Jan 12 2011

Amazing Spiced Chai Concentrate

Posted by ThreeManyCooks in Step-by-Step Recipes

Warm spices, strong tea and steamed milk swirling around in my tummy make chai lattes a favorite during the winter months. It warms me from the inside out in a way that puts coffee and tea to shame. Unfortunately, the chai concentrate from certain coffee chains is too sweet. But there is something better.

It never occurred to me to make my own chai. (Certainly it must be too hard.) But when I saw this recipe from thecatnipcat for this Amazing Spiced Chai Concentrate, something about the whole thing seemed doable. If I had known how easy it was, I would have started making my own years ago. Needless to say, this version is delicious! And I love that I can up the quantities of the flavors I like more and reduce the quantities of the flavors I like less. For example, we used less sugar and doubled the cinnamon. Make the original version, then tweak the recipe based on your preferences. I wouldn’t be surprised if you find her recipe is just right for you.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need: cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, star anise, cloves, black pepper, nutmeg, orange zest, tea bags, brown sugar, honey, and vanilla.

Start by bringing 4 1/2 cups water to the boil on the stove.

Then you need some orange zest. If you don’t have a zester, you can use a vegetable peeler.

The recipe says to use a piece of ginger. For us that meant three large coins which we smashed to release more flavor.

Once the water has come to a boil, remove the pot from the heat and add the tea bags.

Then add your cinnamon sticks (we only add two—it just looks like we’re using four because we broke them in half).

Then add your star anise and seven cardamom pods. We only had cardamom seeds so we looked up how many seeds there are in a pod. The answer is “about 12” so we added roughly 80 cardamom seeds (no we did not count them out).

Then add the rest of the spices: the whole cloves, freshly ground pepper, zest (or peel), smashed ginger, and freshly grated nutmeg. Stir the pot to mix all the ingredients. This is the point at which Mom said, “This is starting to look like a witch’s brew.” I concurred.

Add sugar, vanilla and honey and then let this steep for 15-20 minutes. Our family likes our chai concentrate like we like our tea and coffee, strong and dark. So we let it go the full 20 minutes.

When the chai concentrate has reached desired taste and color, strain out the spices and zest.

Now you are left with delicious, homemade chai concentrate.

We added the chai concentrate to steamed milk, but you could mix it with ice cream or yogurt to give plain vanilla a flavor kick.

All I know is that I will never pay $3.25 for an overly-sweet chai again.

Thanks again, thecatnipcat!

Printable Recipe

Amazing Spiced Chai Concentrate

by thecatnipcat on September 20, 2010 in Drinks, Non-Alcoholic

4.92 Mitt(s) 26 Rating(s) 26 votes, average: 4.92 out of 5

Description

All the flavor of a mix, with no funky additives or preservatives! The benefits to making your own mix are obvious: you can customize it all you want, you know exactly what’s in it, and if you buy them in bulk, the spices can be dirt cheap!

Ingredients

4-½ cups Water
1 stick Cinnamon
1 piece Fresh Ginger Chopped
7 whole Cardamom Pods
2 whole Star Anise Pods
10 whole Cloves
¼ teaspoons Freshly Ground Black Pepper
½ teaspoons Freshly-ground Nutmeg
1 teaspoon Orange Zest
10 teaspoons Green Or Black Tea Or 10 Tea Bags
⅔ cups Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Honey
1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Preparation Instructions

Bring the water to a boil. Add the spices and tea, remove from heat and let steep 15-20 minutes, depending on how strong you want it. Strain and add the brown sugar, honey, and vanilla. Stir to combine.

Mix 1 part concentrate with 1 part milk, heat and enjoy or pour over ice.

For a stronger flavor, mix 2 parts concentrate with 1 part milk or half-and-half (if you’re like me).

This concentrate will keep in the fridge for around 2 weeks. Freeze it in an icecube tray and add to smoothies!

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Three Many Cooks is the always-entertaining food blog of Pam Anderson and her two daughters, Maggy and Sharon. Pam is a well-known and much-respected food writer and author, Maggy is a “hippy adventurer meets 1950s housewife,” and Sharon refers to herself as a recovering food snob learning to survive on a graduate student’s budget. Theirs is a strong relationship both inside and outside the kitchen, and it shows in the food they create and the stories they tell.

Jan 10 2011

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Posted by Natalie | Perry's Plate in Step-by-Step Recipes

Cauliflower, to me, is a humble vegetable. It’s rarely the star of the meal, it doesn’t have a flashy color or a strong flavor, and let’s face it—its complexion could use some work. Despite its frumpy characteristics, cauliflower has a few tricks up its sleeve. Case in point: this Roasted Cauliflower Soup with White Cheddar Cheese recipe submitted by TK member hailskitchen. Pureeing the cauliflower creates the illusion of a creamy soup without the added richness from cream. Not only did this soup taste great, it was simultaneously light yet rich tasting.

Okay, it does have cheese, too. But if you use a sharp white cheddar, you might not need as much. (If you’re concerned with such things. I wasn’t one of those who swore off cheese-laden foods this year.)

For the soup you’ll need a nice, big head of cauliflower, shallots, fresh garlic, fresh thyme, shredded white cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, olive oil, and chicken (or vegetable) broth.

First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Then prep the cauliflower. I like to turn it upside down and make a few slashes in the bottom to get the tough stem out and remove the leaves.

I also like to quarter the head before breaking it down into florets. It’s easier to manage than a giant head.

Once you have it broken down, toss it onto a large rimmed baking sheet.

Next, peel the shallots and garlic. If you lay your knife on the garlic and give it a whack with the palm of your hand, the peel comes right off. Don’t chop them too small. Quartering the shallots and cutting the garlic in half ought to do it.

Add the prepped shallots and garlic to the cauliflower on the baking sheet. Drizzle liberally with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and stick it in that screaming hot oven.

After 40-50 minutes it should look like this. See those dark, caramelized pieces? Roasting should be a part of all vegetable preparation, in my opinion. That’s how I got myself to like Brussels sprouts. Try it.

Transfer all of that roasted goodness to a big pot. (I doubled the batch, which is why it looks like my cauliflower suddenly reproduced.) Pour in half of the chicken broth—it makes pureeing much easier.

If you have an immersion or stick blender, this will be a snap. Just stick it in and start buzzing it around. If you don’t have one, go buy one. If you can’t go buy one, you can ladle the mixture into a blender and process in batches, returning it back into the pot when you’re finished.

Back to blending. You can leave it a bit chunky if you like. I made it this way the first time and I liked a few chunks. But I found that the texture was really odd.

So this time I blended it even more until it was smoother. I liked it better that way.

Place the pot on the stove and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

While the soup simmers away, get your thyme ready. Grab it at the top with one hand, and with the other hand, pinch toward the top and pull down the stem to remove leaves.

Give them a quick chop if you like. This is just my personal preference, but I found the soup to be really “thyme-y”, so I reduced the measurement by half the second time I made it. The thyme really sings in this soup.

When the soup is done simmering, cut the heat and add the thyme and shredded cheese. Season to taste with a generous dose of salt and black pepper.

Time to serve it up with crusty bread or biscuits and a fresh salad! One of my favorite things about this recipe is that the steps can be broken up to accommodate your schedule. Roast the vegetables a day or two ahead and when you’re ready to prepare the soup, it’ll be ready in under 30 minutes.

Thanks Hailey for a unique and delicious soup! Visit her beautiful blog, Hail’s Kitchen, for more of her great recipes.

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