Iced Chai

I have to admit I don't think I have ever had an Iced Chai before this week.  I received my latest Cuisine At Home magazine last week.  I have looked through it several times and the one recipe that stood out was the Iced Chai.  I was intrigued by the ingredients.

I finally made it.  The house had a wonderful aroma from the spices.  I had to substitute some anise extract for the whole star anise.

After the Chai was done cooling I decided to try it out.  Wow, what flavor this drink has.  The one thing I noticed was after you finished your sip there was a "dance" of flavors on my tongue.  I know.  I know sounds strange.  I guess I can not explain it much more than that. 

This drink may very well become my afternoon drink instead of coffee.

Iced Chai

2 1/2 cups water

3 green cardamom pods, crushed

1 teaspoon black peppercorns, crushed

1 piece fresh ginger, cut into 1-inch coins

5 star anise, whole

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, ground

4 looseblack tea leaves or tea bags

2 cups milk, reduced fat (skim, 1% or 2%)

2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

ice cubes

 

Directions:

1 Place water in saucepan over medium heat. 2 Add crushed cardamom pods and peppercorns. 3 Add ginger, star anise and cinnamon; bring to a boil for 1 minute. 4 Add black tea, simmer 5 minutes. 5 Stir in milk; return to simmer. Sweeten with turbanado sugar to taste; remove tea from heat. 6 Cool chai to room temperature. Once cool, pour through a fine mesh sieve into a pitcher. Discard solids. 7 Refrigerate chai up to one week. 8 To serve, fill glasses with ice; pour chai over ice.

 

** I'm sorry for the horrible photo

White Sangria

White sangria is one of my ultimate summer drinks. Many years ago I tried making a red sangria and I hated the recipe. After a while I got a subscription to Cuisine At Home cooking magazine and they had a White Sangria recipe on the back cover. I decided to try and I absolutely Loved it. I have even used red wine instead white and it was just a good.


White Sangria

½ cups Hot Water
½ cups Sugar
1 bottle White Wine
¾ cups Brandy
1 whole Vanilla Bean
1 whole Lime, Sliced Into Rounds
1 whole Orange, Sliced Into Rounds
½ whole Pineapple, Cored And Sliced Into Rings
2 cups Club Soda


In a pitcher, dissolve the sugar with the hot water.

Add the white wine, brandy, vanilla bean, limes, oranges and pineapple.

Chill for about 2 hours.


Stir in the club soda and some ice.


Pour into glass and garnish with a wedge of pineapple or slice of citrus

Barefoot Bloggers Challenge - Mango Banana Daiquiris

This drink was a wonderful frozen concoction to have on a steamy New England day and my birthday.


My sister-in-law Kathy and mother-in-law Sheila came over yesterday afternoon. We sat out by the pool chatting up a storm. I never knew my mother-in-law did not like mangos, but she had one for the first time yesterday and seemed to have enjoyed the drink.


I personally thought there was a "good" amount of rum in it. Let's just say I could have curled up on the sofa and fallen asleep at 6pm.


This recipe was brought to us by Veronica of Supermarket Serenade.


Mango Banana Daiquiris
serves 4

2 cups chopped ripe mango (1 to 2 mangos, peeled and seeded)
1 ripe banana, chopped
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (4 limes)
1/4 cup sugar syrup*
1 1/4 cups dark rum, such as Mount Gay
Mango slices, for serving

Place the mango, banana, lime juice, sugar syrup, and rum in a blender and process until smooth. Add 2 cups of ice and process again until smooth and thick. Serve ice-cold in highball glasses with the mango slices.


*To make simple syrup, heat 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Chill.