Michigan Raspberries

Raspberry harvest - close- up by Avlxyz

• Raspberries are a member of the rose family.
  
• The Web site www.wholehealthmd.com calls raspberries "nutritional powerhouses" that are packed with fiber, including soluble fiber that lowers cholesterol. They're also high in ellagic acid, which studies indicate may inhibit colon, esophageal, liver, lung, tongue, and skin cancers. And they're rich in good old vitamin C.
  
• People were already gathering wild red raspberries in the foothills of Mt. Ida in ancient Crete around the time of Christ. The species is indigenous to this ancient Mediterranean region and to North America, according to the University of Georgia. The Romans are believed to have spread cultivation throughout Europe. The British popularized it and exported plants to New York by 1771.
  
• Wonder what it takes to grow and sell raspberries? Lots of extra work, says Karen Drake of Stoney Point Orchards in Suttons Bay. For one thing, you can't pick them when they're wet, because they'll mold. They need lots of water and fertilizer ("We put turkey manure on them this year and they grew about six-foot tall in about a month." And they are labor-intensive to pick ó "They are so fragile. If you squish them, they are ruined.

• Michigan Raspberries Farms from the Taste the Local Difference Farm Network.
  
• Also see Absolute Michigan keyword "Raspberries".
  
• Raspberries are plentiful in northwest Michigan. You can find 30 farms selling raspberries from Manistee to the Mackinac Bridge in the Michigan Land Use Institute's online guide to local farm foods, at www.LocalDifference.org .

Raspberries On Display by kittycat

• Raspberries are a cinch to freeze. Spread them out on a tray in the freezer overnight, and then put them in bags.
  
• Bring frozen berries out later when the peaches, apricots, or blueberries are in season and combine them for a great fresh fruit salad. You don't need to defrost the berries. Try tossing this mix with a bit of maple syrup, lime juice, ginger, and nutmeg that you shake together in a small jar to whatever level of tartness or sweetness you desire.
  
• Dense chocolate cake with raspberry sauce between the layers is a to-die-for combination. But it's hot. Who wants to bake? We guarantee your guests will swoon with pleasure at this simple dessert: Melt some dark chocolate chips over low heat in a heavy bottomed sauce pan. Add a bit of half and half, cream, or milk until it's the consistency of a sauce. Drizzle over fresh raspberries in pretty bowls.
  
• Here's a simple raspberry ice from Carla Emery's Old-Fashioned Recipe Book: Pour a half cup of honey over three to four cups of raspberries. Mash with a potato masher until you have it pulped as finely and mixed as well as you can. If you want to, strain it to get the seeds out. Add one cup water and the juice of one lemon. Freeze, stirring occasionally. Serve it before it's frozen solid. If it freezes too hard, let it thaw a bit.
  
• How about a mid-summer cooler from the award-winning, Upper Peninsula-based cookbook Hollyhocks & Radishes, by Bonnie Stewart Mickelson?
  
  Raspberry Shrub
  
  • 2 cups fresh raspberries
    
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
    
  • 2 cups water
    
  • Cracked ice
    
  • 1 cup light rum or soda water
    
  • 2 teaspoons lime juice
    
  • Mint sprigs and raspberries for optional garnish
    
  • In a saucepan, simmer raspberries, sugar, and water, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
    
  • Pour through a sieve, pressing to squeeze out at least two cups of juice. Cool.
    
  • Place cracked ice in four tall glasses. To each, add a half-cup of raspberry juice, two ounces (or one-quarter cup) rum or soda water and 1/2 teaspoon juice. Stir and garnish.
  
  
• And a savory recipe from www.justberryrecipes.com : Chicken Breasts with Raspberries
  
  
  • 8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves; pounded to 1/4" thickness
    
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
    
  • 4 tablespoons butter.
    
  • 1/4 teaspoon raspberry or red wine vinegar
    
  • 1 cup unsalted chicken stock; or 1/2 cup canned broth diluted with 1/2 cup water
    
  • 3 tablespoons raspberry brandy (framboise) NO SUBSTITUTIONS!
    
  • 1/2 pint fresh raspberries
    
  • Season chicken with salt and pepper.
    
  • In a large frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add chicken breasts and cook three minutes per side, until tender and opaque; do not brown.
    
  • Remove to a serving platter and cover with foil to keep warm.
    
  • Add vinegar to pan drippings and boil about two minutes until reduced to about 1 1/2 tablespoons.
  • Add stock and raspberry brandy. Boil until reduced by half, about five minutes. Remove from heat and swirl in remaining 2 tablespoons butter.
    
  • Gently stir raspberries into sauce.
    
  • Pour over chicken and serve. Serves 4.
  
  
  Visit Razzeldazlerecipies for a tremendous list of some more great raspberry recipes.
  
  

  
  Wild Raspberries by Bien Stephenson

  
  Taste the Local Difference is part of the Michigan Land Use Institute's Entrepreneurial Agriculture Project, which aims to grow jobs, save farmland, and build healthier communities with food that's thousands of miles fresher. Find more than 160 farms and fishers who sell fresh foods on their farms, in farmers markets, and to restaurants and stores at www.LocalDifference.org . TLD lead sponsors are Traverse City State Bank and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.

  Posted/updated Jul 20, 2006
  by Cody Sprattmoran

  click to
  Send This Story to a Friend!

  Main Michigan News Page

  Go Back One Page

Absolute Michigan Site Sponsor

Related Categories
Articles
Community
Community > Environment & Environmental Organizations
Food & Dining
Food & Dining > Michigan Grown
Food & Dining > Recipes & Cookbooks

Add a Link
Advertise on Absolute Michigan
Email Newsletter
About Absolute Michigan

Absolute Michigan feed or enter email: