Tea | Aapplemint

The Very Versatile Tea

Sep 202012

When you pair the unique ingredient of loose tea leaves with a love for cooking and baking, the unlikely marriage delights the taste buds with indulgent and exotic flavors. Are you bored with rotating your dessert recipes and meal plans? Challenge your skills in the kitchen with an innovative tea confection or food by introducing tea-infused dishes to your traditional menu. Not only does tea as an ingredient flare up your cooking, baking and dining experiences, it even provides excellent health benefits.

Sweet Supplements

FoodNetwork.com’s nutritional blogger Katie Cavuto-Boyle, a registered dietitian and personal chef, discovered that tea, such as oolong tea, is a flavorful replacement for less-healthy sweeteners and additives such as sugar, extra-fat juice or cooking stock. As a cooking liquid packed with mouthwatering tastes and floral fragrances, such as rich caramel, rose petals, refreshing mint and cinnamon bark, tea adds supreme flavor to common recipes. Tea is a universal ingredient with the power to enhance everything from savory marinades and sauces to sweet confections and treats. These teas offer the following distinct aromas and flavors:

White Persian Melon: Succulent nectar and melon
Sugar Caramel Oolong: Burnt sugar blended with smooth caramel
Moroccan Mint: Green tea with fresh-mint infusion
Honey Pear: Juicy fruit with remnants of sweet honey

Healthy Boosts

Drinking three cups of tea a day promotes healthy habits. The Linus Pauling Institute explains that drinking tea daily can reduce the risk of heart attacks by 11 percent. Tea also decreases risks
for kidney stones and helps prevent cavities.

The following types of teas offer excellent health benefits:

Green: Contains antioxidants that help aid cancer prevention and metabolism
Herbal: Contains medicinal remedies that help fight colds, infection and nausea
White: Contains nutrients and antioxidants that help lower cholesterol and blood pressure
Black: Contains components that help reduce the risks of stroke and cardiovascular problems
Oolong: Contains enzymes that help promote weight loss, prevent cavities and protect skin

Tea Treats

The following recipes are delectable desserts that will leave a lasting impression:

Thai Tea Cake with Condensed Milk Custard Sauce: Arouse the palate with the exotic tastes of Thai tea with Thai food blogger Leela Punyaratabandhu’s melt-in-your-mouth Thai Tea Cake. Perfect for an afternoon bridal shower or Sunday brunch, Leela’s Thai Tea Cake is served warm with homemade custard sauce.

David’s Tea-Infused Creme Brulee: Replace boxed brownies or pre-packaged cookie dough with a creme brulee recipe that pleases the palate with nutty and Amaretto decadence. Serve the creme brulee in classic white porcelain ramekins from Sur La Table, Williams-Sonoma or Crate and Barrel for an elegant presentation. Fiesta ramekins in bold colors such as cobalt, lemongrass or flamingo are trendy bakeware that catch the eye and enhance the senses.

Jasmine Tea-Infused Truffles: Exceed the expectations of your palate with bittersweet Jasmine Tea-Infused Truffles by Charles Chocolates’ Chuck Siegel. A union of finely chopped, bittersweet chocolate with the floral aromas of jasmine blossoms creates a superior after-dinner treat. Serve the bite-size truffles in small white paper cups on a double-tiered serving tray for a stylish arrangement.

Japanese green tea soup: White tea-infused cantaloupe goat’s-milk frozen yogurt. Chai tea scones. Butter mixed with loose tea leaves. Special tea recipes capture rare aromas and flavors that will draw “oohs” and “ahs” from your friends and family!

Mumbai Masala Chai

All, Drinks, Featured 53 Responses »

Jan 052011

You must admit that some things just taste so much better when had from and on the streets. Chai definitely classifies as one of them. The masala chai served at Starbucks would loose hands-down compared to the Chai from the streets in Mumbai. My sister had just been to Istanbul and could not stop raving about it. It was a well budgeted trip and she had so much fun, saying the cheapest holidays sometimes are the best. You needn’t be staying 5 & 7 star to have a great time. One of the things we ended up talking about was the incredibly delicious street food and the tea they served there and how she loved it. Almost immediately I had to stand up for our local tea ! Nothing beats a desi road side chai. There is something about it … maybe the way the chai walla keeps stirring the tea endlessly or maybe the rustic way its made … but a cutting chai is difficult to resist . I had to share with all of you what the famous Mumbai Masala Chai is all about, and so we have our 1st video on aapplemint.

There is such a vast difference from the dip dip – tea using a tea bag, and a made on the stove – boiled tea. The aroma wafting from a pot of boiling tea, the fragrance of cardamom, fresh ginger and the aromatic blend of the chai masala mix can turn you into a tea lover. You could very easily make your own chai masala and preserve it. Just a teeny bit could liven up your tea. This spice mix can also be used to flavour cakes and chai lattes. Use you imagination … go wild . There is no fixed recipe for masala mix for tea … it varies from person to person, but this is more or less it. Like some people like their tea milkier and some like it strong, there is no fixed ratio to the spices. This works for me, and just half a teaspoon per cup of tea just perfect.

8 brown cardamoms (skins removed)
20 green cardamoms
6-8 black peppercorns
8 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 tsps ginger powder
12 cloves
4 cinnamon sticks

Grind all these spices to a very fine powder using a coffee grinder . Preserve in an air tight container.

Beat the Heat ….

All, Drinks 32 Responses »

Jul 212008

… with this fantastic summer Nectarine Iced Tea, followed by my White Chocolate and Blueberry Mousse. If you are wondering why these 2 random choices for my blog post … well honestly, I’ve been lazy, unmotivated and just out of the blogging mojo lately, and facebook is hogging up all my other free time … That also explains why i haven’t been visiting your blogs and i sincerely apologize for that. I promise i’ll be back in action soon … meanwhile here are these 2 treats from my folder …. recipes will be up sometime in the near future … frankly … cuz i haven’t measured these yet … u know … how you all make things just by the measure of the hand … well just like that ….

Aloe Summer Coolers and Paying It Forward

All, Drinks 78 Responses »

Jun 132008

I’m sure everyone is familiar with Aloe Vera. Very famous for all its wonderful properties Aloe Vera is probably consumed by everyone in some form or the other. If you like to know more about its health benefits you can look them up here

This is yet another treasure from my garden. A fantastic way to consume them is in coolers. Simply take 2 Aloe Vera leaves, and peel the green skin off. They are very slimy and slippery, so be careful they don’t slip out of your hand. Wash the translucent flesh under running water and then cut them in little cubes. Put then in a saucepan and top it with water, add 2 tablespoons of sugar and boil them for 10 mins. The cubes will absorb the sweetness and are now ready to add to any drink. You can add them to fresh fruit juices, fruity drinks, fizzy drinks, non- alcoholic beers, cold teas, cocktails, mocktails, jelly desserts, fruit salads, anything your heart desires. Bringing a crunch to every sip, aloe vera in a drink really adds a new dimension to summer coolers. And its healthy too !

And for the “Pay It Forward” …. not long ago Sara of Sara, Ms Adventures in Italy had selected me to Pay It Forward and sent me this wonderful parcel from Italy.

I dont really know who started this , but i know its been travelling around the world. Helene from Tartlette paid it to Sara and she paid it to me, and now i will pay it forward to someone else, hopefully nominate a person who leaves a comment on this post. The idea is to spread some blogger love around. To send local food items/ingredients to bloggers from another nation.Since i am currently in India, i will send some lovely Indian food ingredients to the lucky winner. So good luck, and i cant wait to see who is going to be the winner.

Flower Power

All, Drinks 88 Responses »

Mar 132008

Hibiscus is not only a beautiful flower to look at, but also a very useful one. It has numerous medicinal values, and it has been used for centuries by Indians, Mexicans , Egyptians , Malaysians, Chinese, Africans … practically by the whole world, for its therapeutic properties.
When incorporated into the diet, the hibiscus tea emits high levels of antioxidants, such as flavonoids, which help our bodies fight free radicals, which can cause cell damage and disease.
This miracle flower is rich in vitamin C, and has been widely used as an herbal method of controlling high blood pressure, controlling bad cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. It is also used to control tempering fevers, alleviating digestive problems, as well as improving circulatory disorders. And the best part is its caffeine free and herbal. You can read more about its health benefits here and here and here . Infact this is one of the botanicals we export from Ghana, for which we even won the national export award last year. We mainly export this product to Belgium and UK, where it finds its way into supermarkets and retail outlets.

There are many ways you can have it, hot or cold, sweet or tangy. U can compare the flavour to that of cranberries. This deep crimson red drink can entice just about anyone. When having it hot make your own tea bag with a muslin cloth. Put a few slices of ginger, a few cloves and a handful of hibiscus leaves. Pour over boiling water, little honey to sweeten and let the flavours infuse for a couple of minutes. 2 cups of tea a day can reduce hypertension and have a calming effect. So drink away to a healthier life.

And then theres my favourite way … The Iced Tea ! Famous all over Mexico n Jamaica, this is probably the best way you can consume this drink.

There is really no recipe for this, just boil a cup of leaves with 2 cups of water and sugar to your taste. Strain and chill. When ready to serve, add some more chilled water as the juice would be a bit concentrated. Bring it to life with some lime juice and pour over ice. Perfect for margaritas , sorbets, ice creams and jellies. This one i promise you will be a regular in your household once you try it.