From the Seattle Weekly blog: Seattle's 5 Best Baked Goods With Green Tea

 We love desserts made with matcha(ground green tea)! I was happy to see these excellent bakers get some love from the (somewhat) mainstream publication, the Seattle Weekly. 

In Eve Tai's blog post "Seattle's 5 Best Baked Goods With Green Tea", she says that green tea pastries "offer a novel twist from the East without giving up much of the West."  Bakers can utilize culinary grade Matcha because it can easily incorporate into dough and batter.  The challenge is to find a recipe where matcha's brilliant color and mild yet slightly grassy flavor can take center stage.

Check out her blog and pictures - the last picture of the matcha roll brings back so many memories of when my husband would make these for our store, they were indeed a hit.  Maybe he'll make me one!

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/voracious/2011/05/seattles_top_5_baked_goods_with_green_tea.php

Great article on how to grow tea(Camellia Sinensis)

This year we have put a lot of work in to improve our garden and make it to where it's in a position to thrive.  We've got chickens and bunnies providing lots of fertilizer and, being the diggers that they are, soil aeration.  We've also got compost bins and worm farms working their magic to produce rich soil and worm tea. 

I started to wonder if it was possible to grow tea here.  Having worked in the tea business, we order most of our tea from Asia, where the climate is typically a bit hotter than in my region, the Pacific Northwest.  I did a search, and found a great article on how to grow tea and where to get plants and seeds. 

Tea comes from the plant Camellia Sinensis.  According to Melinda, the author of this article, c. sinensis is best grown in climate zones 7 and 8.  Fortunately for me I am in zone 7.  She says if the lovely Camellia grows in your area, then so will camellia sinensis.  Since it is a bit cold here, if I decide to grow tea I will most likely get a portable, plastic greenhouse just to be safe. 

 

(a Camellia flower)

As for processing the tea bush once it is ready, that is a bit more involved.   But given the time it takes for camellia sinensis to mature(up to 3 years from seed to harvest), you'll have plenty of time to learn the intricacies of harvesting and processing.

Please read the article for all the details! http://1greengeneration.elementsintime.com/?p=1053

Three Tree Tea Company Introduces Red Ninja Organic Rooibos Latte Powder

(New product Press release)

May 17, 2011

Three Tree Tea Company is pleased to introduce the newest addition to its tea line, Red Ninja Organic Rooibos Latte Powder. Three Tree Tea Company has been a leader in providing unique latte powder blends, incorporating only the highest quality tea with sugar to make simple, delicious tea latte blends that satisfy the need of customers looking for specialty coffee alternatives. It all started in 2002 when Ippuku Matcha Latte Powder was created. Today, Ippuku Matcha Latte Powder is sold in coffee shops, tea shops and Asian groceries across the U.S. A.

Rooibos, or red bush tea, is a cherished herb in South Africa. It is said to help relieve insomnia, nervous tension, indigestion and allergic symptoms. Research shows that it also contains the highest known levels of antioxidants of any plant on earth. Rooibos is quite beneficial to pregnant women and infants because of its anti-allergic properties. Rooibos has a deep, smooth and soothing flavor. It contains no caffeine.

Red Ninja Organic Rooibos Latte Powder is the most recent addition to Three Tree Tea Company’s distinct tea latte powder lineup. Other blends include Black Ninja Tea Latte Powder, Ippuku Matcha Latte Powder, Dosukoi Houji(Roasted Green Tea) Latte Powder and Ippuku Ginger Matcha Latte Powder.

All of Three Tree Tea’s blends feature 100% stone ground tea powder blended with sugar. They contain no preservatives or fillers, and are non-dairy. They easily blend with any kind of dairy, rice, almond or soy milk. They can be served hot, iced or blended as a frappe. All of Three Tree Tea’s shelf-stable powders are packaged in foil pouches and are recloseable.

Three Tree Tea Company is proud to be leading the way in creating superb and unique tea beverages that are perfect for foodservice use. Three Tree Tea Company is located in Burien, Washington. For more information on the company visit www.threetreetea.com.

Sakura no shiozuke

 

The cherry blossom trees are in full bloom here, and the petals are now starting to drift off of the trees like pink snowflakes.  We have several different varieties on our block, with petals of different sizes and shades of pink.  As I walked my son to school today, I noticed that the wind had gently blown the petals into several small mounds along the edge of the sidewalk.  Given our historically cold and wet Spring, the long-awaited sight of flowers cheered me up a bit.

I think that I will help myself to some not-yet matured petals from my neighbor's tree(of course I'll ask first!) and attempt to make some sakura shiozuke(salted cherry blossoms).  Sakura shiozuke is used to flavor cherry blossom tea, and in food presentation as a garnish.  You can also use your shiozuke to make sakura rice.  It's a nice way to preserve the otherwise fleeting beauty of the sakura. 

I found a recipe from Tsukublog that I will try and report back to you as to the results:

Cherry blossoms must be picked before full bloom.  It's best to use Yaezakura - more than 5 blossoms per bud. 

Ingredients: 

12 ounces of cherry blossoms
3 tablespoons of salt
3 tablespoons of plum vinegar

Directions: 

1. Wash the blossoms squeeze out excess water.
2. Cover thoroughly with salt.
3. Place heavy item to cover the top of the blossoms, such as a drop lid, and let rest in refrigerator for 3 days.
4. Drain excess liquid.
5. Add plum vinegar, and refrigerate for 3 days.
6. Again, drain excess liquid.
7. Spread out cherry blossoms on a plate and let air dry for 3 days.
8. Store in a glass jar, and add more salt. 
9.  Enjoy!

Something different...a savory Matcha recipe

About.com has a wealth of information on every subject. The tea and coffee page runs a monthly recipe contest.

January's winner was a recipe for Matcha Salad Dressing. Though you can use ceremonial matcha, you can also substitute a cooking grade matcha which will also work nicely, as the matcha flavor has to be strong enough to hold up to the other flavors in the salad.

Here's the link: http://coffeetea.about.com/od/coffeeteafoods/r/Mixed-Green-Salad-With-Goat-Cheese-Orange-Slices-And-Matcha-Dressing.htm

I know I will be giving this recipe a try sometime soon!

Matcha in the mainstream

I was vacationing in sunny CA last week, hanging out at a 55+ mobile home community by the beach with my family. I picked up a copy of Woman's World magazine in the community reading room, and was surprised to find an article on Matcha in between the Coconut Easter Bunny Cupcake recipes and the obligatory new weekly diet plan. (Another random thing I noticed about this magazine is the very generous use of exclamation points - every single sentence has one - but I digress, it's still a leisurely read).

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to see the following in the 4/25 issue:

"Enjoy more energy every day! Sip matcha green tea!"

It went on to say that according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, "drinking four cups daily can increase your endurance by 24% after just 10 weeks". Because you are drinking the entire ground tea leaf by consuming matcha, you are also ingesting approximately 10 times more nutrients than with regular green tea. It's no surprise that you would get an extra boost from that.

You don't have to do the whole ceremonial ritual in order to get your matcha. You can add a cooking grade matcha to your smoothies, or to a shot of OJ or soy milk. There are so many possibilities for enjoying a delicious and nutritious serving of matcha. It's nice to see it in the spotlight more and more.

Kids and sugary drinks - tea to the rescue

It seems that kids are just naturally drawn to sugary, often nutrition-less drinks.  I know that when I am with my son at the supermarket, when he sees all of the different, colorful and fun looking drinks he is immediately intrigued.   Problem is, they are full of sugar and not much else; even juice often falls into this category.  According to KidsHealth.org, "what a child drinks can drastically affect the amount of calories consumed, as well as the amount of calcium needed to build strong bones."

Herbal tea can be a fun, tasty and refreshing beverage for kids as long as it contains little to no sugar.  A small amount of honey or other natural sweetener can add just the right amount of sweetness.  Here are some suggestions for kid-friendly herbal "tea" drinks(most kids like it chilled):

Rooibos comes from the aspalanthus plant and is primarily grown in South Africa.  It is prized for its high level of antioxidants, nutty and slightly sweet flavor, and low tannins.  It has a myriad of health benefits and is used around the world for alleviating infant colic, nervous tension and allergy symptoms.  Honeybush is of a similar plant variety only found in South Africa, and has a slightly sweeter flavor and darker brew than Rooibos.

Peppermint is a flavor that we all know, and in addition to its delicious taste it is also believed to assist with memory recall.  It is delicious and refreshing on its own, or blended with other herbs such as chamomile.

Hibiscus produces a brilliant reddish blue color and tastes like berries.  It may have antibacterial properties.   It is delicious when blended with other herbs such as Rooibos.

Lavender has been used as a flavoring for centuries, and is even used in candy, so kids must like it, right? A lovely herb with a pleasant aroma, this one also blends well with the healthy Rooibos herb. 

Passionfruit in my opinion really needs no sweetener.  The easiest way to get this is to order one at Starbucks without any sweeteners, syrups or flavors - they have it and they charge you less if you leave that stuff out.

Osthmanthus (or tea olive) is a very fragrant flower with a sweet flavor, and also tastes great blended with either rooibos or green tea(which contains caffeine). 

And if you are not afraid to give your kid a little caffeine, put a 1/2 teaspoon or so of Matcha(ground green tea) into their banana smoothie for an extra health kick.  The bright green color is intriguing to most kids and it gets them used to the concept of tea. 

Recipe: Herbal Rooibos Iced Tea with Lavender Flower

Strainer(preferably stainless steel mesh or disposable tea bag)

For 1 - 2 servings:

2 - 3 tsp Hana-cha Rooibos Tea with Lavender Flower
1/2 to 1 tsp honey(optional)

Boil water.  Steep tea in water for 5 - 6 minutes, brew should be a dark reddish color.  Remove strainer or disposable tea bag and add honey if desired.  Pour over ice.

For a 64 ounce pitcher of tea:

Use 5-6 rounded teaspoons of tea, put in a disposable tea bag and steep in just-boiled water for at least 10 minutes, until the brew is somewhat dark in color.  Add honey to taste if desired, and cool for a couple of hours.  Refrigerate and serve chilled over ice.