Fifty Fun Facts, Issue #4 Berry Recipes - Five Fun Facts |
Highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) Courtesy of Bremner Foods
Tease topic from the last issue of Fun Facts: What plant group provides the strongest antioxidant qualities? a. Berries The answer is d, "Spices"! Clove and cinnamon rank at the top of the antioxidant charts, each with over 200,000 ORAC units per 100 g! The berry group comes next, with acai as the highest ranking berry (103,000 ORAC, new research), black raspberries at 15,000 and blue- or cranberries at 9,000. If you missed it, read our report on ORAC and berry antioxidant rankings here, click! Fun Facts Recipes Thinking of berry recipes at this time of year? Yes, I always do. If you've stored your summer harvest in the freezer or can obtain fresh, frozen or dried berries from your grocer or the internet, inserting berry treats into your Festive Season is a great way to add color, taste and phytonutrients to your diet. Our facts for today come from Janie Hibler's wonderful berry recipe book, The Berry Bible, William Morrow Books, HarperCollins, New York, 2004. Click on the title for your own copy or a wonderful Christmas gift! Lots available at great prices on Amazon.com. Berry Recipes 1. Boysenberry applesauce. Dewberries are the wild blackberry common to the Pacific Northwest USA where Janie grew up and now lives. The flavorful maroon boysenberry is a hybrid of dewberry and red raspberry. Add fresh or thawed boysenberries to warm applesauce for a delicious, nutritious dessert or snack (Berry Bible page 16). 2. Blackberry brandy. Place 4 cups of blackberries or raspberries in a half-gallon glass jar with 3/4 cup sugar, one teaspoon of allspice, one cinnamon stick, 10 cloves and 2 cups of brandy, cover and shake daily over days/weeks/months. Now you're ready to serve something really different -- and even nutritious -- at your Christmas party! Strain before serving. Makes one wonderful berry brandy (page 116). 3. Sauteed berry dessert? You bet -- sautee any berries from the freezer in a pan with melted butter, sprinkle with balsamic vinegar, season with Grand Marnier, then pour over vanilla frozen yogurt (page 311). Wow! 4. Berrissimo! Italian for "the most berries!", create a mound of your favorite berries baked slowly in a rich, creamy custard (page 260). 5. Berry sauce. Need a flavorful pick-me-up for main course meats or leftovers? This chef's trick is your answer. Heat any combination of berries in a saucepan for a few minutes until their juices run. Place in a blender with 1/3 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, puree. Add a few tablespoons of berry dessert wine if available, stir and add a few whole berries for appearance and taste interest (page 187, with a few inventions to this recipe by me!). Janie provides 175 recipes in her book, with 68 full-color pictures of common and rare berries and an encyclopedia of great berry information. I'll visit the book again for a future version of fun facts! Berry good cooking throughout the year to you! Dr. Paul |
