Food for Thought
Archives Spring/Summer 2007

Story Highlights
• Berries make it easy to bring dessert to the table
• Nutritious and great-tasting, berries are great sources of vitamin C
• The dirt on growing berries in your own yard

Nothing foretells of the warm days ahead like sweet, ripe strawberries. Before long, it’s picking time for blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, too. And that means mouth-watering cobblers, flavorful jams, tasty sorbets and scrumptious pies.

Fortunately for berry-lovers, you don’t need to be a master gardener or have a lot of land to try your hand at berry growing. Many gardeners maintain small but successful berry patches in their own back yards.

“It’s surprising how much fruit you can grow in a small area,” says Hector Black, owner of Hidden Springs Orchard in Cookeville, Tenn.

But berry plants need to be properly cared for and pruned, he warns.

“They can grow to be 15 feet if you let them. You’ll have a regular jungle if you’re not careful.”

Not only are berries delicious to eat, they’re also extremely nutritious. All berries are terrific sources of vitamin C, fiber and folic acid, and blueberries are particularly rich in antioxidants, which aid in the prevention of heart disease, cancer and stroke.

If you’d rather purchase fresh berries, many farms offer pick-your-own fruit (visit pickyourown.org), which often provide cheaper and fresher berries than the store-bought variety. Or head for your local farmer’s market (check out farmersmarket.com) and support area farms while getting your berry fix.

Story by Jessica Mozo

Blue-Ribbon Blueberry Crumb Cake

• 1 pint blueberries (2 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• Tangy Yogurt Cream (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a round 10-by-1 1/2-inch baking dish or a 10-inch springform pan.

In a medium bowl, toss the blueberries with the lemon zest. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of the flour with the sugar. Using your fingertips, rub or cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Set 1 1/2 cups of the mixture aside for the crumb topping.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/4 cup flour with the baking soda and mix well. Add to the mealy mixture in the large bowl and rub in until incorporated.

In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg. Stir in the yogurt and lemon juice. Add to the dry ingredients in the large bowl and stir briefly with a wooden spoon until well blended. Fold in 1 cup of the blueberries.

Spread the batter in the prepared dish and scatter the remaining 1 1/2 cups of blueberries on top. Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture over the blueberries.

Set the dish on a cookie sheet and bake in the middle of the oven for about an hour, or until the crumbs are golden and a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature with the Tangy Yogurt Cream on the side.

Tangy Yogurt Cream

• 1 cup heavy cream, chilled
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt

In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients and beat until stiff. Transfer the cream to a serving bowl and refrigerate, covered, for at least 30 minutes.

Recipe courtesy of Food & Wine

Watermelon & Raspberry Sorbet

• 1 cup water
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 4 1/2 cups watermelon, chopped (about a 2 1/2 pound piece with seeds and rind discarded)
• 4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup fresh raspberries

In a saucepan, make a sugar syrup by simmering water with sugar, stirring until sugar dissolves.

In a blender, puree watermelon. Add sugar syrup, lemon juice and 1/2 cup of raspberries, and continue to puree. Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on solids.

Cover mixture and chill until cold (about 2 hours), then freeze mixture in an ice-cream maker (following manufacturer’s instructions).

Serve scoops garnished with remaining 1/2 cup of raspberries. Makes 5 cups.

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