Posts Tagged ‘foodie’
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Today it’s a sunny day with a warming, clear fresh light and a blue sky. This is great weather to look at tasting oolong teas from China and Taiwan (sometimes called Formosa by tea drinkers). The clear light allows you to see the subtle colour differences between types of teas being cupped, while the fresh light air marries really well with the taste of oolongs. Oolong tea is sometimes called wu long which is perhaps a better transliteration.
Oolong tea is called a semi-fermented tea, where green tea is basically unfermented (or lightly processed) while black tea is fermented (i.e. fully processed). Oolong tea sits somewhere between a green tea and a black tea with exactly where they are in that green-to-black tea range having a lot of effect on the end tea.
Oolong tea has the smooth, light and refreshing characteristics of green tea with some of the additional depth of character provided by the firing process to give it hints of black tea – so you will hear people talk of oolong tea being “sweet” or “refreshing” or “flowery” or that it has hints of “spiciness”, “warmth” and a “light flavour of heat coming through”.
The tea leaves are picked from a special type of tea plant with large leaves, which are then withered and allowed to oxidize in carefully controlled air conditioned rooms. When ready (and this is part of the art of the tea maker), the leaves are steamed at a high heat to stop the oxidation process.
I just love them. For me, they have more character than green tea and white tea and are like a premier cru wine from a really small, specialist wine estate that’s been given extra love, care and attention. Or perhaps they are like the mystery of a Rembrandt or Titian painting over the perfectly clean lines of a Raphael. They are darker than green teas in colour but still often have silvery white tips coming through.
Some Oolong Teas
I have gone for the following types – an everyday Chinese Oolong Tea and a Taiwan Baihao Oolong (or Bai Hao Oolong) and two flavoured Oolong Teas . So I have chosen a classic style China Osmanthus Oolong Tea that’s been flavoured with delicate Osmanthus blossoms, and a China Milky Oolong Tea that has a silky, milky, sweet taste that’s weird – but beguiling – and has a round mouthfeel.
The Baihao Oolong tea comes from Xinhui in Northern Taiwan, which is humid and wet compared to the rest of the country. This creates an oolong that’s really smooth and sweet, with almost no astringency, with a lovely flowery aroma of ripe peaches and sweet magnolia-flavoured honey. Bai Hao Oolong is sometimes known as
Dong Fang Mei Ren or Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea because Queen Elizabeth II loves the special aroma and taste of Bai Hao and so she named it “Oriental Beauty”.
As you can see from the picture below it has a redder, darker and fuller colour than the green teas that I tasted a couple of days ago. However, this does not translate into a bitter drink and it should be drunk fresh and without milk, sugar or lemon. And while it costs a bit more than normal teas, it is really a treat for when you’re in a quiet, contemplative mood plus it brews well a second time on the same leaves – in fact I often prefer the second brew to the first as more character comes through.
Delicious Cup of Bai Hao Oolong Tea
Tags: Bai Hao, Baihao, Blog, Environment, ethical, Food, foodie, green blog, green way of life, lifestyle, Milky Oolong Tea, Milky Tea, Oo Long, Oolong, Oriental Beauty, Osmanthus Tea, Steenbergs, Steenbergs Tea, Taiwan Tea, tea, vegan, vegetarian, Wu Long
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Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
At Steenbergs, we are undergoing some changes to our loose leaf specialist teas. Last year, we redesigned the labels to be bespoke for each tea type and with better descriptions on making tea, as well as being bright and fun looking. Next week, we should also see the arrival of our own new bespoke tea tins – they are in a matt black with a roundel on the top with our name “Steenbergs Tea Merchants” printed in it, which is pretty exciting.
Allied to this, we are going over the specialist teas that we sell to give the Steenbergs range of teas more breadth and more interest. So I am tasting, for my sins, green teas and oolongs over the next few weeks.
Today, it is the turn of Japan and their green teas. I like the clean pallet of Japanese green teas without any hint of bitterness that quite often mars commercially purchased green teas from the high street – that’s not healthy and good for you, just plain disgusting tea.
I have chosen some lovely Sencha Fukujyu and Bancha teas, plus a Genmaicha, which is a weird, but traditional Japanese green tea, made by mixing Sencha with Rice Kernels (genmai) giving it a nutty flavour like drinking green tea with unflavoured popcorn mixed in – wacky but quite cool. The popcorn-looking stuff in the Genmaicha are actually rice kernels that pop during the roasting process. At this stage, I have not gone for a Matcha as I am not sure with the samples that I have tasted so far.
But I really love the Gyokuro green teas. I have particularly enjoyed two of these – an organic Gyokuro and a truly exquisite Gyokuro from the Tanabe District near Kyoto. The Tanabe Gyokuro is grown under special bamboo shades for a tea with a unique flavour and is processed only from a small first flush; this should give a delicate, round flavour with a delicate, pale yellow-green colour.
Enjoying Cups Of Japanese Green Tea
These teas have a delicate, sweet flavour with hints of sweet damp hay coming through that’s typical of good green teas. The tea cups a light yellow green colour.
What are your favourite Japanese green teas?
Tags: bancha, Blog, foodie, foodie news, genmaicha, green blog, green tea, green way of life, gyokuro, Japanese green tea, lifestyle, matcha, sencha, Steenbergs spices, tanabe, tea
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Friday, March 5th, 2010
Following on from the recipe for Yorkshire Salad, my mum makes a wonderfully refreshing cucumber salad, which has a similar sweet and sour flavour. It’s lovely in the summer for al fresco dining and great with fish all your around.
Ingredients for Cucumber Salad
What you will need:
1tsp caster sugar
1tsp warm water
3tbsp cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
2 – 4 spring onions, chopped finely
½ tsp sea salt
2tsp dill herb (fresh)
Half cucumber
Firstly, peel the skin off the cucumber and then slice very finely into thin rounds of fresh cucumber. Place these on a plate so that you can see the tops of all the slices of cucumber, then sprinkle over some sea salt and leave.
Now make the sweetened vinegar, by first dissolving the sugar in warm water and then adding this to the cider vinegar. Stir it up thoroughly.
Chop the dill herb up finely and then the spring onions.
Sprinkle the vinegar over the cucumber slices, then sprinkle the chopped spring onion over this, followed by the dill weed.
Cucumber And Dill Salad
Serve immediately.
Tags: Blog, cooking, cucumber, cucumber salad, Food, foodie, foodie news, Granny Salad, green way of life, organic, organic food blog, recipe, Recipes, salad, salad recipe, spice, Steenbergs, Steenbergs spices, vegan, vegetarian, vegetarian recipe
Posted in Recipes and cooking | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
We have been discussing the ins and outs of Yorkshire Salad, and some of the different variations, including a very similar recipe called Granny Salad which Sandra (one of our amazing spice packers) was handed down from her Granny in Devon. Sadie – who does all our labels and web site photos – prefers it without onions but says that it definitely wouldn’t be Yorkshire Pudding without an accompanying Yorkshire Salad made by her mum.
Yorkshire Salad
You will need:
1tsp caster sugar
1tsp warm water
3tbsp cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
2 – 4 spring onions, chopped finely
8-10 fresh spearmint leaves, chopped finely
A green leaf lettuce (not an iceberg), shredded
Ingredients for Yorkshire Salad
Onions and Mint for Yorkshire Salad
Chop all the salad ingredients and place in a salad bowl or other bowl; I have given some flex in the ingredients as you should really just go with what you feel – I like it quite minty and without too much onion. Make the dressing by adding a bit of warm water to dissolve the sugar in, then add the cider vinegar to this. Adjust until you are happy with the sweetness – basically it’s sweet and sour, so not too sweet and not too sour. Chuck in the dressing and mix well.
You can serve it not only with Yorkshire pudding, but with other salads, or it goes really well with fish, especially smoked fish.
How do you make yours?
Tags: Blog, cooking, Food, foodie, Granny Salad, green blog, green way of life, recipe, Recipes, Ripon, salad, Steenbergs spices, vegan, vegetarian, vegetarian recipe, Yorkshire, Yorkshire Salad
Posted in Recipes and cooking | 1 Comment »
Monday, February 15th, 2010
Following on from making pancakes per Sunday’s post, we used the 8 pancakes, or crêpes, that this made by stuffing them with a mushroom filling, covering them in a cheese sauce and baking them in the oven. This is how we made it.
Selection Of Mushrooms - Chanterelle, Shiitake and Chestnut
How to make the mixed mushroom stuffing
75g / 3oz butter
1tbsp sunflower oil
1 medium onion, chopped finely
1 clove of garlic, chopped finely
500g / 1lb mushrooms, wiped, stalks removed and chopped
25g / 1oz fresh breadcrumbs
Pinch of mutmeg powder
Pinch of paprika
Pinch of ground white pepper
1tbsp chopped fesh parsley
1tbsp crème fraiche
You can use any mushrooms for the mushrooms. I actually used 100g of shiitake, 100g of chanterelle and 300g of chestnut mushrooms for an extra woody and earthy flavour. Champignons from the shops can be a bit flavourless.
Melt the butter and heat the oil together in a saucepan and then add the finely chopped onion and garlic. I whizzed them up quickly in a food processor. Cook these gently until translucent which will take about 5 minutes.
Now add the chopped mushrooms and fry at a high heat until cooked through but not burnt. Stir in the breadcrumbs, add the seasoning and the crème fraiche together with the chopped parsley.
To stuff the pancakes, put about 1 tablespoon of the mixed mushrooms in the centre of the pancakes and then spread along its length and about 3cm wide. Now fold over half the pancake and roll up the pancake. Place the stuffed pancake in a baking tray. Repeat this for the other pancakes.
Putting Mushroom Stuffing Into Savoury Pancake
One Pancake Well Stuffed With Mushrooms
How to make the cheese sauce
50g / 2oz butter
50g / 2oz plain flour
500ml / 1pt milk
A pinch of ground nutmeg
A pinch of paprika
A pinch of ground white pepper
125g / 5oz greated cheddar cheese
50g / 2oz grated cheddar cheese (for sprinkling over the final dish)
To make the cheese sauce first melt the butter in a heavy pan, then add the flour. Stir this well. Let the mixture cook gently for about one minute then add the milk little by little, stirring continuously after each addition. When all the milk has been used, add the first lot of grated cheese and the seasonings and stir in thoroughly.
To finish off the stuffed pancakes
Pre-heat the oven to 180oC / 350oF.
Pour the cheese sauce over the stuffed crêpes and then sprinkle the last cheese over the top.
Bake in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes until the sauce is bubbling.
Mushroom Stuffed Pancakes In Cheese Sauce
Serve immediately. We served ours with new potatoes, peas and a salad.
Tags: Blog, cheese sauce, cooking, crepe, crepes, Food, foodie, green way of life, lifestyle, mushroom stuffing, pancake, pancake recipe, pancakes, recipe, Recipes, vegetarian, vegetarian recipe
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Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
I came across this recipe on the truly amazing food blog of the Californian pastry chef living in Paris – David Lebovitz – which can be found at http://www.davidlebovitz.com/. And I have been meaning to have a crack at making his chocolate macarons for well over 6 months but strangely I never had the courage as the photography on his blog is really quite daunting; I suppose I just thought I would fail and so why try – the fear of failure always tries to hold us back.
Anyway this Sunday, I plucked up courage and printed out his recipe for Chocolate Macarons and then tweaked it to a more English style of ingredient list and had to go. They came out quite well really, although not as beautiful looking as his, but the taste was heavenly.
Chocolate Macarons
Here’s my slightly changed recipe (the process itself is the same as David Lebovitz’s so that’s been cribbed):
For the batter:
100g / 3½ oz icing sugar, sieved
50g / 2 oz ground almonds
25g /3tbsp cocoa powder, sieved
2 large egg whites (keep the yolks and make pancakes the next morning with these)
65g / 5tbsp caster sugar
Chocolate filling:
125ml / ½ cup double cream
2tsp golden syrup
120g / 4oz chocolate (either dark or not too milky chocolate – I used El Rey chocolate couverture discs)
1tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Preheat oven 180oC / 350oF. Line two baking trays or sheets with baking parchment paper and have a pastry bag with 2cm plain tip.
In a food processor, grind together the icing sugar, ground almonds and cocoa powder until quite fine.
In a bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until they start to rise, then add the caster sugar in two parts and continue to whisk until the egg whites become very stiff and firm and slightly glossy on the surface.
Carefully fold the dry ingredients in two parts into the beaten egg whites with a metal spoon or rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and just as the last streaks of white disappear, stop mixing and scrape the mixture into the pastry bag.
Pipe the batter into the lined baking try as in 3cm circles evenly spaced every 3cm apart. I struggled with getting this stage to look pretty, but I guess practise would make me much better. Rap the baking try three times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then bake for 15 – 18 minutes. When baked, let them cool completely.
Heat the cream and golden syrup in a small saucepan and when the cream is just starting to boil at the edges, remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Let this heat through for about one minute, then stir until smooth and add the pieces of butter. Let cool completely before use – I bunged it in the fridge.
To make the macarons, spread the chocolate mix on the inside of the macarons and sandwich together.
David Lebovitz then says let them stand for at least one day before serving to let the flavour settle. This just is not practical in our house where 8 chocolate macarons could not be kept away from hungry gannets and were wolfed down in short order, which is the way good cooking should go.
What other macarons recipes should I dare to try?
Tags: baking, Blog, chocolate, cookies, David Lebovitz, Food, foodie, foodie news, macaron, recipe, Recipes, Steenbergs, vegetarian, vegetarian recipe
Posted in Recipes and cooking | 1 Comment »
Friday, February 5th, 2010
At Steenbergs, we have been doing a lot of work trying to refresh parts of our organic spices and seasonings range. Now we have relaunched our spice tins into a bright new label and an elegant rolled tin.
Steenbergs new spice tins
Part of what we have been seeking to do is to pull out parts of our long list of spices and seasonings that can either sit as a standalone range, such as our Home Bakery products (which we relaunched in August 2009), or added value blends that differentiate Steenbergs in the spices and seasonings world.
We have a range of over 200 blends that we make in small batches by hand which is way more than industrial spice blenders and packers can hope to do – they just don’t have the ability to work on small batch runs nor the inclination.
So during 2009 we redesigned the spice tin, which was originally a spice dabbah made for us in Mumbai in India, to a rolled tin that is now being made for us in China. This new tin was launched in mid 2009 and looks much smarter and more elegant than the old tin that we felt was a bit shiny and the shapes of the actual dabbahs were inconsistent.
In the latter part of 2009 and through to early 2010, we have created a new look label for a few of our most popular blends – Steenbergs Signature Blends. These labels are brightly coloured, individual for each seasoning and now include a recipe idea.
The labels were printed last week and are now launched on the web site and will be officially launched at the forthcoming Organic & Natural Products Show at Olympia in April 2010.
They have great shelf presence and we expect to add maybe another 5 – 10 more over the next 2 years. The blends that are currently available are:
Organic Fairtrade 4 colour pepper
Organic Fairtrade curry powder (a new blend!)
Organic Fairtrade garam masala
Organic Harissa with Rose Petals
Organic Herbes de Provence
Organic Italian Herbs
Organic Mixed Herbs
Ras al hanut
Zaatar
Tell us what you think, and what other Steenbergs products we should add to this range of Signature Blends – I am thinking China 5 Spice, Dukkah, Jamaican Jerk and Mexican Chile Powder.
Tags: Blog, cooking, curry, Fairtrade, Fairtrade blog, Fairtrade spices, Food, foodie, foodie news, harissa, herbs, Indian cooking, lifestyle, organic, organic food blog, pepper, recipe, Recipes, seasoning, spice, spice tin, spices, Steenbergs, Steenbergs spices, vegan, vegetarian, vegetarian recipe
Posted in Steenbergs | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
Here is a way to use some of the new chillis that I introduced in a blog last week. It is a traditional recipe for a New Mexican Red Chile Sauce (Chilli Sauce) that is preferred by northern New Mexicans and New Mexican old-timers, especially those with Hispanic roots. It’s for chile lovers only and has a coarse earthy flavour.
Ingredients
450g/ 1lb dried New Mexico red chile, remove stems (leave seeds and veins if you want it hot)
2 heads of garlic, peeled
1 large onion, chopped
2tbsp dried Mexican oregano (European oregano will do)
1tsp sea salt
Water as necessary
Place the dried New mexican chilli pods on a baking tray and place in a preheated oven at 180oC / 375oF for a few minutes until they become soft and leathery.
Working in small batches at a time, purée smooth in a food processor with all the spices, adding small amounts of water as needed to make a sauce that’s got the consistency of double cream.
Place each batch of the puréed New Mexican chile in a large bowl until it has all been blended smooth, then stir it all up to get a consistent mix of the flavours.
You can then freeze these into batches and use over the next 6 – 12 months.
Tags: Blog, chile, chili, chilli, cooking, foodie, New Mexican chilli, organic, recipe, Recipes, spice, Steenbergs, Steenbergs spices, vegan, vegetarian, vegetarian recipe
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