Jenn’s Cook Book

Another DIY Herbal Tea, this one using sage, fennel seeds, mint, and lemon. Sweeten with honey, sugar, or simple syrup as desired.

1/3 cup chopped fresh sage
2 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp fresh mint, crushed
1 tsp finely grated lemon rind
5 cups boiling water
honey, to taste

Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Add sage, fennel seed, mint, and lemon rind. Cover and steep 15 minutes.

Strain and stir in honey. Chill 1 hour.

Serve over ice with fresh sage and/or mint leaves as garnish. Add lemon wedges for extra flavor.

Served in a pitcher with mint leaves, ice, and lemon wedges:

Single serving, garnished with a fresh sprig of sage:

This is a great tea, served hot or iced,  depending on the weather! James wanted green tea with honey, I wanted tea with ginger, and here is the end result. The ginger gives this tea just a hint of flavor and spice, which is perfect for the Gingerama category. Enjoy a tea-riffic Jenn Original Recipe (sorry, couldn’t help myself).

8 green tea bags
8 cups water
1/3 cup honey
1 3-inch piece of ginger, peeled
lemon wedges, for garnish

Cut ginger into half-inch slices. Bring water to a boil and pour over tea bags and ginger slices in a heat resistant pitcher. Steep for 5-10 minutes and remove tea bags. Stir in honey and steep ginger an additional 5 minutes. Remove ginger slices.

Serve immediately warm, or chill 1-2 hours and pour over ice and lemon wedges.

Another DIY Herbal Tea, from the website Recipe Goldmine. In this recipe, tea is made by water steeped in anise seed, which is similar to fennel seed but with a stronger licorice flavor. Can be served hot or chilled. I liked the flavor of honey with this tea better than sugar.

5 cups water
2 1/2 tsp anise seed
sugar, to taste

Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Add anise seed and remove from heat. Cover and steep 20 minutes. Strain out seeds and add sugar (or honey).

Serve immediately hot or chill 1-2 hours and serve over ice.

Anise Tea for One

Here is another version of Anise Tea, this one from About.com. Great on a chilly night or a day when the AC has been turned on for too long. A quick and easy treat to serve one.

1 cup boiling water
1 tsp anise seed
1 tsp honey or to taste

Pour boiling water over anise seed a small heat-resistant bowl or saucepan. Steep for 5-6 minutes.

Strain tea into a mug and sweeten to taste with honey.

To serve iced, chill for 20-30 minutes and serve over ice as shown below. Again, this herbal tea will not be as dark as regular tea.

Here is another great dessert from Everyday Food magazine, this one combining plums with a honey-orange sauce. Plums are generally in season May through October, and some varieties peak in the fall months, so there is plenty of time to enjoy this great recipe. If you leave off the ice cream or cream cheese topping, you can use this as a side to roast chicken or pork.

1 tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup orange juice
4 large purple or red plums, halved and pitted

Optional:
3 tbsp cream cheese, room temperature
1 tsp milk
OR vanilla iced cream

Preheat oven to 400F

Place butter in 3-quart shallow baking dish and melt butter in preheating oven.

Add honey and orange juice to pan, stir until combined. Arrange plums, cut side down, in baking dish. Bake until tender and juicy, about 20-25 minutes, turning plums over during final 10 minutes of baking time and spooning juices over fruit. If needed, add additional orange juice or water to pan to prevent scorching.

To prepare cream cheese topping: stir cream cheese and milk together until blended. Spoon mixture over plums and drizzle with pan juices to serve OR serve plums with vanilla iced cream and drizzle with pan juices.

An interesting iced tea recipe I found on allrecipes.com. I had a hard time finding Irish Breakfast Tea, as most places on had EnglishBreakfast Tea…apparently, there is a difference. I did eventually find Twinings Irish Breakfast Tea at the World Market. It is a full-bodied, brisk, malty brew typically served with milk or lemon. The Irish drink this tea throughout the day, hence the morning-afternoon-night name.

Though it is a blend of several black teas, including Ceylon and Assam, you could easily substitute Assam and forgo the search. The original recipe calls for 4 tea bags and 8 cups of water, steeping for 30 minutes. I used 6 tea bags and 8 cups of water, steeping for 15 minutes. I like my tea nice and strong.

4-6 Irish Breakfast (or Assam) tea bags
8 cups boiling water
1/3 cup honey, or more to taste
2 cups milk
lemon wedges, for garnish

Pour boiling water over tea bags in a heat-resistant pitcher. Steep 15-30 minutes, or to desired strength. Remove tea bags and stir in honey. Allow tea to cool to room temperature and then chill for 1-2 hours.

Stir in milk once tea is chilled. Serve over ice and garnish with lemon.

The best I can describe this iced tea is slightly sweet, mild, and very refreshing!

Here is another summer thirst-quencher, combining the seasonal flavors of blueberry and cucumber with orange juice and honey. This fresh and fruity recipe comes from Cooking Light magazine.

3 cups fresh orange juice
1/4 cup honey
1 pint fresh blueberries (frozen can be substituted)
1 medium cucumber

Cut cucumber into chunks. Combine with blueberries, orange juice, and honey in a blender. Process until smooth. Cover and chill 8 hours or overnight.

Strain mixture through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a medium bowl, pressing solids with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula to squeeze out juice. Discard solids.

Serve in tall glasses over ice. Makes 4 servings.

This tasty recipe came from http://www.bellybytes.com/recipe/tea/index.html. Part of BellyBytes.com, this list has tons of great hot and iced tea recipes! Consider this a summertime version of apple cider, and if you use chilled apple juice you don’t need to wait for the tea to chill.

4 bags of black tea
3 cups boiling water
1/3 cup honey
3 cups unsweetned apple juice 
Lemon slices

Place tea bags in a heat-safe pitcher or teapot. Pour boiling water over bags and steep about 15 minuts. 

Discard bags and add honey, stirring until honey is dissolved. Add apple juice and stir well.

Serve over ice, garnished with lemon slices.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.  

Another Jenn Original Recipe, and another adventure in Paprika-thon. If you do not have sweet paprika, add a small pinch of brown sugar. Thyme can be substituted for marjoram.

8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Over medium-high heat, saute mushrooms in a pan coated in cooking spray. When mushrooms are almost done, add honey to mushrooms and saute 1-2 minutes. Add paprika, marjoram, and salt to pan (pepper will burn) and saute an additional 2-3 minutes or until mushrooms are done.

Serve as a side or on top of chicken or pork.

Here is a quick and easy dessert from Taste of Home’s magazine “Cooking for 2.” This is the perfect dish to share between two people.

2 (6-inch) flour tortillas
2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp chocolate chips
cooking spray

Drizzle honey over one tortilla then sprinkle with cinnamon. Top with chocolate chips (don’t get too close to the edges). Top with remaining tortilla.  

Coat a medium frying pan or skillet with cooking spray. Cook quesadilla over medium heat for 2 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Flip carefully, if the filling spills out, quesadilla will be sticky.  

Cut into four wedges and serve immediately.  

Here is the first recipe for Gingerama. These mushrooms are a great side dish, or combine with soba or udon noodles and vegetables to create a main dish. Enjoy Ginger Recipe #1.

1 lb whole mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp ginger, finely grated
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp sesame seeds
green onions, optional

Rinse mushrooms under lukewarm water. Remove stems and cut into quarters.

Heat oil in a large, non-stick skillet over high heat. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add ginger, mix well, and then add mushrooms. Saute for 1-2 minutes or until mushrooms begin to brown.

Add teriyaki sauce and honey. Simmer for 3-5 minutes or until mushrooms are fully cooked. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and toss to coat. Cook for an additional minute to toast seeds and remove from heat. Top with sliced green onions as desired. Serve with hot cooked rice.