One Hungry Mama

June 19th, 2009

All-Purpose Blueberry Puree (For Smoothies, Pops, Grilled Chops, and More)

This blueberry puree is the kind of recipe you end up throwing into everything. It takes 5 minutes and will keep in the fridge for up to a week. Once sweet, in-season blueberries hit the market, I like to have this stuff around all the time. Some ways that we gobble this down include:

• Frozen into popsicles (add a little water to this basic recipe and freeze plain, mixed with other fruit puree, or with plain yogurt or kefir)
• Mixed into pancake batter (add a little water if it makes your pancake mix thicker than you usually like)
• Rolled into crepes (to make a filling: cook this basic recipe plus 2 tsp cornstarch in saucepan until thick; use plain or mixed with farmer’s cheese, a little extra sugar, and a dash of vanilla)
• Poured over plain yogurt or oatmeal
• As a sauce for grilled chicken or pork chops (cook down with chicken broth, a little olive oil, dijon, and, if you like, some white wine; season with salt and pepper)
• As a glaze for grilled or broiled salmon (if all diners are 12+ mos, substitute honey for sugar in this basic recipe and mix with balsamic, salt, and pepper; if mixture needs thinning, use chicken stock)
• Mixed in with a basic risotto (add mascarpone and chives at the end)

How will you use this?

All-Purpose Blueberry Puree
(can be adapted for kids 8+ mos)

1 cup organic blueberries
1 tsp fresh squeezed organic lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp organic cane sugar
2 tbsp water
pinch cardamom or cinnamon, whatever your preference

1. Add everything to a blender and blend until very smooth. If you’ll be serving to a child under 12 mos, start by pureeing berries, water, and only 1/2 of the sugar called for. Pull out baby’s portion before adding more sugar (if you like it sweet like us!) and lemon juice. Depending on how much you pull out, you may have to adjust measurements. Use your taste buds as your guide.

Note: This makes about 3/4 cup of puree. This is enough to make a sauce for chicken or to add to risotto for a family of 4, but you’ll want to increase the recipe if making something like popsicles, especially if you’re not mixing it with anything else.