Ginger Honey Tea

Ginger is one of the nature's best food.Always use fresh ginger for most nutritional benefits .Learn about how to keep your ginger fresh. Ginger tea with honey is an effective common remedy for colds and flu. Sipping warm ginger tea can soothe sore throats ,boost ones immunity and also helps in relieving nausea associated with pregnancy.
Ingredients
Fresh ginger ,about 2 inches,roughly chopped
2 cloves
1 teaspoon pure honey
2 cup of water

Method
Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan,add the ginger and cloves;let simmer for about 15-10 minutes.Strain and mix in the honey and sip when slightly cooled.

This soothing ginger honey tea is off to Weekend Herb Blogging ,hosting the event this week is Ivy of Kopiaste

Watermelon Ginger Ale is another refreshing drink with fresh ginger,as melons are not in season you can use grapes instead .

Got Sore throat ?Sip a herbal tea ,Orange Spice Herbal tea

To soothe my achy sore throat and calm the annoying cough from past few days,I've been sipping flavored herbal teas;Orange and Lemon are my personal favorites.I believe the best remedy for a common cold or cough is drinking more fluids;soups and herbal tea for instance. The following is a recipe of Orange spice herbal tea,which is light,may be not be very effective for a persistent cough.Hopefully I'll post a stronger herbal tea with fresh ginger in my next post.

(the same recipes works with lime and lemon peel.If you can't find the orange flavored tea bags,use any caffeine free herbal tea bags)
Ingredients
Caffeine free Herbal tea bags with Orange flavor,2
(Ingredients in the tea bag:dry orange peel,hibiscus flowers,cinnamon,roasted chicory root,cloves and licorice root)
Fresh orange peel ,about 4 inches[careful peel just the orange part,any white pith can make the tea bitter)
3-4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick.
2 cup of water

makes 2 cups
Method
Brew all the ingredients for about 10 minutes ;strain and sip away to relaxation.Drink a cup every 3-4 hours.

Snuggle up and Keep warm! Winter is here!

Cherry Nuts Crescents

The bland nuts paired up with tart cherries make these crescent cookies scrumptious as well as nourishing.I had the recipe of crescent cookies from Baking with Love and Nigella's Feast.Both the recipes had lot of fat,as you would expected I halved the fat quantity and slightly varied the proportions and decorated the cookies with cherries instead of powdered sugar.The cookies were still crumbly and tasted just as good with lesser fat,with hint of sweetness balanced with tartness of cherries.Tart dried Cherries are good source of antioxidants.

Ingredients
1 cup walnuts,shelled and toasted
1/2 cup almonds,toasted
1/2 cup dried cherries
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup fine sugar
3 tablespoon Organic butter,softened
4 tablespoon cold milk
pinch of salt

Method
Preheat oven to 325F.Pulverize the toasted nuts in a food processor. Take the nuts out for the moment,and add the sugar,butter,flour,salt,milk and pulse until well mixed. Now add the nuts back in and pulse again until mixture comes together. Transfer in a bowl,the mixture will be sticky but firm enough to mold with your hands.It the mixture is too sticky,wrap it in cling wrap and let rest for about 20 minutes in the fridge.
To create the crescent shapes,take about tablespoon of the dough and roll in to a cylinder about 2 inches and press 2 cherries on top of the crescents and slightly flatten the cylinder while curling it to make a crescent shape.Lay them on a baking sheet and bake about 25 minutes until lightly brown on top.Transfer on cooling rack and cool completely before storing in an air tight container.

Cherry Nuts Crescents is in for A fruit a month:Cherries event,hosted by Rachel of Tangerine's kitchen

December Archives

December 30Apricot Trifle

December 29Methi(fenugreek) Sprouts Peas Rice

December 28Daring Bakers Challenge December-French Yule Log

December 26Dark Chocolate Pecan Cookies

December 24Omelet with Broccoli and Mushrooms

December 23Mushroom Walnut Soup

December 22Fruit Challah with Cranberry Preserves,An insight in to Blogger Aid

December 19Low fat Cranberry Creme Brulee


December 18Spicy Baked Pomfret with Vegetable stir fried Brown Rice

December 16Almond Orange Muffins

December 14The day of Feasting:Eid

December 12Banana Flower Veggie Cutlets

December 11Double Ka Meetha(Bread pudding)

December 8Eid Mubarak,Kofta(Vegetable and meat)Pulao

December 6Oatmeal tropical fruit macaroons,No Sugar Added

December 4Ginger Honey Tea



December 3Got Sore Throat? Sip Herbal Tea,Orange Spice Herbal Tea

December 2Cherry Nut Crescents

December 1Rosa's Cuchaule -lightly sweet saffron bread

December 1Superior Scribbler Award

Rosa's Cuchaule (Lighty sweet Saffron Bread)- Yummy Yum!

The moment I saw Rosa's Yummy Yum Cuchaule,my eyes were captivated by its gorgeous looks and my senses were craving for it ambrosial flavors.Cuchaule is a rich festive Swiss harvest bread made with saffron(Sold at price of gold in this part of the world).I baked it following the original recipe closely,except for the itsy bitsy bit of turmeric that I added for little more color.I guess my Cuchaule doesn't look as pretty as Rosa's,mine needed more deeper cuts while pattering it.Never mind the amateur patterns,I relished the bread for its richness and the mild succulent saffron flavor. Thank you Rosa for the decadent bread recipe:)
Ingredients:
2 and 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
4 tablespoon butter at room temperature
1/4ounce(7g) 1 Pack active dry yeast
1 and 1/4 cup of reduced fat Organic Milk
1/2 a cup light brown sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 pinch saffron
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
1 Organic Egg yolk for glaze(egg yolk gives a darker glaze,use whole egg for a lighter glaze)
Method:
Prepare the Dough
Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup of milk and sprinkle the yeast and allow rise until it gets frothy, about 10 minutes.Warm rest of the milk in a saucepan,add butter,sugar,turmeric and saffron ,turn off the heat when butter is all melted and sugar is completely dissolved;about a minute.
In a large bowl combine the flour with the yeast mixture and saffron milk.Apply some oil on the sides of the bowl cover and allow to the dough to rise until double it size about an hour and half hour.
Proof and Bake
Preheat oven to 350F.
Sprinkle some all purpose flour on the work surface and knead the dough for a minute until smooth ,then shape the dough in to a circle and place on a greased baking sheet and proof for another hour by covering and allow to rise one more time before baking.
Before baking ,whisk the egg yolk and brush on the bread.Using a knife make a crisscross pattern.

Place in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.Cool for at least 10 minutes on a rack and slice with a serrated knife.
Guess someone here can't wait that long,wants to taste the bread right out of the oven,its the curious toddler in the house.


Swiss serve this bread with butter and spicy mustard based spread,wish we had that kinda spicy spread in stores here.I slathered mine with some nutella.Any leftover are great for bread budding.

For more such colored breads don't miss the BBD:Colored bread event. This yeast bread is also sent for Susan's Yeast Spotting

Health Nut Feast

Nutella Chocolate Cake with Cranberries and Pomegranates

My fondness for chocolate often allures me to use it in manifold recipes.Nutella Chocolate Cake with rubied pomegranates and cranberry filling is my best snappy chocolate cake recipe with the flavors of the season.Its also low in sugar and needs no butter to make it better.

(I made the cake in a loaf pan,halved it after baking ,slathered with cranberry filling and trimmed to give a hexagonal shape.This cake serves 3 chocoholic.)
Ingredients
For the cake
1/2 cup All purpose flour
1/2 cup fine ground whole wheat flour
3/4 cup unsweetened Organic Cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon Baking powder
1/4 cup firm packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large Organic Eggs.
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
2 tablespoon Nutella
For cranberry filling
1/2 cup cranberries
1/4 cup water.

Method
To make the cranberry filling,reduce the cranberries with water until tender about 15 minutes;process to a smooth paste for the filling.
Preheat Oven to 350F and grease a loaf pan with butter.
Sift all the dry ingredients(flour and powders) in large mixing bowl.
In another mixing bowl whisk together oil and sugar until creamy. Crack the egg and whisk some more and stir in vanilla.
Now combine wet and dry mixtures. Pour in the baking pan and set in the oven for about 30 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let cool for at least 2 hours on a rack. using a table knife loose the edges of the cake and flip in a plate. Halve it ,trim sides(if desired) to give a snazzy hexagonal shape ,slather one halve with cranberry filling and top with the other half .Garnish with little more cranberry filling in the center and sprinkle the pomegranate to give a jeweled rubied bedazzled look to the cake.

This is my entry for Ultimate Chocolate Cake Challenge,hosted by Not Quite Nigella.

This cake is also in Cooking Club Challenge hosted by Cheri of Fabulous foods.

I'm also sending this Original recipe to lore's Culinarty Original Recipes.

Update:
The ruby studded Nutella chocolate cake is the winner! Thanks to Lorraine for the contest and the viewers who voted for the cake.