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Chamomile Tea Pops

Meagan Micozzi — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 12:54:57 +0000

This time of year is always hard.

Vacations are ending. Neighborhood pools are closing. And, of course, dust off your Trapper Keeper because it’s time to go back to school.

I do a lot of snacking to self-soothe.

When you’re a regular snacker, you have to mix it up a little bit. Sleeping at the snacking switch is not allowed.

So this is my newest snacking creation – Chamomile Tea Pops – they meet all of the snacking criteria:

Is the snack simple and quick to prepare? CHECK
Is the snack light and not overly filling? CHECK
Can you pull the snack together with stuff that you likely already have in your pantry? CHECK
Does the snack taste hella good? CHECK CHECK

It’s as simple as chamomile tea (or loose chamomile if you choose as I did), sugar, water, a few Dixie cups and some popsicle sticks.

The idea is to dissolve the sugar in the hot water that you use to steep your tea, that way your pops are perfectly sweet and completely refreshing. It doesn’t get any easier than that.

So there you have it: sweet snacky goodness that hits all the right notes.

Make somebody’s day, or your own, with some Chamomile Tea Pops today.

Chamomile Tea Pops

Ingredients:

4 c. boiling water
1/3 c. loose chamomile (I opted to use the loose, dried version, but you could easily simply use tea bags instead. You’ll want to use enough tea bags to approximate 1/3 cup of loose tea.)
2/3 c. white sugar, granulated

Directions:

Place the loose tea or tea bags, along with the sugar, in a large bowl. Pour the boiling water over the tea and sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves. Set aside, allowing the mixture to steep and cool for 5-7 minutes.

If you opted for loose tea, strain the tea mixture into another large bowl and discard the chamomile remains. Pour the sweetened tea into your pop molds. I opted for simple 5 ounce Dixie cups but you can use any pop molds that will work for you. Freeze your pops until they are semi –solid (this took approximately 45 minutes in my freezer) and, once they will support the popsicle sticks, insert them into the center of the partially frozen pops and return them to the freezer until sold.

Once the pops are frozen solid, remove them from the freezer and simply peel the Dixie cups off.

YIELD: 8- 5 ounce tea pops

All photos by Meagan Micozzi except the single chamomile flower by Noel Coates and the live chamomile flower branches by is by Karl-Ludwig Poggeman.

Eat Boutique is an online magazine + market for food enthusiasts to celebrate the best pure, local + comforting handmade foods. We call it: food that hugs you back. Looking for the perfect gift? Eat Boutique sells gift boxes filled with handmade sweet and savory treats. Send food that hugs you back today.

Did you know we’re hosting our first Local Market on September 24 in Boston?

An Ode to Late Spring: Quick Recipe for Chive Oil

Maggie Battista — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 19:56:00 +0000

Quick! Rush out to your garden and chop down all the chives you can hold in one hand or in your apron or even in your shirt pocket. If you don’t have a big plant out back, the local farmers markets are blooming with chives, thick with purple blossoms. Either way, bring that bunch home and chop it up as fine as you like; no points for neatness. The messier, the better!

Pile the chives in a bowl and drizzle them with your very best extra virgin olive oil, something full of fruit and flavor. Sprinkle a bit of sea salt on top and toss everything together with a spoon, an antique silver spoon worked fine for me…

The result will be a luscious chive oil that looks something like a thin pesto. It’s rich and fruity, due to your fabulous extra virgin olive oil, and totally fragrant from the fresh chives. It’s quite tasty too and gets better the longer the flavors mesh together. I’ve been drizzling it on everything… and I mean, everything.

This chive oil is great on: freshly made pizzas; morning omelets; bowls of thin spaghetti; tortillas and flat breads of all sorts; roasted meats and poultry charred by the grill or roasted in the oven; roasted, steamed or boiled vegetables; fresh baguette w/butter or bits of crostini; any single-vegetable soup puree like carrot or pea soup; and corn on the cob. That’s a start, but I’m certain you’ll come up with even better combinations.

And now some gratuitous shots of chives from my garden… but first, a list of blogs with other great uses for chives:

Spring Pesto at Eat Make Read
Chilled Beet Soup with Kefir and Chives at Crumpets and Cakes
Chive Blossom Vinegar at A Full Measure of Happiness
Savory Buttermilk Biscuits with Cheddar and Chives from Brooklyn Supper

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Dandelion Wine

Jill Chen — Fri, 20 May 2011 00:44:02 +0000

One of my favorite photographers and an Eat Boutique contributor, Jill Chen, comes out from behind the camera to share the steps in making this beautiful recipe, courtesy of blogger/author/friend, Georgia Pellegrini. Thanks, Jill and Georgia! -Maggie

I woke up a few days ago to a front lawn full of yellow dandelions. It wasn’t planned on my part, but after reading Georgia Pellegrini’s post on making dandelion wine, I was inspired to act quickly… stalking my neighborhood for fresh untouched patches of the dreaded yellow weed.

Pick from young plants and newly opened blooms, away from sprayed areas or where dogs frequent.

I found it helpful to first spread buds out on the table for any ants or bugs to escape. Rinse well, trimming green ends off (optional).

The recipe calls for the whole buds which can be bitter, or you can pick the petals off. I ended up using a knife after my thumbs started getting sore.

Throw all the dandelion petals into a large pot. Now add the juice and coarsely chopped rind of one whole lemon and orange.

Add water, and bring to a boil for a few minutes.

Remove from heat and cover, letting it steep on the counter for 24-48 hrs.

After the steeping stage, add the sugar and activated yeast (I used Champagne yeast). Give it a good stir.

I am lucky to live near a wine-making supply store where I purchased a 2 gallon glass carboy for fermenting, cap, champagne yeast and airlock. Suddenly, I’m dreaming about growing my own grapes and having a little “garage winery.”

Using a large funnel and colander, scoop the mixture into the jug, straining everything out. You need to create an airlock, so that the CO2 can escape as it ferments, but bad yeast doesn’t get in.

This is an airlock, which was a few dollars from the wine-making supply store. Vodka (alcohol, not water) is added to create the barrier. It will bubble and allow gas out, but nothing gets in. My jug is happily gurgling and bubbling away in the basement. I’m tempted to pick more dandelions to store in the freezer. Just in case this turns out amazing, I won’t have to wait till spring to make it again. It will be Christmas when we have our first tasting. I look forward to wearing flowers in my hair and sipping a little bit of sunshine.

“Dandelion Wine” via Georgia Pellegrini

Ingredients:

8 cups whole dandelion blossoms, stems removed
16 cups water
Juice of 1 orange
Juice of 1 lemon
Peel of 1 large orange coarsely chopped
Peel of 1 lemon coarsely chopped
2 ¼ teaspoons brewers yeast
¼ cup warm water
6 cups sugar
8 whole cloves
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and diced

1. Wash the dandelion blossoms well in a colander. Put them in a pot with the orange and lemon juice, and the orange and lemon peels. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool and sit for 24-48 hours.

2. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let sit for 10 minutes.

3. Add the sugar to the dandelion liquid and stir. Add the yeast mixture as well and stir.

4. Fit a large jug with a funnel and fit the funnel with a small fine mesh strainer. Ladle in the liquid one spoonful at a time, pressing down onto the dandelions as they go into the mesh strainer to ensure all of the liquid is extracted. Dump the dandelion and peels into an empty bowl to allow each new batch of liquid to go through easily.

5. Add the cloves and ginger and put on airlock on. This can be done by using a deflated balloon and poking holes into the latex, then fastening the balloon around the neck of the jug. Or you could also use plastic. Shake well and let it rest for one week in a cool dark place as the fermentation begins.

6. Strain the liquid again into bottles using the funnel again. Allow the uncorked bottles to sit in a dark cool place for 3 to 6 weeks. Then cork the bottles, or use bottles with screw on tops, and store them in a cool place for at least 2 months and up to a year. This kind of wine is best consumed while it is young.

Notes from Georgia:

Note #1: Some recipes call for just petals not whole buds. My friend Ron, the mastermind behind Herb Farm informed me that fermentation can sometimes stop before it is complete, meaning it’s “stuck.” This can happen when there aren’t enough micronutrients for the yeast. You increase the chance of success by using whole buds because it adds more micronutrients, but you will have a slightly more bitter wine. I’m okay with that, I like a little bitter. But if you’re not, try the petals only. This will require more picking and separating.

Note #2: Pick dandelions from an open field far from any insecticide spraying, and if you can, pick early in the season when the leaves of the plant are still tender. Newly opened flowers are also ideal.

Dreaming of Spring

Maggie Battista — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 01:30:41 +0000

This photo, taken in London, reminded me that Spring really is just around the corner. Dreaming of fairer weather, I ventured to the flower show last week. Between 50 degree weather in London and a dose of flowery times at the convention center, I’m so ready for Spring cooking and flower arranging.

This gorgeous display of geraniums reminded me of colorful salad greens that share multiple shades of greens. Freshly dressed with lemon juice and olive oil, there’s nothing better.

This dark geranium had an under-planting of a mossy-green fern. It reminded me of my days at Winston’s, when we always finished off plants with an under-coating of something (pea stones, lava rock, moss).

This fountain needs to be in my back yard this year. It would be quite the focal point for barbecues, smoke parties (meat smoking!) and all sorts of al fresco dining.

If only this citrus tree could be in my yard as well. I may buy a little lime tree for my back deck, to nurture our bad margarita habit.

I have so many old stone pots that I plan to fill up with dozens of succulents this season. They always fancy up a barbecue, adding a touch of elegance to plates of smoked meats.

Gigantic pink tree peonies always remind me of gigantic dinner plates. I have some peach dinner plates purchased for a buck a pop at the local dollar store. I always prefer to use actual plates rather than paper or plastic. Sure, it’s better for the environment. But ultimately, real plates make burgers so much better.

Ahh, I look forward to those early Summer peony blooms that will pop up just outside my kitchen door. Start planning your garden now, there are so many possibilities!