Glazed chicken breasts in a honey lemon tea

In summer, add a radicchio salad and corn on the cob; in winter, serve with grilled radicchio and baked squash.

Ingredients: 
Water
2 tablespoons loose orange pekoe tea or 6 tea bags

By

2 tablespoons honey
1 lemon, juice and pared zest
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Pour 2 cups boiling water over loose orange pekoe tea or tea bags.
Stir in honey with pared zest and lemon juice.
Simmer 3 minutes, stirring just until honey melts.
Leave to infuse and cool.
Lay two boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a frying pan and strain tea mixture over.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Cover, bring to boil and poach just below boiling on top of the stove, turning once, 20 to 30 minutes.
Remove chicken breasts when very tender if pierced with a two-pronged fork.
Turn heat to high and boil cooking liquid until reduced and starting to caramelize.
Replace chicken breasts and continue cooking, turning them so they become golden brown and coated with sauce, 2 to 3 minutes.
Serve warm or at room temperature, slicing to show the white meat inside.

Macha Shortbread

These cookies are sooo unhealthy but oh so nice!  (ofcourse you can always leave out thesprinkled sugar on top)

Ingredients: 

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
½ cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 Tbsp macha (Japanese green tea powder)
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cornstarch

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 300 F.

In a bowl, whip together butter and sugar with electric mixer until soft and fluffy. 

Add macha (Japanese green tea) and mix until incorporated.

Add flour and cornstarch and mix well together. 

This should form a soft “dough.”

Place dough in 13x9-inch baking pan and spread out in an even layer. 

Sprinkle sugar on the surface as desired. 

Bake for about 40 minutes.

Let cool in pan and cut.

Maghreb Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

 















“Tea is very versatile in the way it can be prepared. For this recipe I infused butter with tea to give the cookies their very special and exotic flavors. As you bite into these soft and chewy cookies, the first flavors are the very aromatic licorice root, cardamom and clove which are then followed by the sweetness of mint which lingers in your mouth. The best part about this recipe is that everyone has their favorite chocolate chip recipe! Simply infuse the butter and add to your own recipe.”

—Susana Mojica

Ingredients:
3 sticks of butter
1 ounce (28 grams) of Rishi Tea Maghreb Mint green tea/Minty Green chai, dry
2 cups of unbleached flour
½ teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 large organic vegetarian cage-free eggs
1 cup of raw sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup of organic brown sugar
1 bag of semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup of chopped walnuts


Directions for Magreb Mint infused butter: 
Over a very low flame, melt three sticks of butter in a pan.
Add one ounce of Maghreb Mint once butter is completely melted.
Simmer over low flame for about 30 minutes, monitoring closely so that the butter does not burn.
Strain tea from butter using infuser basket, cheese cloth, or strainer. 
You should have one cup of melted Maghreb Mint butter remaining for this recipe.
Allow butter to cool completely before using.

Directions for making cookies: 
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In one bowl blend flour, salt and baking soda.
In a larger bowl, pour in the cup of Maghreb Mint butter; add eggs, beating well between each egg, then the vanilla, and beat mixture at a low speed until creamy.
Add flour, chocolate chips, and walnuts to mixture and stir until all ingredients are evenly distributed.
Drop batter by the spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 8-11 minutes or until golden brown.  Do not over bake.
Remove from oven and let cool before enjoying.

Makes approximately 30 cookies.

Tea with a twist

You should all know by now that I am an absolute tea-freak.  One of the things I absolutely love when I am in the UK is hunt for special tea books.  One I recently bought is the book by Lisa Richardson: Tea with a twist.

Tea lovers craving new and novel ideas for their next tea party will gladly put the kettle on...and the doilies away. There’s nothing old–fashioned here! Specialty tea expert and author Lisa Boalt Richardson inspires readers to set their tables for fun and serve up any of her eight contemporary tea parties. Stunning photographs by one of Atlanta’s leading photographers Lauren Rubinstein grace each page, enticing readers to indulge their guests and serve them fine tea in a fun style!

The parties are simple to put together. Each tea includes easy–to–follow instructions and budget–friendly tips for brewing specialty teas, preparing delicious recipes, and decorating tables. Whether the cook chooses to pour tall glasses of the unusual bubble tea for fun–loving friends or hot, exotic masala chai tea for those seeking an adventure, it’s certain that tea time has a new twist!

Berry Good Chai Pie

To continue on the Chai theme ;-)  Try this yummy dessert with Chai concentrate and ripe, juicy strawberries. The fruit for the pie should be fresh, but you can use frozen berries for the glaze. The spiciness of the Chai complements the fresh fruit very nicely. 

Ingredients:  

1 pre-baked pie crust (plain, whole wheat, or graham cracker), cooled to room temperature
1 quart fresh whole strawberries
1/2 cup fresh or frozen strawberries, crushed
1/2 cup Chai liquid concentrate, any flavour, any brand
2 Tablespoons  sweetener
2 teaspoons cornstarch 

Directions: 

Cut the whole strawberries into thin slices and arrange the slices in the pie crust. 

Combine the crushed strawberries and Chai concentrate in a small saucepan. 

Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook for two or three minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. 

In a small mixing bowl combine the sweetener and cornstarch and mix well. 

Strain the Chai mixture through a fine sieve into the bowl and blend thoroughly (a wire whisk works very well). Return this blend to the saucepan and cook over medium heat until it is clear and thickened, stirring constantly to prevent burning and sticking. 

Remove from heat and cool for five or ten minutes. 

Use a pastry brush to lightly coat the edges of the crust with glaze, then spoon the rest of the glaze evenly over the strawberries. 

Serve immediately, or chill briefly. 

This pie does not keep well, so serve it within a few hours of preparation. (The crust can be prepared in advance.)