The Veggie Girl: Boysenberry bluster

 
This Veggie Girl met a passel of delightful boysenberries on Saturday and she’s still smitten with them.
 
We’re in the midst of the delicious but fleeting boysenberry season, which runs until late July. Once a darling of markets and roadside stands in California because of their superior taste, boysenberries are now elusive and next to impossible to find because of their near nonexistent shelf life.
 
If you do find them, chances are they’ll be homegrown or a local farm product. They’re just too delicate for supermarket shelves, at least in their fresh form.
 
Deep purple and resembling overly large blackberries, ripe, fresh boysenberries are extremely soft and thin-skinned. They leak juice (I found puddles of it in the bottom of the bag after purchasing mine at a farm stand) and are prone to quick decay.
 
A combination of several berries, they owe their rich, complex flavor to their ancestry. Their sweetness and floral aroma is reminiscent of raspberries, and their winey, wild tang hails from native blackberry species.
 
It’s best to eat them, freeze them, cook with them, or process them for jam, syrup, or wine the same day they’re purchased or picked.
 
Boysenberries are a recent addition to our food chain, only coming into existence just before the Great Depression of the last century.
 
Their story is part of California agricultural history, with beginnings in nearby Napa County and later development in the southern part of the state.
 
There’s some mystery surrounding their exact origin and ancestry, but it’s generally believed that boysenberries are a cross between raspberry, blackberries and the loganberry (a hybrid berry developed by Judge James Logan of Santa Cruz in 1881).
 
While some speculate that the original boysenberry hybrid may have been developed by Luther Burbank, Rudolph Boysen, a Swedish immigrant and horticulturist, is credited for the berry.
 
Boysen experimented with crossing raspberries and blackberries on his Napa Valley farm, and when he moved to Anaheim in 1923, he took with him some plants that bore large, splendidly-flavored berries, which he claimed to have bred.
 
His interest later turned to farming oranges, but thanks to George Darrow of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Boysen’s abandoned berry experiment survived.
 
Darrow, who was also a berry breeder, traveled from Maryland to California to investigate reports of a large, reddish-purple berry that had been grown on Boysen’s northern California farm.
 
Darrow enlisted the help of Walter Knott, a southern California farmer who was known as a berry expert. Together they rescued several of Boysen’s frail vines they found growing in a weed-choked field.
 
Transplanted to Knott’s farm in Buena Park, Calif., the vines were nurtured back to health and eventually began producing berries.
 
In 1934, Knott named the berry after Boysen and introduced it to the public. Boysenberries quickly became wildly popular, and Knott’s roadside farm stand grew famous for the jams and pies made from them.
 
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the boysenberry helped launch the amusement park known as Knott’s Berry Farm. The berries are still featured throughout the park as décor, a nod to the its beginnings.
 
Boysenberries may be used in much the same way as blackberries.
 
Bake them in a pie or muffins; use them in custard; replace them for strawberries in shortcake; scatter them in pancakes; add them to a salad; use them as a topping for waffles or French toast; swirl them in yogurt; top ice cream or granola with them; or toss them into a smoothie.
 
Peaches or apricots are a wonderful match for them in a cobbler or tart, and a little lemon zest provides a nice flavor balance when using them in desserts.
 
As Knott discovered, they also make fantastic jam.
 
Boysenberries are high in vitamin C and fiber, and contain high levels of anthocyanins, antioxidants which help fight free radical damage in the body. These are what give boysenberries their deep purple color.
 
They contain ellagic acid, a compound shown to be a potent anti-carcinogen, anti-viral and anti-bacterial.
 
Today’s recipe is for cool, refreshing boysenberry-mint sorbet, perfect mid-summer fare. While boysenberries are delicious in pies, cobblers, and the like, save such desserts for cooler weather when a hot oven is a welcome fixture in your home.
 
If fresh boysenberries are not available, frozen berries, which are readily found in most markets, will suffice.
 
Boysenberry-mint sorbet

4 cups fresh boysenberries
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup water
Handful of mint (or lemon verbena)
 
Note: Begin the night before you wish to serve the sorbet.
 
In a small saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the water over low heat. Add the mint or lemon verbena and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and let sit overnight in the fridge to infuse flavor.
 
Meanwhile, process the boysenberries in a blender or food processor until smooth. Put into an air-tight container and let sit in the fridge overnight. (If desired, mixture may be strained through a sieve before refrigerating to remove seeds.)
 
The following day, strain the syrup and mix it with the pureed berries. Process the mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Freeze at least four hours before serving.
 
As an alternative to using an ice cream maker, freeze the mixture in a freezer-safe pan, stirring with a rubber spatula or raking with the tines of a fork every 30 to 40 minutes until frozen. This method yields a rougher textured product with large ice crystals known as granita, coarser than smooth sorbet, but equally refreshing.
 
Recipe by Esther Oertel.

Esther Oertel, a freelance writer, cooking teacher, and speaker, is passionate about local produce and all foods in the vegetable kingdom. She welcomes your questions and comments and may be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Blue Wing Blues Festival features world class musicians Aug. 3-5, and Sept. 3

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The Tallman Hotel and Blue Wing Saloon Restaurant have announced the lineup for their sixth annual Blue Wing Blues Festival Aug. 3-5, with a followup date on Labor Day, Sept. 3.

Starting at 5:45 p.m. each day, two top bands, including headliners Zydeco Flames, Daniel Castro, Mark Hummell and Kenny Neal, will perform on the veranda of the hotel with the audience gathered in the intimate garden between the hotel and restaurant.

“It’s a nice time of day and a great spot to enjoy world-class music,” said owner Bernie Butcher, who has put Lake County on the blues map with live music in the Restaurant on Monday nights in addition to the annual Festival. “With a gourmet barbecue dinner thrown in with the price of admission, people really seem to enjoy these evenings.”

“Our staff puts in a lot of effort to book the best entertainers, offer great service to hotel guests, come up with a special menu and set the place up so everyone can enjoy the show,” said Tallman Hotel Manager Susan Mesick. “But the rewards are there when the place is jumping and everyone is having a great time. We’re really looking forward to the event this year.”

Tickets are limited to 100 each evening and may be purchased directly at the Tallman Hotel, located on Main Street in Upper Lake, or by calling the hotel reception desk at 707-275-2244, Extension 0.

Ticket prices are $50 plus tax if purchased in advance and $55 at the gate.

The Web site is www.TallmanHotel.com .

The festival lineup follows.

Friday, Aug. 3

The evening will open with the popular local band Twice as Good.

Led by Paul Steward with father Rich on rhythm guitar, this band puts on a high energy performance. Blues legend Charlie Musselwhite calls them “the real blues deal.”

Headliners on opening night will be the Zydeco Flames. With the charismatic Lloyd Meadows on washboard, the Flames have gained a reputation as the West Coast's premiere Zydeco band. It’s wonderful, upbeat New Orleans music that leaves the crowd hungry for more.

Saturday, Aug. 4

The evening will kick off with the “Queen of Boogie Woogie” Wendy DeWitt on keyboards backed by Kirk Harwood on percussion. DeWitt was chosen to represent Northern California as a solo performer at the International Blues Competition in Memphis last February.

DeWitt will be followed by the Daniel Castro Band, headed by one of the top blues guitarists in Northern California.

Daniel Castro represents the heart and soul of the San Francisco Bay Area blues scene. He played the Festival two years ago to a rousing ovation.

Sunday, Aug. 5

The show will open with the veteran Bay Area blues quartet Tip of the Top. With a style reminiscent of Chicago in the 1950s, this group was chosen to represent Northern California in the band category at the 2012 International Blues Competition in Memphis.

Headliners on Sunday will be Mark Hummel and the Blues Survivors.

Hummel is dean of the blues harp pros in the area and organizes the annual Blues Harmonica Blowout, touring the country with all the big names on the instrument.

Special guest with the Survivors for this show will by Little Charlie Baty on guitar.

Monday, Sept. 3 (Labor Day)

The final night of outdoor blues at the Tallman and Blue Wing will kick off with a solo set by Houston based Eric Taylor, who’s just recorded a CD with Lyle Lovett called “Live at the Red Shack.”

Lovett is quoted as saying, “I’m always the opening act when I’m around Eric.”

The Labor Day show concludes with one of the legends of the New Orleans blues scene, Kenny Neal and his Band. Neal is an acclaimed multi-instrumentalist widely renowned as a modern swamp-blues master.

He learned music at an early age from his father, the singer and blues harmonica player Raful Neal.

Neal still tours the country with members of his famous family sharing their unique New Orleans sound.

Helping Paws: Collies, Chihuahuas and shepherds

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Collie, Chihuahua, dachshund and Shar Pei mixes are among the dogs available for adoption at the county’s animal shelter this week.

The dogs belong to all age groups and come in all sizes, so you pick one that will fit your lifestyle and family.

Thanks to Lake County Animal Care and Control’s new veterinary clinic, many of the animals offered for adoption already are spayed or neutered and ready to go home with their new families.

Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.

If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets hoping you'll choose them.

The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).

Female shepherd mix

This female shepherd mix is 10 months old.

She has a short tan coat and weighs 44 pounds.

Find her in kennel No. 11, ID No. 33363.

Female shepherd mix

This female shepherd mix is 1 year old.

She has a short brown and black coat, and weighs 46 pounds.

She’s in kennel No. 12, ID No. 33364.

‘Cali’

“Cali” is a female Chihuahua mix is 8 years old.

She has a short black and brown coat, and has been spayed.

She’s in kennel No. 13, ID No. 33343.

Hound-Shar Pei mix

This female hound-Shar Pei mix is 2 years old.

She has a short brown and black coat, brown eyes and floppy ears.

Find her in kennel No. 14, ID No. 33365.

‘Taco’

“Taco” is a 3-year-old male Chihuahua mix.

He has a short white coat, and is not yet neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 16, ID No. 33342.

Chihuahua-terrier mix

This female Chihuahua-terrier mix is 4 years old.

She weighs 9 pounds and has a short tan coat.

Find her in kennel No. 18, ID No. 33273.

Boxer mix

This female boxer mix is 4 years old.

She has red and white coloring, a docked tale and weighs 50 pounds.

She’s in kennel No. 20, ID No. 33284.

Dachshund mix

This male dachshund mix is 2 years old.

He has a short black coat, weighs 33 pounds and has not yet been altered.

Find him in kennel No. 21, ID No. ID: 33239.

Shepherd-collie mix

This male shepherd-collie mix is 7 months old.

He has tan and black brindle coloring, weighs nearly 44 pounds and has not yet been neutered.

Find him in kennel No. 24A, ID No. 33220.

Female dachshund mix

This female dachshund mix is 1 year old.

She has a short black coat, weighs 32 pounds and has not yet been spayed.

She’s in kennel No. 24B, ID No. 33221.

Boxer mix

This female boxer mix is 1 year old.

She has a short coat, weighs 36 pounds and has not yet been altered.

She is in kennel No. 32, ID No. 33122.

Adoptable dogs also can be seen at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dogs_and_Puppies.htm or at www.petfinder.com .

Please note: Dogs listed at the shelter's Web page that are said to be “on hold” are not yet cleared for adoption.

To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .

Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .

For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.