Hojicha Green Tea Chile Sauce

Photo by Third's Eye Cooking 

Being Hispanic, Chile Verde sauce, aka Green Chile sauce, is in my blood and is always in my refrigerator. It's actually very easy to make and should be a staple in your cooking repertoire because it is such a versatile condiment. Spoon it over eggs, grilled chicken, steak or fish. It also makes a great dipping sauce for chips or veggies. 

Photo by The Tea Spot

The twist of tea in my recipe brings a basic Chile Verde sauce to another level. The nutty flavor and roasted aromas in Hojicha (or houjicha), a roasted Japanese green tea, melds perfectly with the roasted Anaheim and Poblano green chiles.  

Hojicha Green Tea Chile Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 TBS Hojicha green tea
• 1 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup yellow onion, diced
• 2-3 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 TBS flour,
• 2/3 cup Anaheim chiles, roasted, peeled & chopped
• 2/3 cup Poblano chiles, roasted, peeled & chopped
• 1 TBS Boulder Blues Tea-soning
• salt & pepper

Preparation:

1. Roast Anaheim and Poblano chiles, see how to roast chiles below.
2. Bring chicken stock to a boil and let cool for 3 minutes. Add Hojicha green tea to the chicken stock and let steep for 3 minutes. Strain tea leaves and reserve stock.
3. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until softened, about 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 2 more minutes. Stir in flour and cook mixture until flour turns golden brown, 3-4 minutes. 
4. Slowly stir in reserved tea stock and green chiles. Add Boulder Blues Tea-soning.
5. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
6. Season with salt & pepper.
7. Refrigerate for up to 7 days.

How to roast chiles:

1. Oven: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place chiles on baking sheet and roast until skin darkens and bubbles, about 10-15 minutes. Flip sides and roast another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cover immediately to allow the chiles to steam which will make it easier to remove the skin.
2. Grill: Preheat grill to high. Place chiles on grill and cook until skin darkens and bubbles, about 10 minutes. Flip sides and grill another 10 minutes. Remove from grill and cover immediately to allow the chiles to steam which will make it easier to remove the skin.

Eat, Drink and Live Strong... but smoking???

Many of you may not find the same humor in irony as i did in the attached series of pictures... but i really couldn't resist posting them.

So many of us have been inspired once again by Lance Armstrong - as though it weren't quite enough to almost handily win the Tour de France 7 times AFTER overcoming advanced stage Cancer, he's now flaunting his immortality by traumatizing young riders' positions on the podium of his signature race. The French have always hated him, i'm not really sure why... they so loved Greg Lemond (was it his French name? He spoke no French, Lance is fluent). Maybe it's Lance's TEXAS medal hanging from his neck instead of a saint, or the association with another high profile Texan (he whose name we shall no longer mention) at an unfortunate time in our

country's history. Whatever. The commentators and the papers were killing Lance, (almost more so than in the days of daily accusations of drug use "doh-pay", "doh-pay"!) but French President Sarkozy came out to watch him at the Mt Ventoux stage last week and defended him

eloquently while being interviewed by the ever so rude and insolent French cycling star, Laurent Jalabert: [sic] "are you repraoching him for wanting to win??? This man's an inspriation to anyone. It's not the people who have a problem with him, it's you commentators!"

Anyway, back to my little laugh here... we all know that the powerful antioxidant content in green tea has been attributed to even reducing the effects of smoking and resulting onset of Cancer in strong green tea-drinking nations like Korea and Japan... but what about this young man decked out in Livestrong gear, smoking away. WTF? So maybe we can't all spend hours each day on a bike, but, NO one born after 1970 has the excuse to be smoking these days - it's way beyond stupid. So please, if you're a Lance fan, or even just a fan of life - Live Strong. But

don't smoke!!!

Grilled Tea Infused Veggie & Shrimp Skewers...

Last week I taught a hands-on cooking with tea class at Whole Foods Market Tamarac. The group was so much fun and eager to learn how to incorporate tea into different recipes. I taught how to make the veggie skewers as a side dish but you can double the marinade/drizzle recipe and a complete meal by adding shrimp, tortillas, salsa, avocado and sour cream to your grocery list and assemble tacos for a tea-licous summertime dinner. This tea recipe is easy, crowd-pleasing, fresh, fun & healthy.

The marinade/drizzle has a citrus sweet tang with a kick of heat. Add more cayenne pepper if you want to kick it up a notch

Green Roasted Mint Infused Veggie & Shrimp Skewers

Serving Size: 4-6                  Prep Time: 20 min

Ingredients - Infused Skewers                    

·      10-12 Skewers

·      6 tsp TeaSpot’s GREEN ROASTED MINT tea, steeped into 6 oz concentrate

Preparation - Infused Skewers

1. Steep tea concentrate: Steep 6 tsp of tea in  6 ounces water at 175°  for 3 min*

2. Soak Skewers overnight, strain tea leaves & reserve concentrate for drizzle

Ingredients - Veggie Skewers

·      1 large red onion, cut into 1/2 cubes

·      1 medium zuchinni, cut into 1/2 in cubes

·      1 medium yellow squash, cut into 1/2 in cubes

·      16-18 mushrooms, quartered

·      16-18 cherry tomatoes

·      1 medium orange & 1 green  Bell Pepper, cut in 1/2 in cubes

·      1 bunch of broccoli, cut in florets with 1/4 in stems

·      1/2 tsp sugar, for sprinkling

Ingredients - Shrimp Skewers

·      1 1/2 lbs. large (21-25 count) shrimp, peeled, deveined

·      1/2 tsp sugar, for sprinkling

Ingredients - Marinade/Drizzle

·      1 1/2 cup olive oil

·      3/4 cup lime juice

·      1/3 cup agave 

·      1/3 cup GREEN ROASTED MINT concentrate, reserved from infusing skewers

·      Tea-sonings: combine the following

o     2  TBS TeaSpot’s GREEN ROASTED MINT tea grounded

o     1/2 TBS  cilantro

o     1/2 TBS  cayenne pepper, depending how hot you want

o     1/2  TBS salt

o     1 tsp sugar

o     2  tsp basil            

Preparation - Veggie Skewers & Drizzle

1. Drizzle: In a medium bowl whisk to combine oil, lime juice, agave, tea concentrate, Tea-sonings divide in thirds (1/3 for veggies, 1/3 for shrimp, 1/3 for dipping)

2. Veggies: In a large bowl add 1/3 of drizzle. Add veggies, toss to coat and let marinate in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to an hour. After marinating alternate cubed veggies on infused skewers. Pack tightly and sprinkle sugar on one side. 

3. Shrimp: In a large bowl add 1/3 of drizzle. Pat dry shrimp with paper towel and butterfly using a paring knife, making shallow cuts down the middle of the outside curve. Add shrimp to bowl and marinate in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to a hour. after marinating, skewer shrimp by alternating directions of each shrimp. Pack each skewer tightly, about a dozen/skewer. Sprinkle one side of sugar on top.

4. Place veggies skewers, sugar side down, on one side and shrimp, sugar side down, on the other side of grill and cook on low-medium heat for 2-3 minutes, rotate & grill on other side for 1-2 minutes

5. Take off grill and serve with reserved drizzle, lightly grilled tortillas, salsa, avocado and sour cream. 

Try this easy to make menu for your 4th of July BBQ and let me know how it tastes...Fill a pinata and throw a real fiesta...

Simply Running, although Running isn't all that Simple....

You would think all one would have to do to run is throw on some sneakers (or tennis shoes for all those Colorado folks) and go. Once you get into long distance running or racing, this however, is not the case. You have to make sure you have the right shoes, the right amount of water, find out which energy gels you want to use, how to evade overuse injury....you get the idea. I am currently training for my second marathon, The Vermont City Marathon, which I'll be runnng in two weeks. I am nervous as all hell. I've already run 1 marathon, 4 half marathons and a smattering of 5 and 10K's, but gearing up for the 26.2 miles never gets easier. I think this is partially because no matter how much you train, how good you feel before hand, anything, and I mean ANYTHING can happen during the race.

Now my first marathon I feel like I got lucky, I was tired and lonely around mile 22 and my legs started cramping up a bit, but that is to be expected. Other than that I had no major injury, no blisters, no tweaked hamstring or IT bands or anything else that typically comes up from long distance running. I'm thinking this might be the reason why I'm nervous for my upcoming marathon, I'm nervous I won't get this lucky a second time.

For the past month I've been training pretty regularly, rolling out my muscles, avoiding all alcohol, and eatng the appropriate carbs, protein and fats. Since I drink tea all the time, I wanted to see if there was any benefits of my tea drinking that would aid in my running. My search lead me to another blog post that spoke about that very issue. It started off describing tea as a great alternative drink to coffee before a race for non-coffee drinkers "tea is the pre-run drink of choice. Although tea only provides about half as much caffeine as coffee, it can be much easier on the stomach, especially for runners who have prerace butterflies." The blog then went into various tea types and the health benefits of each such as...

Green and white tea, "the least oxidized teas have the highest [nutritional] value, especially due to their anti-inflammatory properties. Green and whites also do the best job of any of the teas of boosting the body’s ability to utilize fat as an energy source."

Black teas on the other hand, "contain more of the antioxidants that inhibit cancer growth and lower cholesterol. One study has shown that drinking just a cup a day of black tea can cut the risk of heat attack by 44 percent."

The blog post also described that drinking herbal teas like mint and chamomile have no caffeine so the night before you can drink them and still fall asleep. What the blog post failed to mention however, is that one of my favorite teas, rooibos, like our Red Rocks, is actually rehydrating and has tons of vitamins and minerals and therefore is a favorite with athletes.

So we've realized that running is no easy feet (pun intended) I do now know that everyday, in addition to all my training and nutritional awareness, that my mutiple cups of tea are aiding me with anti-oxidants, anti-inflamatory properties and keeping me hydrated for the long haul.

It's time to go run!






To read more of this blog post, click here http://devinesports.com/Article.7+M5e73a27535f.0.html?&cHash=3d0a4e9cf4&tx_ttnews%5Bpointer%5D=2

Mushrooms & Green Tea May Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer

Breaking news....

Mushrooms and green tea might significantly help in preventing breast cancer. According to a behavioral study of 2,000 Chinese women, the more fresh and dried mushrooms they ate, the lower their risk of developing breast cancer. The rates were even lower for women who drank green tea on a daily basis.

Lab research has shown mushroom extracts to have anti-tumor characteristics that stimulate the immune system's cancer defenses, and green tea contains important antioxidant compounds. The study is published in March's "International Journal of Cancer."

news found on msnbc & arkansasmatters.com
mushroom photo from www.worldcommunitycookbook.org
green tea photo from Green Twisted Spears

For more details, the study's abstract follows:

Dietary intakes of mushrooms and green tea combine to reduce the risk of breast cancer in Chinese women

Min Zhang 1 *, Jian Huang 2, Xing Xie 3, C. D'Arcy J. Holman 1

1School of Population Health, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Perth, WA 6009, Australia 2Department of Oncology, Cancer Institute, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China 3Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China

Abstract:

To investigate effects of dietary mushrooms and joint effects of mushrooms and green tea on breast cancer, a case-control study was conducted in southeast China in 2004-2005. The incident cases were 1,009 female patients aged 20-87 years with histologically confirmed breast cancer. The 1,009 age-matched controls were healthy women randomly recruited from outpatient breast clinics. Information on frequency and quantity of dietary intake of mushrooms and tea consumption, usual diet, and lifestyle were collected by face-to-face interview using a validated and reliable questionnaire. Compared with nonconsumers, the Odds ratios (Ors) were 0.36 (95% CI = 0.25-0.51) and 0.53 (0.38-0.73) for daily intake of 10 g fresh mushrooms and 4 g dried mushrooms, based on multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusting for established and potential confounders. There were dose-response relationships with significant tests for trend (p < src="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/giflibrary/12/ge.gif" border="0">1.05 g dried green tea leaves per day. The corresponding linear trends were statistically significant for joint effect (p <>

Show us your pearly whites!

Researchers have found that regular consumption of green tea helps to promote healthy teeth and gums. The findings were recently published in the official publication of the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP). The study was based on the analysis of the periodontal health of 940 men, and found that those who regularly drank green tea had superior periodontal health than subjects that consumed less green tea. "It has been long speculated that green tea possesses a host of health benefits," said study author Dr. Yoshihiro Shimazaki of Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan. "And since many of us enjoy green tea on a regular basis, my colleagues and I were eager to investigate the impact of green tea consumption on periodontal health, especially considering the escalating emphasis on the connection between periodontal health and overall health." The research study found that for every one cup of green tea consumed per day, there was a significant decrease in the instance of periodontal disease.

Green tea's ability to help reduce symptoms of periodontal disease may be due to the presence of the antioxidant catechin. Previous research has demonstrated antioxidants' ability to reduce inflammation in the body, and the indicators of periodontal disease measured in this study suggest the existence of an inflammatory response to periodontal bacteria in the mouth. By interfering with the body's inflammatory response to periodontal bacteria, green tea may actually help promote periodontal health, and ward off further disease.

Periodontal disease is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the gums and bone supporting the teeth, and has been associated with the progression of other diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. "Periodontists believe that maintaining healthy gums is absolutely critical to maintaining a healthy body," says Dr. David Cochran, DDS, PhD, President of the AAP and Chair of the Department of Periodontics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. "That is why it is so important to find simple ways to boost periodontal health, such as regularly drinking green tea - something already known to possess certain health-related benefits."

(photos from fashiontrendsinindia.wordpress.com & noodlecup.com, respectively)