueberry Lovers: Blueberries Cut Type-2 Diabetes Risk
Re-blogged from the BBC news website on 29 August 2013
Blueberries, not fruit juice, cut type-2 diabetes risk
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23880701
Blueberries and apples contain high levels of anthocyanins
Eating more fruit, particularly blueberries, apples and grapes, is linked to a reduced risk of developing type-2 diabetes, suggests a study in the British Medical Journal.
Blueberries cut the risk by 26% compared with 2% for three servings of any whole fruit – but fruit juice did not appear to have the same effect.
The research looked at the diets of more than 187,000 people in the US.
But Diabetes UK said the results of the study should be treated with caution.
Researchers from the UK, US and Singapore used data from three large studies of nurses and health professionals in the US to examine the link between fruit consumption and the risk of contracting type-2 diabetes.
Continue reading the main story
What is type-2 diabetes?
Diabetes is an incurable condition in which the body cannot control blood sugar levels, because of problems with the hormone insulin.
In type-2 diabetes, either the pancreas cells do not make enough insulin, or the body’s cells do not react properly to it. This is known as insulin resistance.
In these studies, 6.5% of participants (12,198 out of 187,382) developed type-2 diabetes.
The studies used food frequency questionnaires to follow up the participants every four years, asking how often, on average, they ate a standard portion of each fruit.
The fruits used in the study were grapes or raisins, peaches, plums or apricots, prunes, bananas, cantaloupe, apples or pears, oranges, grapefruit, strawberries and blueberries.
The researchers’ analysis of the data showed that three servings per week of blueberries, grapes and raisins, and apples and pears significantly reduced the risk of type-2 diabetes.
While all fruit was shown to reduce the risk, these fruits appeared to be particularly effective.
The researchers said this could be due to the fact these fruits contain high levels of anthocyanins, which have been shown to enhance glucose uptake in mice. The same fruits contain naturally-occurring polyphenols which are known to have beneficial effects.
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“The juicing process gets rid of the fruit, just leaving fluids which are absorbed more quickly.”
Prof Qi Sun Harvard Medical School
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In the study paper, they wrote: “Fruits have highly variable contents of fibre, antioxidants, other nutrients, and phyto-chemicals that jointly may influence the risk.”
But the glycaemic load of different types of fruit – the quality and quantity of carbohydrate they contain – did not fully explain the results, the study said.
Juice effectWhen they looked at the effects of fruit juice consumption, the researchers found a slightly increased risk of type-2 diabetes.
The study calculated that replacing weekly fruit juice consumption with whole fruits could bring health benefits.
For example, replacing fruit juice with blueberries could reduce the risk of contracting type-2 diabetes by 33%, with grapes and raisins by 19%, apples and pears by 13% – and with any combination of whole fruit by 7%.
Replacing fruit juice with oranges, peaches, plums and apricots had a similar effect.
Qi Sun, study author and assistant professor at Harvard School of Public Health, said, in general, fruit juices contained less of the beneficial compounds found in whole fruits.
Whole fruits are preferable to fruit juice, the study says
“The juicing process gets rid of the fruit, just leaving fluids which are absorbed more quickly, causing blood sugars and insulin levels to rise if they contain sugars.
“To try to minimise the risk of type-2 diabetes as much as possible it is reasonable to reduce fruit juice consumption and increase consumption of whole fruits.”
Experts say the best way to reduce your risk of developing type-2 diabetes is to eat a balanced, healthy diet that includes a variety of fruits and vegetables and to be as physically active as possible.
‘Unreliable’Dr Matthew Hobbs, head of research for Diabetes UK, said the study provided further evidence that eating plenty of whole fruit was a key part of the balanced diet that will minimize the risk of developing type-2 diabetes.
However, he said the links between type-2 diabetes and specific types of fruit or fruit drinks should be treated with caution.
“Some of the findings are based on a number of assumptions and models which may have distorted the results significantly.
“For example, the researchers used surveys to ask participants how often they ate certain foods. This type of survey can often be unreliable as people are more likely to remember certain types of food.”
Kamlesh Khunti, professor of primary care diabetes and vascular medicine at the University of Leicester, said the large study showed that eating any fruit is good.
“Eating all kinds of fruit works and there is still a reduction in risk.
“The government recommends eating five portions of fruit and vegetables every day.”
Recipe: Best Blueberry Pancakes EVER!
Tags: best blueberry pancakes ever, blueberry pancakes, cooking with blueberries, blueberry recipes, baking with blueberries, homemade blueberry turnovers, blueberries, Hazens Riverside Blueberries, Coquille Oregon blueberry farm, U-Pick blueberries south coast oregon
Recipe: Homemade Blueberry Turnovers by Laura Vitale
Also ….
Tags: cooking with blueberries, blueberry recipes, baking with blueberries, homemade blueberry turnovers, blueberries, Hazens Riverside Blueberries, Coquille Oregon blueberry farm, U-Pick blueberries south coast oregon
Hazen's Riverside Blueberries Coquille Oregon 