So, I have soft spot for berries. They are hand held. They are super concentrated in flavor. They work great in both savory and sweet applications. They preserve well, freeze well, and jam up well. That is, when you’re not doing like Little Sal in the childhood favorite book Blueberries for Sal—eating all the ones you pick so there are none to put away for the winter! (Kerplink, Kerplank, Kerplunk! Into the pail!) Turns out Sally Vargas, who just happens to be one of our regular contributors, has a few things in common with this scenario. She’s been called Sal her whole life and confesses to a soft spot for blueberries, too. And that, among many other reasons, is why she wrote The Blueberry Cookbook (Down East Books, 2019).
Summer Means Blueberries
As someone who spent many years visiting and living in New England, Sally understands that blueberries are part of what makes summer what it is. And if you’ve visited Maine in late July or early August, as she did with her children, you’ve seen and, hopefully, you’ve purchased wild blueberries from people selling them on the sides of highways. These wild ones are eagerly anticipated (and also available frozen from Wyman’s, too, if you can’t get to Maine) and pack a more concentrated flavor. However, this cookbook, which is dedicated to all things blueberry, doesn’t discriminate between wild and cultivated berries. Any blueberry will do. And any time of year will do for making these recipes—you can use frozen ones in many of these recipes.
Jam in the Microwave Is a Thing!
There are many lovely recipes in Sally’s book that incorporate blueberries into muffins, brioche, cobblers, crumbles, scones, ice cream, pies, and so forth. One in particular called out to me—the blueberry jam you make in the microwave. It solves so many problems. Run out of jam for your kids’ PB&J but you’ve got blueberries? Done. Picked berries and you’ve got a surfeit even after the best-laid plans for cooking, preserving, and/or freezing, have been implemented? Got company coming unexpectedly and want their parting gift to be homemade and easy to transport? Or maybe you just don’t want to get all hot and sweaty in your kitchen by making jam. That’s totally understandable. Microwave jam to the rescue, one jar at a time.
Q & A With Sally Vargas
What are your favorite things to do with blueberries?
Pies and galettes—I am a total pie freak!—as well as simple cakes like Sweet Wine Cake, and Berry Skillet Cake. And I wouldn’t turn down a stack of blueberry pancakes.
Do you eat blueberries all year round? I love to pick them in summer and try to freeze half of what I pick!
I do! If I haven’t had the foresight or time to pick and freeze them, I buy frozen ones and stir them into yogurt for breakfast almost every day.
This recipe for blueberry jam in the microwave is such a revelation. It shortcuts the whole process, which is great for people who want to can but don’t have a lot of time. A friend of mine said it felt like “cheating,” because of that! Was this the most surprising use of blueberries?
Yes! I was surprised to find I could make blueberry jam in the microwave. I was in a heated debate with a friend who has a jam company. She felt that microwave jam was an affront to the whole process of jam making, which is all about slowing down and going through the process. While I do enjoy that, I was thrilled with the results you could have in just a few minutes, without a ton of effort, and for a teeny batch, which works for people who don’t want to spend the afternoon in the kitchen or fill their pantry with jars of jam. I especially like the combination of blueberry and raspberry.
Kick Out the Jams! Here Are 5 More!
Microwave Strawberry Jam Easy Microwave Fig Jam Tomato Jam How to Make Jam in the Microwave Rose Hip Jam
This recipe is reproduced with permission from Down East Books, an imprint of Globe Pequot, 2019. To test, dip a spoon into the jam and hold it over the bowl so the jam drops back into the bowl. When the drops off the spoon are thick, rather than runny, the jam is ready. Stir in the vanilla. (I found the jam to be thick and a little gloppy off the spoon—that was the tell. - Carrie)
