Blueberry Grunt - SRC

Secret Recipe Club time, Dear Reader.  The blog selected for me this month is Kudos Kitchen by Renee.  Renee sells awesomely decorated painted glassware and tiles from her home-based business in Illinois.  Renee also cooks and bakes.  You'll have to check out this post to see some amazing painted cookies compared with the same design on ceramic.  Renee provides oodles of delicious-looking non-cookie recipes as well!

Just like peaches are plentiful, blueberries have exploded into the farmer's market.  I  love blueberries!  So much that I brought home 6 pints of the berries ... and I'm the only one in my household that even likes the stuff. So with all those berries needing to be used, like NOW, it made complete sense to search through Renee's recipes, hoping that she'd have at least one of the blueberry persuasion.

I quickly chose her recipe for blueberry grunt.  Isn't that a cool name?  A grunt is a biscuit-topped cobbler made on the stove instead of in it.   As a result, the topping is steamed, rather than baked.

Because it's cooked over a flame, a grunt can be made at a campfire.   But since the idea of sleeping in a tent in 100F temps and 150% humidity with mosquitoes buzzing about is not exactly my idea of fun, I might make this in the future on our gas grill out on the patio.  I use the term might because the gas grill out on the patio needs a replacement part (one of those important ones that prevent gas from leaking ... again).  So this batch was made on my stovetop in my air conditioned kitchen, which not only made it the perfect ending to the meal, it freed up my oven for the main course.

I used coconut milk instead of heavy cream because dinner was meat-based. Since a little fat is needed for a tender crust, avoid using a lighter product like soy, almond or rice milk.  Parve non-dairy liquid creamer might work.  If you try some, please comment below about your results.


Blueberry Grunt
Slightly adapted from Kudos Kitchen by Renee
Yield: 8 - 10 servings

Filling:
4 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (no need to defrost)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 cup water
juice from 1/2 lemon (approx. 1 Tablespoon)

Dumplings:
2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 tsp. table salt
1 Tbl. baking powder
2 tsp. granulated sugar
2 Tbl. vegetable shortening
approx. 1/2 cup coconut milk

confectioners' sugar, for garnish

Rinse blueberries well; drain.  In a medium or large skillet over medium-high heat, combine the first 5 filling ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

Really, REALLY juicy!

Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to boil until the berries pop and the filling is nice and juicy. 

While berries are simmering, mix together the corn starch and water in a small bowl or cup.
Add the starch mixture to the blueberries and stir over low heat until the mixture thickens slightly.  It might look way too liquidy, but will thicken much more later as it cools (and thicken even much more so after leftovers are refrigerated).  Turn off heat; stir in lemon juice.  Let blueberry mixture remain on burner to keep warm.

In a medium bowl mix together the dry dumpling ingredients.   Using 2 tableknives or a pastry blender, cut in the shortening.  Adding the coconut milk by tablespoons until you reach the consistency of a soft, not crumbly, dough.

Drop dough by spoonfuls on top of the hot blueberries.

Blueberry juice splattered a bit.

Cover tightly and cook over medium heat for approximately 15-20 minutes until the dumplings have cooked through. Avoid lifting the cover to prevent steam and heat from escaping.

Remove from heat; uncover to allow grunt to cool slightly.  Serve warm with ice cream or a dusting of powdered sugar if desired.

Disclaimer - because this recipe is part of an online cooking group, the linked recipes below might not be kosher.