Grandma's Backyard Berries
grandmasbackyardberries@gmail.com
I will be selling berries Saturday July 13, 2013 on the West Side of the West Allis Farmers Market from 1 -> 6:00 PM
My berries have taken over my backyard so it is time to offer them for sale for others to enjoy. I will be at the West Allis Farmers Market for the first time this Summer sharing a booth with Lisa of Fer-Li Farms on some Saturdays. Stop by and taste a sample of currants, and add them to your shopping bag. Berry season is somewhere in July.There will be more details as the berry season progresses and I can pin down a date. You can reach me at the email above or keep an eye on this blog. Nannette - May 30, 2013
History:
Grandma Hessil had a double row patch of berries behind the tool shed on the family operated dairy farm just down the road from the crossroads of Morgan Wisconsin. There were raspberries and two kinds of currants, red and golden. Grandpa kept the runners and weeds under control by laying craft paper feed bags on the ground along side and between the rows. Some of my earliest memories were picking currents from the bushes. I thought the raspberries were not worth the trouble of dealing with the thorns. The raspberries Grandma picked were best eaten for breakfast with raw cream from the barn and a sprinkle of sugar.
We bought our house in a Milwaukee county suburb of West Allis, Wisconsin the Spring of 1987 and immediately put in the same types of berries Grandma Hessil grew.
I planted the Boyne and Latham raspberry varieties. Boyne are easy to grow and the Lathams tasted like Grandma's berries. Berries grown in my Grandma's back yard always bring back happy childhood memories of Summer.
The raspberry patch has grown from 20' of raspberries behind the garage, [note the historical repeat] to a mixture of raspberries on 3 sides of the garage and some of the Latham variety that grew back under the power pole after the telephone company service guys stomped on them. The varieties include red, yellow and the thorny black raspberries. Every year it is a surprise to see which berries out produce the other and which berries do not do well in my yard.
There is also the rabbit issue. Raspberries produce berries on second year canes. Rabbits like to munch on these canes during the winter. This translates into wonderful potential for a Summer crop going into the Winter. Devastation of the canes noticed the following Spring along with the fattest bunnies running around my yard. One more reason to favor currants.
The currants were not forgotten. Three bushes of the variety Red Lake filled in a corner between the house and the garage. This century I added a single bush of the golden variety called Champagne.
Fresh currants should not be confused with the 'poser dried grapes sold in the supermarkets. Fresh currants are ribes and first cousins of gooseberries. They are pretty much pest free, with the exception of aphids that crinkle up the leaves, but not enough of a nuisance to worry about because they do not damage the berries. This makes it easy to grow currants without using any pest control for insects or diseases.
Currants have a unique flavor with a tartness that works well with lemon. Both red and golden currants can be eaten out of hand. It is not uncommon to find my nieces grazing on the bushes in my back yard when the berries are ripe.
There are two well known methods of preserving currants, jelly and wine the Northern Wisconsin wineries bottle. I have been working on recipes that bring these berries into mainstream cooking.
How to use:
The knack to using currants in cooking is understanding they are a tart berry that can go both sweet or savory.
- Toss a handful into tuna salad.
- Swap out 1/2 the rhubarb with red currants in a rhubarb pie.
- Mix red and golden currants with raspberries in your favorite berry dessert, although ease up on the cinnamon as currants are a delicate flavor.
- Make it into a simple syrup (don't forget to strain out the seeds) and stir it into plain seltzer water.
The one drawback with currants is the large single seed in each berry. Think pomegranate. I've found three ways to handle the seeds.
1- Sieve them out as you would for jelly.
2- Include chopped nuts with your recipe and no one will notice the seeds.
3- Just let the seeds be seeds.
Recipes:
Currant Lemon Sauce
2 C. fresh or frozen red currants
1/4 C sugar
juice from a lemon (reserve 1/2)
1 T. fresh lemon peel
Bring all the ingredients, except the reserved lemon juice, to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir at the boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and add the remaining lemon juice. This yeilds about a cup of sauce. Keep in the fridge once it cools down.
- Put it over pound cake.
- Mix it with plain yogurt.
- Use it as a glaze over grilled chicken or pork chops.
- Serve it over Ice Cream.
Currant Lemon Almond Quick Bread
Toast 1 C coarsely chopped almonds in a dry fry pan and set aside.
Mix together and set aside:
2 1/2 C all purpose wheat flour (I've actually substituted 1/2 the wheat flour with gluten free rice flour and the recipe did not suffer)
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
Whisk together:
1 C softened butter
3 eggs
1/3 C sugar
1 1/4 C plain Greek Style yogurt
juice from 1 lemon
Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until almost mixed then fold in 1 C fresh or frozen red currants and the chopped toasted almonds.
Pour into an oiled bread pan and sprinkle the top with 1 t sugar. Bake at 350° F between 45 minutes to an hour. Use a toothpick to test for doneness. Then let it rest in the pan until just cool enough to handle with bare hands and turn it out of the pan.
This bread does not last a day in my home.
You could use the batter to make muffins. Adjust the cooking time. I have not tried it yet, so I cannot give a yield.
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Future plans:
There is a new hedge planted on the lot line of our getaway home that has a 5 varieties of currants and 3 varieties of gooseberries. Grandma Hessil never grew gooseberries, but I am going to give it a whirl. It will take a few years for the hedge to produce. My hope is to grow the love of currants and gooseberries along with the hedge. Who knows, maybe a few rows will follow in time.
Below is the hedge on the day it was planted May 11, 2013. Yes, that is snow.
Below is what the hedge looked like 2 weeks later right after the lawn was mowed.
This must be the reason it is called SPRING!
Currant Recipes
Currant Buckle
This recipe came about when I saw instructions for making blueberry buckle in a church cookbook. I did not have butter or blueberries, I was short on milk, and it looked like there was more sugar than I'm used to eating. The result was on the table when I left to run errands and gone when I returned.
Whisk together:
2/3 C sugar
1 egg
1/4 C oil
3/4 C plain fat free Greek yogurt
Mix together:
2C flour
2 1/2 t baking powder
Whisk the flour mixture into the liquid mixture then fold 2 C of Currants into the entire very thick batter.
Spread the batter into a 9 X 9" baking pan.
Mix:
1/2 C chopped Almonds
2 T sugar
Sprinkle on top of the batter in the pan and bake at 375°F for 45 minutes.
My girlfriend Clara mentioned she had a currant pie recipe. Then she looked into her collection and found 2. See them below.
Currant Pie
makes one 9 inch pie
1 unbaked 9 inch pastry shell
1 cup fresh ripe currants
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup minute tapioca
1 tablespoon water
Wash
currants stem. Beat eggs slightly add sugar, salt, tapioca, water once
mixed add the currants. Pour into pie shell. Bake in moderate oven
350°F for 35 minuets. If you like you can add lattice top crust.
Watch carefully so it does not boil over. Cool and enjoy.
Here is another from my "The United States Regional Cook Book"copyright 1947 first published in 1939
Another Recipe from Clara:
Currant Fritters
2 cups scalding milk
2 cups fine bread crumbs
1 tablespoon butter
5 eggs separated
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups fresh currants
Pour
got milk over crumbs and butter or other shortening, mix well let
cool. Beat egg yolks well and add to milk and crumbs mixture. Sift dry
ingredients together and beat into first mixture. Add currants, fold in
stiffly beaten egg whites and drop by spoonfuls into hot deep fat
(365°F). Fry until golden brown, drain on a cake rack and then between
layers of absorbent paper. Serve hot with a mixture of wine and
confectioners sugar. Serves 8
Fitters
of all kinds are very popular in New England all the year except in the
very hottest weather. They are served with meat and vegetables.
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