Chai Tea

I drink a lot of tea in the winter. Chai is one of my favorites. I like to make a few cups worth of this mix and keep it in a small jar-- but drink it within a few days, because the spices lose flavor fast. If you have a coffee grinder, that's a good appliance to use for spice grinding. Clean it thoroughly before (and after) by grinding about a tablespoon of rice in it and wiping it out very well with a paper towel. If it's a very filthy device, do two rounds of rice grinding. A mortar and pestle will work very well too!

Use about equal parts spices and tea.

For 2 cups:

1 heaping teaspoon black tea leaves (or a teabag. PG Tips is my favorite kind of bagged tea)

1 heaping teaspoon ground spices:

~3 cardamom pods

1/4 stick cinnamon (or a big pinch of the ground stuff)

Big pinch whole cloves (don't use the pre-ground ones, they taste like nothing)

Small pinch peppercorns

Big pinch grated fresh ginger (if making to consume immediately) or the dry stuff (if making to save for a bit)

To brew, heat water to just below boiling and brew in teapot or cup for 4-5 minutes. The tea will sink to the bottom of the cup or pot into a mucilaginous goo that is very strong-tasting... You can attempt to strain the teapot before decanting into a cup, but it's fairly futile. Just let the grounds settle to the bottom of the cup.

Add a good quantity of warmed milk (cow and soy are the best-- rice milk is too watery for my tastes), and sugar/honey to taste!

Sriracha-Maple Sauce

I love sriracha ! This is my go-to tofu marinade/sauce, and it is more protocol than recipe. Thin it down with water and it makes an excellent marinade for tofu or your meat of choice. Skip the water and cook down, and the result is an excellent barbecue-type sauce.

1 part sriracha (cock sauce)

2 parts apple cider vinegar

2 parts maple syrup

Ground cloves (lots)

Ground pepper (less)

Ginger (if you like)

Salt (to taste, but only if using as a marinade. Sriracha does have a bunch of salt in it already)

(Water)

For a marinade: Mix up a quantity to cover your protein. Pull tofu or meat out and cook up in skillet or on the grill. If and *only* if used for tofu, may cook down marinade into sauce. (So many germs in meat...)

For sauce: Simmer on stove in saucepan over medium-low heat until thick and syrupy. Should be pretty quick.

Red Velvet Brownies

Here's the logic: Brownies = kind of chocolate cake. Red velvet cake = kind of chocolate cake. By the law of transitivity, red velvet brownies should be real tasty. These have a small amount of beet in them for added complexity of flavor and to make the red color without food coloring. Sounds weird, but trust me, it's good, and has a very interesting flavor and keeps moistness without too much oil.

Despite making 3 batches of this one, there are also no pictures in existence....

Red Velvet Brownies, Cream Cheese Frosting

Brownies:

1/2 c beet puree*

2 c sugar

1/2 c oil

2/3 c buttermilk (or 1/3 c lowfat milk + 1/3 c yogurt)

1 egg

6 T cocoa powder (1/4 cup + 2 T)

2 c white flour

Pinch of salt

1/2 c chocolate chips

Red food coloring (optional)

Mix beets, sugar, oil, buttermilk, and egg. I like to do this in the food processor because I've already used it to puree the beets.

Add cocoa, flour, and salt.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Add a few drops of red food coloring if it's not pink enough for you.

Put in greased and floured 11x7 pan.

Cook at 350 F for about 40 minutes, or until just set in center-- Underdone brownies are better than overdone ones...

Cool, then frost!

Frosting:

2 T cream cheese, room temperature

2 T butter, room temperature

2/3 c powdered sugar

Splash of milk

Splash of rum**

Dash of vanilla

Blend cream cheese, butter, and sugar together. Add liquids to thin and make a spreadable consistency.

*Quarter beets, steam them for ~30 minutes (or until fairly soft), then peel, and puree in food processor. Steaming preserves more color than boiling does. Or, use beets from a can. Or baby food, I guess.

** Can use extra vanilla and extra milk instead.

Apple Cake

No pictures exist of this because it was eaten too fast. This is my adaptation of a recipe we've had hanging around for ages, and I'm not sure where it originally came from. It's a rustic sort of cake, suitable either for dessert or breakfast. This apple cake purposefully has no cinnamon because I think it drowns out the fruity taste of apples. But you can add it in if you so desire, it would be tasty but different. Be sure to use the wheat flour though, it provides needed body and a really nice flavor.

Apple Cake

3 T butter

3 medium to large apples

1 1/2 T calvados, apple jack, or rum

2/3 c milk

1 1/4 c sugar

1/3 c oil

3 eggs

1 c whole wheat flour

1 c white flour

1 t baking powder

1/2 c chocolate chips

Chop apples into approximately 1/4 inch chunks.

Cook in frying pan over medium heat with butter until brown.

Add calvados or apple jack, cook for a couple of minutes to burn off alcohol.

Set aside.

Mix milk, sugar, oil and eggs in a bowl until smooth.

Mix flours, baking powder, and chocolate chips in another bowl.

Combine bowls, mix lightly.

Add apple and pan juices, mix lightly.

Put in greased and floured 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 F for 45 minutes or until a toothpick in center comes out with just a couple of crumbs on it.