Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Russian friendship tea

You may not know this, but Bast and I are sisters. Twins, in fact. Lucky Bast, right? ;)
Anyways, Bast is getting married soonish (okay, more like in around 12 months). This means thinking about Stuffs, like Wedding Favours, and food ideas.
The other day, we were discussing tea cup and saucer style favours with teas in them, like my Chai tea recipe.
And we came across this - Russian Friendship Tea.
We haven't tried it yet (at around 1200km apart, we don't exactly get together for a cup of coffee or tea, yanno?), but I suspect some of my friends will be getting gifts soon. I just need to buy the ingredients and actually make it. I'm sure I can find a jar for it.
So, how to make it:


Russian Friendship Tea Mix Recipe

2-1/2 cups Instant Orange Drink Mix
(like Tang)
1-1/2 cups Instant Lemonade Mix
(like Country Time)
1-1/2 cups Instant Unsweetened Tea
1/2 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
(all spices are the dried, ground kind- not whole!)

In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients until thoroughly combined. (That’s pretty much it, folks!)


I'm not so sure you can buy dried lemonade mix here, but I have a feeling it's a dried sugar lemon flavoured powder.

I asked an online associate today, and she informs me that the instant lemonade mix is indeed sugar, lemon flavour, and nasty-sounding-chemical. I wonder if I can make up some lemon sugar and make it that way...


To serve, add 1 tablespoon to a cup, add boiling water, and enjoy

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Pantry Tomato Soup

OK, the soup thing for me at the moment is two fold.
Firstly it's beginning to get a little cooler down here in the southern hemisphere, and secondly, I'm pregnant, and consequently can't keep anything heavier than soup down.
This soup recipe has to be one of the easiest ones I make, and most of the ingredients are in the average kitchen pantry.

Ingredients:
4 tins of chopped peeled tomatoes
2 tins of water (by this i mean after the tomato tins are empty, use them as measures)
1 onion, chopped finely
1 teaspoon chilli paste (optional)
1 teaspoon crushed garlic (optional)
4 teaspoons of powdered stock, flavour of your choice
Mixed herbs to taste.

Method:
Fry off the onion, garlic and chilli in a small amount of olive oil or butter.
Add the tins of tomatoes, and water, bring to the boil.
Once boiling add the stock powder and herbs.
Mix well, and then drop heat to a simmer for 30 minutes minimum. The longer you leave it, the more the flavours will develop.
Serve either as is for a rustic style soup, or liquidise.

Serves 4 to 5 people.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Chicken in pyjamas

Tonight was lazy-cook night, so I made my version of chicken parmigiana.
Since it isn't the traditional meal, I don't call it chicken parmigiana. That, and the kids love the sound of "chicken in pyjamas". It sounds much more fun, food wise.
So, as I said, its my version, so I cheat a little.

  • 2 chicken burger patties per person, or one chicken breast schnitzel per person
  • 1 large jar of taco sauce per 10 patties (5 schnitzels), or a jar of pre made tomato salsa.
  • 1 slice of cheese, or a generous pinch of grated cheese, per patty
  1. Precook the chicken. You can shallow fry it, or deep fry it. Either way, make sure it is cooked.
  2. Place each piece of chicken on a tray (as many on there as you can fit. You can generally fit 9-ish chicken patties on a biscuit tray)
  3. Place a few tablespoons of the sauce/salsa in the middle of the chicken.
  4. Put enough cheese on the chicken to make sure it's covered.
  5. Cook in pre-heated oven, on moderate heat (180C or 150F) for around 15 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown

I served this with blanched mange tout for the kids, and got told yet again that I'm the best cook in the world.
*grin*
I know they're fibbing, but I love them for it anyways.