Oolong Sauce

I love cooking with tea. But always struggle to use Oolong instead of Green or Black teas. This is why I love this recipe for Oolong Sauce. It goes great with prawns as well as a tasty dressing for a chicken salad.

Oolong is a traditional Chinese tea produced through a unique process including withering under the strong sun and oxidation before curling and twisting. This tea sits nicely between green and black because of its unique in its abilities to deliver the strength of a black tea and the aromatic, flowery flavours of a green tea.

Ingredients

125ml/4½fl oz chicken stock

1 tbsp dry sherry

1 tbsp Tea Box oolong tea

1 tsp sugar

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place all the ingredients in to a pan and bring to the boil and stir well. Have a taste and season with salt and black pepper.

Boil for one min, and then remove from the heat. Carefully strain away the liquid from the tea leaves and serve as a dressing or sauce.

To Market, To ‘Bradfield’ Farmers Market....

Tea Box has had a stall at the monthly Bradfield Farmers Market for almost a year now.

The spring sunshine brought us lots of customers to this pretty Peak District location just outside Sheffield.

 It is good to meet old and new customers of our teas. Our seasonal Spring Green went down well. Sheffield Brew was bought to take back to US by a student and it's lovely to meet a lady who finds Tummy Rub so soothing for her IBS, and returns each month for her ‘fix’.

And where else would I go to do a weekend shop??? 

Fruit and veg from the Ben and Kieran – Country Garden at Dore

Handmade soap from Sue – Suds and Buds

The staff in the cafe at Bradfield Village Hall are so friendly and keep us going with tea and bacon butties.

Fresh milk from Our Cow Molly

Cakes from Lorna, Heavenlies

Yummy Honey from Sheffield Honey

Coffee - freshly brewed by Tamper Coffee

Plants for the garden – Jean – Green End Nursery

And more stalls...........

All in all...a one stop shop...no supermarket for us this weekend.

The Perfect Chai Latte Recipe

A Chai Latte is a cosy and soothing hot drink. We use Tea Box’s Masala Chai blend which literally translates to ‘mixed spice tea’.

The simplest traditional method of preparing a Chai Latte is to actively simmer or boil a mixture of milk and water with loose leaf tea, sweeteners and whole spices. But for a nice easy no fuss recipe just follow the following steps below.

Ingredients (makes 2 mugs)

4 large table spoons of loose leaf TeaBox Masala Chai

4 teaspoons of runny honey (Sheffield Honey is my preferred choice)

2 mugs of milk (if you can get hold of Our Cow Molly milk even better)

1. In a saucepan add the loose leaf tea and the milk and bring up to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and brew the tea in the milk for around 4-5 mins.
2.  
3. Carefully strain the tea leafs from the milk using a tea strainer or sieve. Next add the honey and stir until it dissolves.
4.  
5. As a finishing touch I like to give the mixture a quick whisk to make it nice and froffy. Serve with a sprinkling of mixed spice and enjoy.

 

Simple Citrus Iced Tea

If you love tea but want something more refreshing in the warmer months, then this simple recipe will introduce you to the varied world of iced teas.

Ingredients

6 teaspoons of loose leaf Tea Box English Breakfast

2 tbsp caster sugar

10 sprigs mint

300ml fresh orange juice

juice 1 lime

1⁄2 sliced orange, mint leaves and ice to serve

Brew the tea with 1.2 litres water for 4 mins. Remove the tea leaf using a strainer and stir in the sugar. 

Add mint to the pot and infuse for 10 mins. Strain and cool. 

Once cooled, pour into a jug and stir in the fresh orange juice. Serve with orange slices, mint and plenty of ice.