Showing posts with label tea leaves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tea leaves. Show all posts

Sunday, 5 January 2014

Tea Recipes

If you love tea, you may be interested in tea recipes. Tea is actually an amazing ingredient in a variety of recipes.

Tea leaves are not just for steeping anymore and some of the most tantalizing recipes are being developed by top chefs by using tea leaves as an ingredient.

Here are just some of the types of recipes you can find that include uses leaves or liquid. (and by the way, you sometimes eat the leaves!!)

Marinades - there are becoming more and more marinades and sauces that use tea as an ingredient. You can add some flair to a bland white sauce by adding just a teaspoon of green tea leaves or some stongly brewed black tea.

Cakes - there are some terrific cake recipes that use tea as an ingredient. All you do to create your own fabulous recipe is replace the liquid with strongly brewed tea. I just made some Rooibos Angel Food Cake and it was delicious. My daughter made Spiced Angel Food using a Christmas Chai Tea as the liquid replacment.

Ice Cream - Most of us have heard about Green Tea Ice Cream - it typically uses matcha (powdered green tea) as an ingredient and matcha is excellent in many different recipes. It also gives a beautiful green tea color to your scones, cookies and cakes.

How about a licorice tea ice cream? Sounds delicious doesn't it? Tea can be used as an ingredient in many recipes and dishes. I often use it as I would a spice or herb.

So a few leaves floating in the soup? My family loves it and it is really good for you too. You get all the health properties of the tea you are infusing and cooking with.

So as a general rule of thumb, and in my experimenting with using tea as an ingredient - the easiest thing to do is replace the liquid in the recipe with a strong brew - 4 times strength what you would drink is a great rule of thumb.

Bergamot Scones are simply delicious. The undertone of the bergamot or beebalm is really nice. Just use very strong bergamot tea in place of half the cream.

I hope this article inspired you to do more with tea than just drink it!

For more great tea recipe ideas, visit Teyas website CrazyForTea and her Tea Recipes section. You can add your own recipes to the collection or try out one of the fabulous tea recipes listed. Crazy For Tea is a website dedicated to the tea lover in all of us.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Teya_Zary
http://EzineArticles.com/?Tea-Recipes&id=3455666

Sunday, 29 December 2013

Green Tea Recipe - Nutritious But Are They Delicious?

I grew up experiencing the delicious green tea recipes. Did you know that in China, green tea has been used in cooking as long as the tea has been used for drinking? As you have noticed, it has becoming more and more popular to incorporate it into cooking.

The good news is that most of the ingredients you will use in a green tea recipe does not require special ingredients (other than the tea itself) nor special trip to Asian supermarkets.

Eating with this wonderful leaf has a lot of benefits such as preventing cancer and heart disease, restricting the increase of blood cholesterol, controlling high blood pressure, lowering of blood sugar levels, controlling inflammation, suppressing the aging process, refreshing your body, fighting virus, and promoting weight loss.

Yes, a nice bonus of including this drink in your diet is the slowing of the absorption of carbohydrates and stimulating fat burning. The other reason is the unforgettable flavor of the food. High quality green tea has a very distinct flavor that many experience that is unique to this wonder drink.

So how do you cook with it? If the recipe calls for brewed tea, make sure that you use fresh bottled spring water when making your tea. Tap water contains chemicals which can change the taste of a brew. Pls. remember that different types of tea require different temperatures of water.

To get the best flavor and the most infusions, pick a high quality leaves and if you can afford it, choose an organic tea. Then brew your green tea with a boiling water at 160 - 170 degrees Fahrenheit. This is because it is better to steep green tea at a lower temperature for a little longer rather than forcing the tea leaves to open up and release their essence with high temperature. Doing so will result to a bitter brew.

In order to achieve the optimum health benefits of green tea, make sure to wait for 3-4 minutes of brewing time.

To use bags for cooking, add a little steaming water to the teapot and swirl the water to warm the teapot. Place 2 to 4 teabags in the pot and immediately pour 1/4 cups of boiling water over the tea bags. Cover and infuse for 2-3 minutes. This will make 1 cup of very strong tea. Then use this liquid according to the recipe.

To use loose tea leaves, first brew or steam the leaves and infuse for 5 minutes. Do not use a tea ball or strainer because you want the leaves to be fully infused.

Normally, you use dry leaves as a seasoning, the brew as a sauce, and the infused leaves as vegetables. Another way to infuse dry tea leaves is to steam them until infused before adding to the dish.

For more information on health issues and effective natural health solutions, visit [http://www.onehealthonelife.com] It's a great place to ask your own health questions and share your knowledge on health as well. Visit our information site for more tips on green tea [http://www.green-tea-expert.com]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mary_Rose_Antonio
http://EzineArticles.com/?Green-Tea-Recipe---Nutritious-But-Are-They-Delicious?&id=737333

Thursday, 23 May 2013

Green Tea and Black Tea: A Simple Cup of Ancient Culture

According to Chinese lore, the first tea infusion was discovered by the legendary Emperor Shennong, who also taught the people agriculture and herbal medicine. The drink was discovered accidentally when wild tea leaves fell into boiling water - when the Emperor tasted it he found it delightful and began the tradition of tea drinking. Written records confirm that the Chinese were drinking this beverage by 1000 BCE, mostly for its medicinal value. By the 7th century CE, tea was drunk as a social beverage for pleasure.

All green and black teas come from the same source, camellia sinensis, the tea tree. The difference in flavor and appearance comes from different methods of harvesting and processing the tea. Green tea is a mature leaf, harvested and pan roasted to preserve the flavor and color. This is the most popular tea in China. Green tea is an important health tonic in Chinese medicine, and is growing in popularity in the Western world. Scientific research has confirmed the antioxidant content of green tea. Antioxidants are sought after to fight the effects of aging and improve the immune system. The mild caffeine content of green tea is energizing, but much less acidic than coffee. Green tea comes in many different grades and varieties. Sencha is a smooth, refreshing Japanese green tea, with a beautiful color and cut to the leaf. Gunpowder is a dark, eye-opening Chinese green tea which is rolled into a traditional pinhead shape. We recommend steeping green tea for 2 - 3 minutes in hot water. Don't boil the leaves! It will become very bitter. Good quality green teas can be steeped several times with the same leaves. Just add a little extra time to each extra brew.

Black tea is most popular in England, Europe, and the United States. Black tea comes from mature leaves, which are then dried in the sun and allowed to oxidize. This process changes the appearance and flavor of the leaves, giving a rich, smooth taste. Many black teas are grown in India, a practice that flourished during the rule of the British Empire, and remains an important activity today. Varieties such as Darjeeling and Earl Grey are traditional British styles of tea that have become very popular in the United States. Black tea has many of the same antioxidants as green tea, though some are lost during the drying process. Still, the health benefits of black tea, especially compared to coffee or soda, are reputed to be excellent. Black tea is versatile, and is the basis of many coffeehouse favorites such as chai lattes - a drink which can be easily made at home by adding some Indian Spice to a strong black tea such as Assam, and then adding milk to the finished brew. For most black teas, we recommend brewing for 3-5 minutes in hot, not boiling, water. Ultimately, the amount of time you steep the tea is a matter of personal preference, and with a little experience you will find the perfect strength for your palate.

Whether you choose green tea or black tea, you will be participating in one of the oldest and most revered cultural practices in human history. Modern technology has yet to improve upon the simple pleasure of steeping leaves in hot water, but it has made tea and tea culture accessible to people all over the world. Exotic and unique teas, once the exclusive province of Chinese kings and emperors, are now available for everyone to enjoy and reap the natural health benefits.

If you are interested in learning more about teas and other hot beverages with health benefits. Visit Phoenix Herb Company

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_Fay
http://EzineArticles.com/?Green-Tea-and-Black-Tea:-A-Simple-Cup-of-Ancient-Culture&id=7667605

Tuesday, 21 May 2013

Green Tea Pills

If you are having troubles with your figure and your weight, I assume you have researched ways of losing weight without breaking too much sweat. Maybe you, like many other people all over the world, have stupidly tried any weight loss pill they could get your hands on which are dangerous. Some people had negative side effects and some people even died because of this stupidity. Don't get frustrated, don't be desperate. There is always room for those who work hard to achieve their dream body. Also, I would like to share to you a pill that is known to be effective. Green tea pills are herbal weight loss pills that have worked wonders already.

The green tea leaves are definitely proven and tested by time. You can't go wrong with it because ancient Chinese people have been using it not just for weight loss and slimming, but for many health benefits too.

However, the taste of this tea is not that pleasant. But that was before. You don't have to worry now because manufacturers have took that into consideration and that is why we have these pills made out of green tea leaves. So you don't have to taste it. Just pop it up your mouth and it's all over. The pill is a dietary supplement that you have to take every day. Also, the pills have more benefits compared to the tea version and doesn't taste that bad.

Did you know that green tea has also other beneficial effects? When you include it in your diet, you are also including anti oxidants in it so you can be sure that you are detoxifying yourself and you don't have to worry at all. However, like any other health products, the benefits are not instant, it takes to gradually do its part in your body, but that would not take too long. Soon, you will be enjoying the effects of this tea in your body and you can have a healthy and happy lifestyle.

However, you should also be careful. Not all green tea products are genuine. Some manufacturers add some additive substances on their green tea product to make it much more plenty. This would lessen the potency of the effect of green tea and sometimes, it also has a bad side effect. So be careful. Real green tea products are harvested from the finest tea farm, carefully selected and is made from one hundred percent pure green tea leaves. This makes the product so potent and this also means that it would be effective.

So regardless of what purpose you are drinking it, whether you wanted to lose some weight, or you wanted it as a drink before you workout to maximize the burning of calories in your body or just a daily supplement to detoxify your body, you can be sure that you would have a healthier body, a healthier and longer life full of happiness because nothing could stop you from having good, clean fun.

Interested in different tea varieties?

All about tea and more => http://teaonesite.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jenny_LaBrie
http://EzineArticles.com/?Green-Tea-Pills&id=6301742