“Everyone Knows Someone Who Needs This Information” (TM)
As “Indian Summer” brings its reprise, here are some herbal recipes for beating-the-heat, and they are helpful alternatives for diabetics. Many herbs are effective in ameliorating symptoms and causes for diabetic reactions. This series has been highlighting some of the best. The first recipe helps to make ice-cream just a bit more useful — as the Lavender is a stress-reducer. ===========================================================================================
MURPHY’S LAVENDER AND WHITE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
2T lavender flowers 500ml spring or filtered water
1T liquid organic honey
65 g sugar [[Em: use organic brown sugar and I’ve halved it already, to start]]
5 organic egg yolks
200 ml organic milk [NOT ultra-pasteurized]
80 g white chocolate [dark chocolate is far healthier, so consider it]
240 ml organic cream
1/4 teaspoon pure organic vanilla extract
(stevia, as needed)
___ Cook the lavender flowers in the water over a low heat until the water reduces to 1/10th of the original volume. This makes an infusion. Remove from the heat and strain. Stir in the honey and set aside, covered.
___ Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, over water.
___ Beat the sugar and egg yolks together just until pale yellow. Meanwhile …
___ Bring the milk to a low simmer, and watch it the whole time. If you have one, using a cast-iron plate for the burner distributes the heat better and protects from hot-spots which can burn the milk.
___ Remove the milk from the heat and beat the milk into the egg and sugar mixture in a slow stream. Pour the mixture back into the pot and place over low heat. Stir continuously until the custard thickens slightly (around 65-70C) and just coats the back of a spoon. But, at this temperature, you have not got a pasteurized egg mix.
To pasteurize the eggs: heat the custard to 73C and maintain that temperature for at least 5 minutes. Use a cooking thermometer, and definitely keep stirring! Don’t over-heat, though, because at around 76C you will scramble the eggs! Immediately remove from the heat, and then cover and place in the freezer to cool slightly, as the custard must still be warm to mix with the chocolate — so aim for about 70C.
___ The chocolate and the custard must both be warm when you mix them so they emulsify well. If not, the chocolate will clump at first when you add the liquid, but if you keep adding liquid and stirring, it will come smooth. Add only small amounts each time. It is now safe to taste the product and add stevia, if needed.
___ Allow to cool, then mix in the vanilla and strained lavender water.
___ Whip the cream until it has doubled in volume; it should have soft peaks. Don’t over-whip! Next, fold the cream into the custard using a gentle motion to stir (with a vertical, slicing, circular motion).
___ Taste the cream-base now, again, and adjust with stevia and vanilla.
___ Freeze using a home ice cream machine, or cover and place in a shallow tray or cake pan in the freezer, stirring every few hours to break up the ice crystals (my father used to make ice-cream this way 60 years ago!).
If you’re using a home ice cream machine, then transfer the mixture to a freezer-proof covered container when the ice cream has just achieved a semi-solid consistency (around 15 minutes). Place it back in the freezer, and let it continue to freeze until it is solid. Clean your machine — it did its job.
Notes: The pot in which you melt the chocolate must be completely dry or the chocolate can clump. Vanilla essences vary, so make sure you taste the custard and are happy with the flavor before you freeze it! =====================================================================================================
Next, an effective diabetic-friendly beverage to slake your thirst effectively, especially in the hot dog-days of Summer. It’s a traditional American drink, now making its way around the world. When the farmers were bringing in the harvest under the hot American sun in the early 1800s, they couldn’t drink the copious amounts of water they needed not to become dehydrated as that amount would have bloated their stomachs and made it uncomfortable to work … and springs were sometimes far away, too.
So, building on a much older tradition (from approx. the 1600s), a new version of the Oxymel drink from Medieval times. The new drink was called “Haymaker’s Punch” and also, later, “Switchel“.
As the hay is about to be brought in during the next few weeks, this is the perfect time for this refreshing, satisfying Summer drink!
Not only will the apple cider vinegar help with blood-sugar control (as shown in many studies), but it will help with weight-loss and purportedly also help with better sleep and more comfortable GI tract.
The maple is actually a good sweetener for diabetics, if in small portions. Ginger is a potent anti-inflammatory and that’s important for diabetics, too.
Haymaker’s Punch is a healthy beverage, especially in comparison to modern commercial beverages.
Here are a couple of recipes and I may share more next week. The essential ingredients are:
___ Bragg’s or Spectrum’s organic apple cider vinegar (with the mother of vinegar). Only use these brands, not Heinz etc.,
___ filtered or spring water, never tap water
___ organic honey or organic Grade B maple syrup
___ organic blackstrap molasses (in some recipes)
___ fresh, grated ginger
======================================================================= DAVE’S PORTLAND SWITCHEL WITH STEVIA
2 C filtered or spring water, chilled
1 T Bragg’ apple cider vinegar
1/4 t stevia extract ( PureVia or TrueVia) **
1/8 t ground ginger*
For a 5-cup thermos bottle, use about 3 T ACV, 3/4 t stevia, and 3/8 t dry ginger. Then add chilled, filtered water to the top.
Coconut vinegar has got an amazing flavor, and this is a healthy experiment:
3 T coconut vinegar (I think Whole Foods carries it)
3/4 t stevia powder
3/8 t ground ginger *
1/8 t ground cinnamon
all in a 5-cup thermos bottle, then fill to the top with chilled, filtered water
Dave says “The hint of cinnamon really perked up this drink. It’s now sort of like drinking a spiced vanilla cookie with a slightly tangy spark”.
* Food.com says 1/8 teaspoon of powdered ginger is equal to about 1 Tablespoon of fresh, grated ginger, but it notes that “the flavor of ground ginger can be significantly different from fresh”. If using fresh ginger, slice it thinly or grate it. Put into about 4 cups of water and bring to simmer for 15 minutes. Let cool and squeeze out the solids (you can still use them in cookies).
** If you are trying liquid stevia, then use 1 dropperful per 10 – 12 fl.oz of water and per 1T apple cider vinegar or coconut vinegar. ============================================================== Best to all — Em
REFERENCE: to access more of the series: Diabetic Herbs The extra page links to the whole series are on that page.
Please also read the 4 years of still current articles in my archive. See the tab on the upper navigation bar.
You can also sign-up for email alerts for when I post to this blog. I try for once a week. The form is on the upper right of the side-bar. Thanks.
(c)2011 Em at https://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com
Please do not use my articles on junk blogs. I will prosecute you. The only use of my copyrighted article is 2 small paragraphs (with my website shown) without further permission, from me, in writing. Contact me at the About Me page on the upper navigation bar if you want to share more than 2 paragraphs. Thanks.
