A sweet Defence Booster - Blackberry Icecream

My daughter recently got an Alice Waters recipe book as a birthday gift which is a real delight!  This is the recipe she wanted to make the most and its very easy and has a high flavonoid content due to the blackberries! Enjoy!

2 to 3 cups ripe blackberries (to yield 1 cup of puree)
4 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 to 3 drops vanilla extract
1 cup whipping cream


1. Puree the berries and then strain out the seeds (the seeds are bitter)
2. Mix egg yolks with the sugar in a medium sized bowl.  Heat the milk until hot but not boiling, and stir slowly in the egg yolks and sugar.
3. Put the custard back on the stove and heat gently, stirring all the time, until it just thickens. When its ready pour it through a strainer into a bowl. Stir in the vanilla and then put it in the fridge to get cold.
4. When its cold, add the cream and the puree to the custard, its now ready to go into the ice cream freezer.

If you don't have an ice cream maker, which I don't, here is how to get soft smooth ice cream:

1. Prepare your ice cream as above.

2. Put a deep baking dish, or bowl made of plastic, stainless steel or something durable in the freezer, and pour your ice cream mixture into it.

3. After forty-five minutes, open the door and check it.

As it starts to freeze near the edges, remove it from the freezer and stir it vigorously with a spatula or whisk. Really beat it up and break up any frozen sections. Return to freezer.

4. Continue to check the mixture every 30 minutes, stirring vigorously as it’s freezing. If you have one, you can use a hand-held mixer for best results, or use a stick-blenderor hand-held mixer.

5. Keep checking periodically and stirring while it freezes (by hand or with the electric mixer) until the ice cream is frozen. It will likely take 2-3 hours to be ready.

Defence Booster recipe ideas....

So as this flu season seems to be hitting harder than usual its about time I got round to posting those recipes that will help in ensuring our flavonoid intake is sufficient!

It may not be the time of year when you want to be eating raw, but in severe cases it would be wise to eat your fruits and vegetables raw (the flavonoid content will be higher).

This is a great one, which I posted a while back because of the spinach and onion content:

http://thisiskimsfood.blogspot.com/2009/11/green-rice.html

Bean Burgers

For so many reasons I want to be eating lots of beans just now,  wholesome, comforting and delicious.  So with beans which are strong colored (the coloring is where the flavonoid content is)  I have come up with a bean burger recipe!

• 1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped.
• 2 cloves of garlic crushed 
• 1 (15 ounce) can of black beans, rinsed and drained or 1 and a half cups of soaked and cooked dried beans.
• 1 (15 ounce) can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained or 1 and a half cups of soaked and cooked dried beans.
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro leaves
• 2 teaspoons freshly chopped parsley leaves
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper and 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• Salt and fresh ground black pepper

1. In a food processor, pulse onion and garlic until finely chopped. Add 1/2 of the black beans and half of the kidney beans, cilantro, parsley, egg, and spices and pulse to combine.  Depending on your desired consistency,  you may want to pulse a little and make the mixture a bit rougher.

2. Transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl, add the remaining  beans and the bread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and mix until well combined.

3. Grill or fry in oil of choice.  Serve on buns, with salad, or however you like!