Sugar-Free Strawberry Jam

On Sunday I talked about grape jelly. Today it's strawberry jam.

Strawberry Jam

• 8-10 cups strawberries, washed and hulled
• 1-2 boxes low sugar pectin (Sure Jell, Ball, MCP, or whatever is available in your area)
• 1-2 cans apple juice or white grape juice concentrate (100% juice) 

Once your berries are ready, put them in the blender. Depending on how big your blender is, you might have to do it in a couple of batches. Don't puree them, you just want to break them down into small pieces. Of course, this also depends on how you like your strawberry jam. If you like it chunky, just pulse your food processor or blender a couple of times. to get the juice flowing and break up the strawberries.

Once you have this done, put the strawberries in a large stainless steel kettle with 1 box pectin, and bring to a rolling boil. (See the post on Grape Jelly, immediately preceding this one, for other information about home canning.) Add one can of concentrate, return to a boil, and boil for one minute.  Now, taste your concoction to see if it's sweet enough for you. If not, add another can of juice and boil for another minute.

 Once you have it sweet enough, we need to see if the jam will "jell." I wrote about the spoon test last time, but I will repeat it here. Dip a spoon in the jam and place it in the freezer for a minute. (Put it on a plate so that you don't get stuff in the freezer sticky.) Take the spoon out and see how the jam slides off. If it slides off in a sheet, it's ready. I usually just tasted it to see if it was about the right consistency. If it's too soupy, add another half of a box of pectin, boil for another minute, and repeat the spoon test. Once it's the right consistency, you are ready to put it in jars, put the jars in the water bath, and boil away!

*When I made this, I used apple juice concentrate. However, pectin also is made from apple juice, so they might have worked together, because I had a hard time getting it as sweet as I wanted it. Next time, I am going to try white grape juice.

Waffles

Last week was Dona's birthday, and her favorite breakfast is waffles. The waffle recipe I use is pretty good, and we all like it. Whether you put syrup or something else on them, these waffles have nice flavor and are just as good toasted the next day!

Waffles

• 1/2 cup  tapioca flour
• 1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour
• 3/4 cup buckwheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs, separated
• 4 tablespoons melted butter, margarine, or oil
• 1 1/2 cups milk (or 1 1/2 cups water, with 1/4 cup soy milk powder in the dry mix)

Beat the egg whites until stiff and set aside. Mix the dry ingredients together. Beat the egg yolks; add in the melted butter and milk beat to mix. Add in the dry ingredients in thirds, mixing each third in before adding the rest. Once all the dry ingredients are added in, gently fold in the beaten egg whites.

Once this is mixed, add, 1/2 cup at a time, into a waffle iron. Mine takes 4 minutes, but yours might be different.

We topped our waffles with the strawberry filling for the crepes I made for Valentine's Day. Using the same recipe, I also made a blueberry topping. It was good, but I had to add water because the blueberries didn't have as much moisture as the strawberries did.

Valentine's Day Crepes

I know it's past Valentine's Day, and I apologize for being on a bit of a long hiatus. I was sick for a week and have been pretty busy with my job. No excuses, but an explanation.

Anyway, you can use this recipe for the next spousal celebration day or birthday you might need to celebrate. Or, any time you want to impress someone. It's really pretty easy and tastes really good.   This a recipe for your sweetie that will have them eating out of your hand. I found this recipe for crepes over at glutenfreeda.

Dona and Samantha are still raving about it.

Strawberry Sauce

• 10 ounces fresh or frozen strawberries
• 1/4 cup apple juice concentrate (no sugar)
• 1 Tablespoon potato starch, "dissolved" in 1/4 cup water

Hull and quarter the strawberries. Place in a saucepan with the apple juice and the potato starch water. Stir nearly constantly until they simmer and the sauce thickens. If you need it a bit sweeter, you might add a bit of agave syrup.

Crepe Batter

• 1/2 cup gluten-free flour (I used 1/4 cup garbanzo bean and 1/4 cup tapioca flour)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tablespoons melted butter
• Sprinkle of salt

Mix together the flours in a small bowl. In a larger mixing bowl, mix together the wet ingredients. Whisk in the flours, about 1/3 at a time. Put the bowl in the refrigerator and let it set for 30 minutes.

Warm a six-inch non-stick frying pan or crepe pan over medium heat. I usually spray the pan with a light coat of non-stick spray before the first crepe or pancake I make, but after the first one, I usually don't need any more. Pour about 2 tablespoons of the batter (I use an 1/8-cup measuring cup) into the pan, lifting the pan and tilting it so that the bottom of the pan is coated with the batter. Cook until the top is set and the bottom is browning. You might have to sneak under the outer edge with a spatula, because sometimes the edges stick. They will let go, though. Turn the crepe over and brown the other side. Cook the remaining crepes, stacking them on a plate with wax paper between them.

You can see the browning on both top and bottom here.

Assemble the crepes by placing a tablespoon of cream cheese and a tablespoon of strawberry sauce in them.

Roll the crepes around the mixture and then top with a little remaining strawberry sauce, as I have in the picture on the top. Bon Appetite!