Using fruit for a Mother’s Day treat healthful and delicious

Mary Wilson, a registered dietitian and extension nutrition specialist with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, said if you think there has been more buzz about berries in recent years, that’s because there has been. Berry growers are touting the fact that their crops are higher in antioxidants than most other fruits and vegetables.

Wilson said that’s because of the berries’ phytochemicals — especially the anthocyanin pigments, which happen to give berries their jewel-like blue, purple and red colors.

"They’re antioxidants that fight cell damage, so they’ve been found to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease," she said.

Wilson said animal studies have shown that berries appear to help improve memory and other brain functions. One study, she said, found that just 5 ounces of berries — a little more than a half-cup — can reduce high blood sugar and blood pressure. After just eight weeks, she said, there was an increase in HDL — "good" cholesterol — and reduction in "sticky blood" similar to the effect that’s achieved by taking aspirin.

And berries’ versatility makes them easy to work into the diet. Catherine Margles, president and founder of the Creative Cooking School, said berries can be served simply with a little sugar, and maybe some water to keep them moist.

Something that fathers can do with kids for Mother’s Day is a parfait, she said, with berries layered with other foods.

"You don’t even have to do much cooking," Margles said. "You can get Cool Whip or whatever and layer it with granola."

If you’re feeling a little more ambitious, she suggests red berries cooked with red wine, or raspberries with raspberry liqueur. Berries and zabaglione — a wine-laced Italian custard — is a regular feature at the school, she said.

"Or make pound cake fancy," by adding a little powdered sugar and surrounding it with berries, she said.

Wilson said one of the few downsides of berries is that they spoil quickly, especially raspberries. She suggests placing them dry, unwashed, on a cookie sheet and freezing them, then sealing them in plastic bags, to be eaten within a year. Frozen berries can get mushy, so Wilson adds them to a dish frozen, because they thaw so quickly.

"Sprinkle them in a fruit salad and they add such pretty colors," she said.

If you’re feeling ambitious, consider planting your own berries for a future Mother’s Day dish. Bob Morris, area extension specialist in horticulture with Cooperative Extension, said blackberries such as the Rosborough and Womack varieties do well here.

He added that two varieties of blackberries are being tested at Cooperative Extension’s experimental orchard in North Las Vegas, and strawberries were studied there a few years ago. The strawberries that seem to do best in this climate, he said, are old-fashioned varieties such as Quinault and Fort Laramie.

"Generally speaking, they’ll do better in the downtown area, where there’s a lot of protection from buildings and a lot more radiated heat in the spring and fall," he said.

Morris said the orchard experimented with raspberries without much luck, but have heard reports from locals who are able to grow them, so plans are in the works to try again.

Here are some recipes to try with berries coming into season now.

LEMON-POPPY SEED WAFFLES WITH BLUEBERRY SAUCE

For sauce:

1 pound frozen blueberries, thawed, undrained

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons apple juice

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

For waffles:

11/2 cups all-purpose flour

6 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

11/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

11/4 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

To make sauce, bring blueberries, 1/2 cup apple juice and sugar to boil in heavy medium saucepan. Simmer over medium heat until reduced to 2 cups, about 15 minutes. Dissolve 1 tablespoon cornstarch in remaining 2 tablespoons apple juice and add to blueberry mixture. Add lemon juice. Bring to boil, stirring constantly; simmer until thick, about 1 minute. Cool slightly. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium-low heat before serving.)

To make waffles, whisk first six ingredients in a large bowl to blend. Whisk eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and lemon peel in small bowl to blend. Add buttermilk mixture all at once to flour mixture and whisk until just blended. Let mixture stand 15 minutes.

Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer’s instructions. Spoon batter onto waffle iron. Cover and cook until golden and cooked through, about 7 minutes (cooking time will vary, depending on waffle iron). Repeat with remaining batter. Serve immediately with warm blueberry sauce.

Serves 4.

— Recipe from Bon Appetit magazine

FRESH STRAWBERRIES WITH SWEET SOUR CREAM AND RED WINE SAUCE

3 cups full-bodied red wine

11/2 cups sugar

4 to 5 (1 inch wide, 3 inches long) strips orange peel

1/4 orange-flavored liqueur (recommended: Grand Marnier)

11/2 cups sour cream, refrigerated

1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

2 pints fresh strawberries

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

In a large saucepan mix red wine, sugar, orange peel and orange-flavored liqueur. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes over low-heat until slightly syrupy and liquid has reduced by half. Set aside and cool in the refrigerator. Strain.

In a mixing bowl, combine the sour cream with confectioners’ sugar. Take a large platter and make a smear of the sweet sour cream. Arrange the strawberries with the bottoms down in the sour cream. Pour over the red wine sauce and dust the entire plate with confectioners’ sugar.

Serves 4.

— Recipe from the Food Network

RUTHIE’S CHOCOLATE FRENCH TOAST WITH RASPBERRY SAUCE

For sauce:

2 cups fresh raspberries (1/2 pound) or 13/4 cups frozen, thawed

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 to 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar 

For French toast:

3 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

8 (1/2-inch-thick) slices from a brioche or challah loaf (not round)

4 ounces fine-quality bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Garnish: confectioners’ sugar, fresh raspberries, fresh mint sprigs

To make sauce, puree raspberries, lemon juice and 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar in a food processor. Sweeten with confectioners’ sugar to taste (up to 1/4 cup more). Force through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding seeds.

To make French toast, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, sugar and salt in a large shallow dish until mixture is combined well and sugar and salt are dissolved.

Melt 11/2 tablespoons butter in a 12-inch heavy nonstick skillet or griddle over moderately high heat. Dip 2 bread slices briefly in egg mixture until lightly soaked, turning once if necessary. Transfer to skillet, without crowding, and reduce heat to moderate. Sprinkle each slice with one fourth of chocolate and top with 2 more slices of egg-dipped bread. Press sandwiches gently with a spatula to help slices adhere. Cook, turning sandwiches over once, until chocolate is melted and French toast is browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes total. Transfer to a plate and keep warm, covered. Wipe out skillet and make 2 more sandwiches in same manner.

Cut french toast in half diagonally and serve with sauce.

Serves 4.

— Recipe from Gourmet magazine

BLACKBERRY UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

21/2 cups fresh blackberries (12 ounces)

1/2 cup plus 11/2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk

Vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line the bottom of a buttered 8-by-2-inch round cake pan with two rounds of parchment paper, then butter parchment. Dust pan with some flour, knocking out excess.

Arrange blackberries in one layer in cake pan. Sprinkle berries with 11/2 tablespoons sugar and shake pan to help distribute sugar.

Whisk together 1 cup flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Beat together butter and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and mix at low speed until just incorporated. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk in three batches, mixing at low speed until just incorporated.

Spoon batter evenly over berries, smoothing top, and bake in middle of oven until top is golden and a tester comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.

Run a thin knife around edge of pan, then invert a large plate over pan and, using pot holders to hold plate and pan together tightly, flip cake onto plate. Peel off parchment and serve cake with ice cream.

Serves 6.

— Recipe from Epicurious.com

Contact reporter Heidi Knapp Rinella at hrinella@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0474.