Chai Tea

After watching “Victoria Wood’s Nice Cup of Tea,” a documentary available via Acorn TV, I became obsessed with making tea. I dug out all of the bags, boxes, and loose tea tins that had piled up in the back of my pantry, and every day would brew a different variety. I enjoyed this on many levels. First of all, it forced me to relax, something that tends to be a bit foreign to me. Secondly, it allowed me to enjoy my small collection of teapots in a way that I hadn’t previously, when I made tea in more of a rush. Lastly, this daily ritual allowed me to savor each sip, and in the doing I found myself appreciating every aroma, unique flavor, and nuance of the various types of tea that I tried.

In the process, I found myself becoming interested in something I had previously resisted (largely because it seemed so, well, “millennial,” not that there's anything wrong with that), and that is chai tea. I think the fact that it’s loaded with milk and sugar is what put me off of it the most. I decided to tinker around with the main ingredients, lightening up both the sugar and milk to see how I would like it. While I didn’t have a proper pottery cup made of mud from the bottom of the River Ganges in which to enjoy it, I surprised myself by liking it. To me, it was more like dessert, and something to be enjoyed after a meal. Still, the kick of the spices and heat of the peppercorns, coupled with sweet, might just make this a nice morning eye-opener. 

Chai Tea

3” piece Melissa’s ginger, cut into thin rounds

3 cinnamon sticks

2 teaspoons black peppercorns

15 whole cloves

10 cardamom pods

1 whole anise

6 cups cold water

6 bags of black tea (Darjeeling is best)

1 ¾ cups whole milk

¼ cup brown sugar

 Combine first 6 ingredients in medium saucepan. Using the back of large spoon, lightly bruise spices. Add 6 cups water; bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover pan, and simmer gently 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Add tea bags and steep 5 minutes. Discard tea bags. Add milk and sugar. Bring tea just to simmer over high heat, whisking until sugar dissolves. Strain into a teapot and serve hot.

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If you prefer coffee to tea, this spicy Mexican Coffee is a great winter warmer.

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Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

You're probably reading this blog post, shaking your head, and saying to yourself, what is this, Slow-Cooker Week, or what? Well, I hadn't intended for it to be, but it looks as though it is. I have been using the heck out of my slow cooker this week, and with incredible results. I don't think I really ever realized just how much I used it, until I started writing blog posts. Today I have another wonderful, easy, and delicious recipe for your slow cooker.

I like spicy foods of all kinds, so this was something that I have long wanted to try. I haven't done a lot of Indian food in the crockpot, but I hope to remedy that very soon. My first effort was the butter chicken that was absolutely incredible; this dish is a little spicier, but equally as flavorful. I like my food extra spicy so I added a couple of pinches of cayenne pepper. You may not want to do that, because that does turn up the heat quite a bit.

 

This is a great warming winter recipe for those of you whose tastes lean toward the more exotic side. As with all crockpot recipes, this one is very forgiving, just use what you have. In fact, just between you and me, I didn't really have plain yogurt, but I did have some Chobani peach yogurt with the fruit on the bottom, so I just scraped off the plain yogurt on top leaving the fruit in the container and dumped that into the crockpot. No one was the wiser, and it tasted just the same. It pays to get creative.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

 

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" cubes

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2½ teaspoons garam masala

1-2½" piece ginger, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ medium yellow onion, diced

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1½ teaspoons turmeric

1 (14-ounce) can Rotel tomatoes

1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas

1½ cups plain yogurt

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Spray interior of crockpot with Pam.

Toss chicken with salt, pepper, and garam masala in a medium bowl. Place in crockpot.

Mix next 8 ingredients together in a small bowl.  Pour over Chicken.  Cook on low for 6 hours. Stir in peas, cook for 30 minutes. Turn off crockpot and stir in yogurt and lemon juice. Serve atop our favorite rice and garnish with cilantro.

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This post is linked to: Wow Us Wednesday, Wine’d Down Wednesday, Wake up Wednesday, Share Your Style, and Foodie Friday & Everything Else

Mango Chutney

I first tasted mango chutney in the late 90s at Punjab Restaurant in Covent Garden in London. That was my first experience with Indian food and I loved it! Ever since then I've been exploring recipes, buying spices (Penzey's has nothing on me!), and filling the larder with many different kinds of chutney, all made by my own hand. It's become a late summer/early fall ritual, and one that I particularly enjoy. There is something so wonderfully cozy about "putting food by" when the weather has turned cold and nasty.

While plum is my personal favorite, mango chutney seems to be the one that even those unfamiliar with Indian food seem to know, so I make a lot of it and gift both guests and hosts during the holidays. It's a lovely tradition, and one you might consider.

Mango Chutney
(Printable Recipe)

3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped

2 large mangoes, peeled and chopped

1/2 medium sweet red pepper, diced fine
1 small jalapeno, seeded and diced fine

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup currants

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup finely chopped peeled ginger root

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoon each: ground nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt
1/4 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

Combine apples, mangoes, red pepper, sugar, onion, raisins, vinegar, and ginger root in a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, and boil gently, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until fruit is tender and mixture is thickened, stirring occasionally. Add lemon juice, curry powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt; boil gently for 5 minutes.

Remove hot jars from canner and ladle chutney into jars to within 1/2 inch of rim and process 10 minutes for half-pint jars and 15 minutes for pint jars.

Curried Carrot and Pumpkin Soup

I was ready to try something savory after all of the sweet pumpkin dishes earlier this week, so decided upon soup.  Soup is my middle name come fall, and I like to make as much as I can both for instant enjoyment and to pop into the freezer to carry us through the winter and into the spring.  Having a nice variety of soups from delicate to hearty means I'm always ready for guests at a moment's notice; when we're weary from Christmas shopping I can have a meal on the table faster than I can hit the defrost button on the microwave.

Instead of simply making a pumpkin soup, I wanted to create something a bit more complex.  A soup that was not at all sweet, but with a depthness of flavor that would cause people to wonder just exactly what made up the list of ingredients.  So I combined carrots with pumpkin, seasoned them with curry and pumpkin pie spice, and came up with a delicious soup with a cayenne kick.  It goes together in a flash, and if you have an immersion blender and can blend it at the stove, you can have it on the table in 30 minutes.

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1 pound packaged baby carrots

4 cups chicken stock, homemade if possible 

1 tablespoon medium curry paste

1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper *

1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice *

1/3 cup solid pack pumpkin

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt *

Sour cream for garnish, if desired

* More to taste

Equipment: Plastic condiment bottle (recommended) or small plastic food storage bag

Preheat medium pot over medium high heat. Add olive oil, butter, onions and carrots and saute 5 minutes. Add 4 cups chicken stock, curry, pumpkin pie spice, and cayenne, and about 1 teaspoon salt to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover and cook until carrots are very tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and blend using an immersion blender, or process in small batches in a blender or food processor.  Return soup to heat and thoroughly stir in pumpkin. Adjust seasonings.

To make spider web decoration:  Place sour cream in a plastic condiment squeeze bottle or into a medium food storage bag. Cut a very small hole in the corner of the bag with scissors. Ladle soup into bowls and squirt a swirl of sour cream around the bowl from the center out to the rim. Drag a toothpick from the center of the bowls out to the edges, forming a spider web design on soup.

Mug - Starbucks