There was a lot of wonderful information about teas and cookies in the two programs I attended and I thought I’d share some of it with you. The following recipes come from the Stash Tea and Celestial Seasonings web sites and there are links to those sites for more recipes. I recommend visiting them because there are hundreds of recipes for not only drinking tea but cooking with tea. Amazing. If you are looking for an interesting turkey dinner for Christmas or Thanksgiving this year or next, consider cooking with tea. They have incredible turkey and chicken recipes that include tea as a main ingredient.
Tea Information Web Sites
- Celestial Seasonings Tea Company
- Republic Tea Company
- Stash Tea Company
- Sally’s Place and Cooking With Tea by Diana Rosen
- The Tea Muse
- The Fragrant Leaf
- Tea Market Report
- Tea and Coffee Trade Journal
- Darjeeling Tea Information
Tea Recipes
Hot Spiced Tea
From Stash Tea and Joan Broughton, Mission, Texas
2 qts. STASH Orange Spice tea
2 c. water
2 c. sugar
2 large cans pineapple
1 1/2 c. lemon juice
3 c. orange juice
1 stick cinnamon
1 t. whole cloves – tied in cheesecloth
Directions:
Pour 2 qt. boiling water over 8 teabags. Brew 5 minutes, remove tea bags, set aside. Boil 2 c. each water and sugar together 10 minutes to make syrup. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to boil. Simmer 20 minutes. Remove cloves and cinnamon. Serve hot.
Apple Cinnamon Shake
From Stash Tea
For each 16 oz glass:
2 cups vanilla ice cream
2 Stash Apple Cinnamon tea bags
1/4 tsp. cinnamon ( optional )
Directions:
In a blender, mix ingredients until fully blended. ( cut open tea bags and mix contents with ice cream ). To Serve: Top with whipped cream
Peppermint Fields
From Stash Teas
For each 16 oz glass:
2 cups vanilla ice cream
2 Stash Peppermint tea bags
1/4 tsp. vanilla syrup ( optional )
Directions
In a blender, mix ingredients until fully blended. ( cut open tea bags and mix contents with ice cream ) . To Serve: Garnish with fresh mint leaves
Creamsicle Smoothie
From Stash Teas
5 Stash Orange Spice Tea bags
1 Stash Peppermint tea bag
1 cup boiling water
1 1/2 cups orange juice
2 tablespoons honey
1 vanilla ice cream (frozen yogurt, sherbet, or sorbet may be substituted)
1 cup ice
Directions:
Brew Stash Orange Spice and Peppermint tea in boiling water, steep for 4 minutes. Let cool. Pour into blender adding orange juice, honey, vanilla ice cream and ice. Mix ingredients until fully blended.
To Serve: Garnish with whipped cream
Serves 4
Mango Passionfruit Cheese Cake
From Stash Teas
6 Stash Tea Mango / Passionfruit tea bag contents
2 8 oz container of cream cheese softened (Fat Free may be used with only a slight difference in appearance and texture.)
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 6 oz or 9 inch graham cracker pie crust.
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the contents of 6 Mango / Passionfruit tea bag contents, cream cheese and sugar. Mix well with an electric mixer. Add eggs and blend until smooth. Pour into pie crust and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Cool in refrigerator at least 3 hours.
I didn’t even know you could use tea to flavor cheese cake or anything else baked. Wow!
Peppermint Cucumber Salad
From Celestial Seasonsings
Yogurt, mint, and cucumbers are a staple of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cooking. You can remove the seeds from the cucumber if you like.
2 Peppermint tea bags
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup low-fat or nonfat yogurt
2 large cucumbers, peeled and sliced
Steep the tea bags in the vinegar for 20 minutes. Remove and discard the tea bags. Add the sugar and yogurt. Mix well. Pour the mixture over the sliced cucumbers. Toss and chill for 10 minutes.
Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Chill Time: 10 minutes
Raspberry Zinger Vinaigrette
From Celestial Seasonings and Jennifer and Mo Siegel and their book “Cooking With Tea Cookbook”
2 Raspberry Zinger tea bags
1/2 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Place the tea bags and vinegar in a jar. Steep the tea bags for 20 minutes. Remove bags and gently squeeze the last bit of flavor from the bags before discarding. Add the remaining ingredients to the vinegar and shake.
Serves 4 to 5
Raspberry Zinger Chicken
From Celestial Seasonings and Jennifer and Mo Siegel and their book “Cooking With Tea Cookbook”
1 cup white vinegar
4 Raspberry Zinger tea bags
2 boneless chicken breasts, halved
1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. salt
Pour vinegar into a large bowl and add the 4 tea bags. Let steep 15 minutes, then place halved chicken breasts in bowl and cover. Refrigerate at least one hour but no longer than 3 hours. Melt butter in large frying pan over medium heat, and then fry chicken 4 minutes on each side. Remove chicken and set aside. Add onions to pan and sauté until clear. Then add chicken broth, heavy cream, 4 tablespoons of Raspberry Zinger vinegar and chicken breasts to your pan of sautEd onions. Cover and simmer 5-10 minutes more, until flavors are well mingled and sauce is slightly thickened, then serve.
Serves 4.
Oh, there are plenty more, so check out Celestial Seasons and Stash and the sites I’ve listed above for even more extraordinary recipes with tea. I had no idea!
Christmas Cookie Recipes
This recipe comes from the Will Rogers United Methodist Church of Tulsa’s women’s ministry called “Heart Like His”. What is so great, the instructor said, about this recipe is that the cookies are hard enough to stay together for the frosting and decorating but soft enough for eating.
Christmas Cookie Recipe
3 eggs
2 softened sticks of butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour
Cream together all ingredients, adding the flour slowly at the end. Chill for one hour (critical!) And separate into four parts, keeping the rest chilled and working on one at a time. Roll them out to form a flat smooth surface and cut out the cookie shapes with a cookie cutter dipped in flour.
Bake for 10 – 12 minutes until slightly golden brown at 350F 75C). Let cool and then frost.
Butter Cream Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened (for pure white frosting use white crisco)
1/4 cup milk
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond flavoring
1 pound /2 kilo) powdered sugar
Combine in mixer until smooth. Cover the bowl with damp towel while working to keep the frosting soft. Divide into sections and color with food coloring paste (darker color results than with the food coloring liquid) and decorate once the frosting or glaze is slightly dried. To make a thin glaze, add a bit more milk.
Are you hungry yet!
Lorelle
Tulsa, Oklahoma