by jphilo | Apr 15, 2015 | Family, Recipes
In the past 4 weeks, I’ve attended 2 conferences in Virginia, recovered 2 times from jet lag, and became acquainted with a new grandson. All of which has left very little time for testing new recipes in the kitchen. So this week’s recipe for chai tea is one of my favorites that has appeared on this blog before. It’s also a favorite of my daughter who’s new mama of our beautiful new grandson. Bottoms up!
My daughter Anne loves chai tea. I’ve tried it a few times at my favorite coffee shop. Though I love it’s spicy, mellow flavors, most chai teas are too sweet for my taste. But when USA Weekend Magazine (Jan. 20-22 edition) published Pam Anderson’s recipe for chai tea concentrate, I decided to give it a try.
The biggest challenge presented by the recipe was finding all the spices. Thankfully, we have a bulk food store nearby, and I was able to find everything there. (Did you know cardamom costs $70+ a pound? Thankfully, they sell it by the ounce!) Other than gathering the ingredients, this recipe was easy to follow.
Compared to the cost of specialty drinks at the coffee shop, this recipe is a bargain, even with the price of cardamom. Not only that, Hiram gave the hot chai drink his coveted seal of approval. The ingredient list for the recipe below matches the original one exactly. But, I added more details to some of the directions.
DYI Chai Tea Concentrate
4 teaspoons each ground ginger and cinnamon
4 teaspoons fennel seeds, ground (I ground them in a coffee grinder)
2 teaspoons each ground black pepper, cardamom and corriander
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup loose black tea such as Earl Grey
3/4 cup blue agave
2 tablespoons molasses
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Heat spices in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until fragrant and smoke starts to rise, a couple of minutes. (This sounds so weird, but it works!) Add 1 quart of water and tea; bring to a simmer.
Remove from heat, cover and let steep for about 10 minutes. Strain out tea and spices. (I strained out the tea and ground spices by lining the strainer with a cloth.) Stir in agave, molasses, vanilla, and lemon juice.
To serve, combine 1/4 cup concentrate with either 3/4 cup hot or cold milk (or milk substitute) or water. The rest can be covered and refrigerated up to a couple weeks until ready to use. (The photo shows the concentrate in the background and a cup of tea made with 1/4 cup concentrate and a 3/4 cup mixture of equal amounts of water and milk or milk substitute.)
by jphilo | Apr 30, 2014 | Recipes
Today’s butter substitute recipe comes from my daughter. She’s a DYI queen. She’s also very sensitive to dairy products, so she’s always hunting for good replacements for them. She recommends this one, so I gave it a try yesterday and took pictures of each step since it’s a foray into new territory for me. Maybe for you, too.
This was very easy to make, though clean up was a bit…greasy. Later this week, I’ll use 1 cup of the “sticks” to make chocolate chip cookies. The remaining 3 tablespoons will be used to butter toast, muffins and the like. Next week, I’ll be back with a report on how that goes. For now, here are the results from yesterday’s experiment. In each case where ingredient options are listed, the one I used is indicated in parenthesis.
Butter Substitute
2 tablespoons water (3 tablespoons if using saucepan on stove instead of microwave)
1 teaspoon cornstarch OR coconut flour OR 1/4 tsp. xantham gum (cornstarch)
1/8 teaspoon liquid aminos OR soy sauce OR scant ½ tsp. nutritional yeast (soy sauce)
½ teaspoon salt
A pinch each turmeric and paprika, optional for color (omitted)
½ c. coconut oil, softened just til creamy and stirrable
½ c. olive oil or other liquid oil like canola (olive oil)
In a glass 2 cup measuring cup, stir together water and cornstarch. Microwave until it boils, stir until smooth. The small amount of liquid makes it hard tell when it’s boiling in the microwave. But it hasn’t boiled unless the cornstarch mixture has turned clear. Like this:
Mix in the soy sauce and salt, turmeric and paprika. Scrape the bottom and sides of cup well and stir some more. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
After it’s cooled to nearly room temperature, mix in the coconut oil. Again, scrape the edges and bottom of cup and stir again. Really well. Or you’ll discover lumps later on. (Don’t ask how I know this.)
Add oil in a thin stream, whisking continually with a fork until smooth. Again, scrape edges and bottom of cup and stir some more.
If desired pour mixture into two miniature loaf pans. Put mixture in fridge to chill.
Stir with a fork after it starts to thicken, about 15-30 minutes. The photo shows one pan straight out of the fridge after 15 minutes. The other’s been stirred. Store covered in the refrigerator.
If you want a firmer consistency, put mini-loaf pans the freezer to solidify. After they’re hard, pop them out of the molds and store in ziptop bags or wrapped in plastic. Label and keep in the freezer for longer storage, or keep in the fridge for short term use.
This recipe makes just over 1 cup–9 ½ ounces or 3 tablespooms more than 2 sticks of butter.
