Whilst
we often think of tea as a hot beverage, there really are an incredible array
of alternative ways that you can enjoy it. Whether you’re simply brewing a pot
of Dr Jackson’s Tea, or injecting some flavour into your cooking – you can’t
go wrong.
Our
favourite chef, Peter Gordon, talks us through some great ways to shake
simple recipes up with - you guessed it - tea! Peter Gordon is renowned for his unique culinary philosophy and playful fusion cuisine which has had great influence on his distinguished restaurants and books.
In what surprising
ways can tea be used?
It’s
easy to begin experimenting with treating tea as a flavouring like you would a dried herb. For example, mint is lovely brewed as a tea with a touch of honey, but it is of course, also delicious in salads, tossed with feta and chunks of watermelon, or mixed with
labneh (strained yoghurt). That doesn’t mean you should rip open your teabags and
dress your food, but you can definitely use tea in many different ways. Tea can be used as a flavouring in marinades, broths and soups, in dressings, for poaching fruits and even for chocolate truffles.
What’s your
favourite recipe that includes tea?
I love
to add an Expedition teabag to a lightly sweet syrup when I’m poaching pears or
steeping berries as the rooibos has a lovely ‘tang’ that perfectly complements the
fruit. I’ve also added a few teabags in a chicken and coconut soup as the liquorice in the blend has a lovely, warming character that goes wonderfully with coconut
milk.
What’s your
simplest recipe using Dr Jackson’s teas?
This is
so simple, it hardly seems a recipe at all! I drink an awful lot of tea and
make mine in a teapot with 2 teabags usually. Inevitably, I have some left
over, so I’ve begun freezing the remains in my ice cube tray. Once frozen, I
pack them in separate freezer bags according to the various flavours. I’ve
found that the Expedition tea-cubes and Relax tea-cubes are delicious in a vodka tonic - or in a mixture of chilled apple and elderflower juice. The Detox tea-cubes are
great mixed into fresh juice (especially one that contains beetroot), or in a
big jug of iced tea or sangria.
In order to find out more about the benefits of using herbal teas, we spoke with our Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Lori Bystrom, PhD...
Lori, what are the
benefits of using herbal teas for cooking? (other than the taste, of course!)
Most herbal
teas consist of leaves, roots, rinds and seeds which are the part of the plant
that contain the highest concentration of phytonutrients, antioxidants and
other phytochemicals that provide medicinal benefits.
Peter Gordon's following recipes will inspire you to get in the kitchen and cook up a tea-infused storm...
EXPEDITION POACHED PEARS
Poached pears are lovely thinly sliced
and mixed into leafy salads with crumbled blue cheese or feta, toasted pumpkin
seeds, a good splash of extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Cut them into chunks and add to porridge or a chia breakfast bowl, or serve
them as dessert with a dollop of vanilla yoghurt.
You can also add a handful or blueberries or
blackberries to the poaching liquid in its last 5 minutes of cooking to add a
lovely hue to the pears. Once the pears are eaten, you can use their poaching
liquor to cook one more batch of fruit, or use the liquid in smoothies or
freeze in ice-cube trays for use in other drinks.
You will need: 3-4 pears, 2
Dr Jackson Expedition tea bags with paper tags removed and strings still
attached (or use loose tea and strain the liquid before adding to the pears), 150g
honey (or agave syrup), 20g fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced.
Place the tea bags, honey and ginger to a wide pan large enough to hold
the pears and add 1 litre of water.
Slowly bring to a simmer. Simmer with a lid on for 8 minutes.
Remove the tea bags and discard.
Peel the pears. Cut them in half lengthways, remove the seeds and core (use a
small teaspoon) and add the pear halves to the liquid.
The pears need to be just submerged in the liquid – add extra water if needed.
Bring back to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Lay a paper cartouche (*) on top of the pears, put a lid on and cook for 30
minutes.
Turn the heat off and leave the pears to cool in the liquid – although you can
eat them hot.
Store the pears in their liquid in the fridge, covered, for up to 5 days.
* A cartouche is a piece of baking
parchment cut a little larger than the size of the lid of the pot. Lay the lid on top of a piece of baking
parchment and mark it with a blunt pencil or satay stick – you don’t want to
eat pencil lead. Use scissors to cut it
out 1cm wider than you’ve marked. Fold
it in half and then half again. Cut the
point of the paper out, 1/2cm in, and unfold. You will now have a round piece of paper with a small hole in the
middle. This is a cartouche.
RELAX HOT CHOCOLATE
This is the perfect bed-time drink. A
lovely mixture of dark chocolate, cinnamon, orange zest and oat milk, infused
with the calming herbs of Dr Jackson’s Relax Tea – with its lemon balm and
valerian. For this, I like to use a darker chocolate of between 60 – 90% cacao
solids. You can also make this using soy milk or regular milk. I like to serve
a small glass to my dinner guests in winter, just before they head home – and I
must say, adding a slug of whiskey or dark rum isn’t bad either!
For 2 mugs (or 4-6 smaller ones), you will need: 2 Dr Jackson’s Relax teabags or use 4
teaspoons of loose tea, 400mL oat milk, ¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 50g dark
chocolate chopped (65%-80% cacao solids), ½ teaspoon of orange zest – finely
grated.
Place
the Relax Tea, oat milk and cinnamon in a small saucepan.
Add
100ml of water then slowly bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
Simmer
for 5 minutes with a lid on.
Increase
the heat a little, but don’t boil it.
Add
the chocolate and orange zest and stir until the chocolate has melted into the
milk.
Strain
into 2 warmed mugs – then head to bed.
Take
note! From the 14th - 20th of
August, we’re giving away a jar of Expedition Tea to the first 100 new
subscribers to our newsletter. Subscribe, then
email us with ‘subscribed’ and your name to press@drjackson.co.uk to be in with a chance of winning. Put the date in your diary!
