Salem College Tea

Growing up, usually during the holiday season, a jar of "Friendship Tea" or "Russian Tea" would find its way to our home by way of a gift basket of some sort.  This drink was a mixture of Tang, Instant Nestea granules, lemonade mix, sugar, cinnamon and cloves.  You mixed a Tbsp or two in hot water and had a nice hot  drink on a cold winter day.  I loved it.


Alison W. turned me on to the real thing.  She took me to a little shop in Winston-Salem by the name of Salem Kitchen; a gourmet food to-go and catering company. We got some cheese straws, a frozen Moravian Chicken pie to take home and Salem Iced Tea; the real "Russian Tea".  I was hooked on it; and I don't even drink sweet tea.

I bought a cookbook at an estate sale called "The Old Salem and Museums Cookbook". I looked to see if there was a recipe for this tea since it is supposed to be a Salem recipe.  Indeed there was a recipe called Salem College Iced Tea.  Story behind the recipe, as published in the cookbook is this:

"A Salem College dietician, Miss Helen Vogler, started making and serving this iced tea in the college dining room many, many years ago.  Years later the recipe was acquired by Moravian ladies in Old Salem who served it at teas and receptions.  The tea became popular so the recipe was shared and is now enjoyed throughout our city. ~ Mary S. Leonard"

Alison acquired the recipe from Salem Kitchen and made a batch.  I made a batch of the recipe in my cookbook. We compared and started tweaking our recipes to make them taste exactly the way we wanted.  Here is mine.

Salem Tea
Adapted from "The Old Salem and Museums Cookbook"
Makes approximately 1-1/2 gallons

Ingredients:
3 quarts cold water
zest strips from one orange (peeled, not grated with no pith)

4 sprigs fresh mint
2 Tbsp. whole cloves
5 cinnamon sticks
5 family-size tea bags (black tea)
2 cups Sugar-In-The-Raw (Turbinado Sugar)
1 cup orange juice, fresh squeezed (~ 5 medium oranges) or Tropicana 'no pulp' OJ
Fresh squeezed juice from 8 lemons (you'll get anywhere from 1-1/4 cups to 1-3/4 cups)
1 - 46 ounce can pineapple juice

Method:
In a 5-1/2 quart or larger Dutch oven, combine the water, orange zest, mint, cloves and cinnamon. Bring to a boil then lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes.   Remove from heat, add tea bags and steep for 15 minutes.  Strain the solids. Return strained tea mixture to the pot and add sugar.  Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add orange juice, lemon juice and the pineapple juice (I don't always use the full can of pineapple juice.  You can add as much or as little to suit your taste). Cool and refrigerate overnight. 

Serve over ice or hot during the summer as well as the winter.  When Thanksgiving rolls around it just seems the right time to make a batch. When serving hot, especially on a cold winter night, it's extra special with a little bit of Bourbon in it.

NOTES:

Needs to be stirred up from time to time

Before adding to the mixture you can run the pineapple juice through a fine sieve to remove some of the fine solids

Iced Peach Tea

Perfect for a hot summer day; picnic or tea party.  You'll love this even if you don't take your tea sweet.  Papa and I have enjoyed this refreshing quaf the past couple of days while sitting in the shade on the back porch.

August is my favorite peach month.  The peaches are sweeter and you can easily find freestone peaches.  Clingstone are fine to eat out of hand but extremely frustrating when you cook with them and have to slice them up.

Since this is made with fresh fruit you will want to drink it within a day or two.

Iced Peach Tea
Makes approximately 2 quarts

Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar
9-1/2 cups water, divided
3 large fresh peaches
2 - one quart tea bags

Method:
In a medium saucepan combine the sugar and 1-1/2 cups of the water.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.

Wash peaches and slice (keep skin on).  Add peach slices to boiling sugar water.  Lower heat and simmer for 40 minutes.

Boil remaining 8 cups water and add tea bags to make 2 quarts tea; set aside.

 Pureé the peach mixture in a blender until smooth.  Press through a fine mesh strainer.

Add 1-1/2 quarts of the black tea to the peach pureé.  Stir and if you want the tea thinner you can add more of the tea; purely a personal preference.

Place in refrigerator until cold.  Give the tea a stir prior to pouring over a glass of ice.  Garnish with a mint leaf or a thin slice of peach.

Sangria Mexicana ~ Red-Wine Cooler with Fresh Lime

September 16 is Mexico Independence Day.  It's similar to our July 4th.  In honor of our friends' to the South special day I made Mexican Sangria.  The recipe is from Rick Bayless' Season 6 of Mexico - One Plate at a Time.

A refreshing  and sparkling drink, it's a little different from the Sangria I'm accustomed to where lemons, limes and oranges are used.  This recipe focuses on only the lovely lime.

 Fresh lime juice, sugar, dry red wine and sparkling water are all you need.


Sangria Mexicana
From Season 6 of Rick Bayless' Mexico - One Plate at a Time
Serves 6

Ingredients:
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (4 to 5 wines)
2/3 cup sugar
3 cups dry, fruity red wine (I used a Pinot Noir); you can also use Beaujolais or Zinfandel
1 cup sparkling water + 1/4 cup to use for the lime syrup
4 to 6 wheels of lime, with a cut made on one side, for garnish

Mise en Place:

• chill wine
• juice limes
• measure out sugar
• measure out sparkling water, divided

Method:
In a small bowl, mix the sugar, 1/4 cup of the sparkling water and the lime juice.  Stir until sugar is completely dissolved.

Just before serving pour the wine into a pitcher and stir in the sparkling water and lime syrup.  Serve over ice in tall glasses, each garnished with a wheel of lime slipped onto the rim.

I'm sharing this post at I Heart Cooking Clubs.  Hop on over and see how everyone else is celebrating!

Fresh Melon Cooler

 

With Summer winding down the watermelons will soon disappear in the markets. I bought one today knowing it is probably the last I'll buy for the season.  I also took the opportunity to use the watermelon for my I Heart Cooking Clubs' weekly assignment which is Esta Roja!  Watermelon is a shade of red, no?



You can make this with other melons such as cantaloupe and honeydew.  The cool green of a honeydew would make a pretty cooler.

You can also use this cooler as a base for a simple cocktail by adding vodka or champagne or simply making it a sparking, non-alcoholic spritzer by adding Perrier.

Place all of your ingredients in a blender and push the button.  Simple as that.  Adjust for your desired texture and taste by adding extra sugar, water or lime juice.  My watermelon was so nice and sweet it didn't need any added sugar.  I also used the juice from the watermelon as part of my water.

Let your cooler chill in the refrigerator before serving.  The colder the better!!


Fresh Melon Cooler
Makes about 1 quart
Recipe from Season 3 of Rick Bayless' Mexico - One Plate at a Time

Ingredients:
4 cups (packed) fresh melon (watermelon, cantaloupe, or honeydew)
1/2 cup water; plus more if necessary
1/4 cup sugar; plus more if desired
About 2 Tbsp lime juice; plus more if desired

Mise en place:

• peel, seed and roughly chop up melon
• measure out water
• measure out sugar
• juice lime

Method:
Scoop the fruit into a blender, then add the water, sugar and lime juice.  Blend until smooth.  Add more water, if necessary, to achieve a light easy-to-drink consistency.  Taste and season with more sugar and lime if you think necessary.

You can also add extra flavorings (mint to honeydew, orange juice to cantaloupe, and blended raspberries to watermelon) if you like.


I am sharing this recipe at IHHC.

Margarita Clasica

Salud!  That's what everyone is saying over at I Heart Cooking Clubs!  Hop on over there and try the fun libations everyone mixed up.  Selecting Rick Bayless' classic margarita was a no brainer for me.  I like 'em on the rocks or neat, like these.

And, in Rick's words, "Just remember:  They're strong."

Here's what you start with.  A good tequila, Cointreau (or other orange liqueur), fresh limes, a little sugar, and optional salt for rimming your glass.  Oh yes, and ice.

Allow me to say a little something about the tequila you select.  Make sure it is 100% Agave.  I can't tell you how many years it took for me to realize that the reason I had headaches after drinking tequila was because the cheapos I always used were half grain alcohol.  Select a nice quality tequila to keep in your liquor cabinet.

Prepare your glass if you like it rimmed with salt.  It's also nice to start out with a chilled glass.  Use a 6 ounce martini glass or if you have some of those cute cactus glasses those are fun too.  Run a slice of lime around the rim of the glass.

Dip the rim in salt.

Put ice, tequila-Cointreau-lime juice mixture and sugar i(if needed) in a cocktail shaker.  Put lid on and shake away.

Pour into your prepared glass and enjoy!  Sister Mary Margarita these are good!

Margarita Clasica

From Rick Bayless' Mexican Kitchen

Makes 4 generous drinks

Ingredients:
1 cup tequila
1/2 cup Cointreau or other orange liqueur
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice, plus a wedge for moistening the rims of glasses
A little sugar if necessary
1/3 cup coarse (kosher) salt for crushing the rims of the glasses
About 3 cups medium ice cubes

Mise en place:

• measure out tequila and Cointreau
• squeeze juice from fresh limes
• spread salt onto a plate that is large enough to accommodate the rim of your glass
• have some sugar on hand in case you would like to sweeten your drink
• measure out ice cubes then set in freezer

Method:
In a small pitcher, combine the tequila, orange liqueur and lime juice.  Taste and add more lime or a touch of sugar if desired (keep in mind that it will taste a little tangier once it's been shaken).

Moisten the rims of four 6-ounce martini glasses with a little lime juice (if you have a cut lime, even an already-squeezed one, just moisten the rims by running it around them).  Dip the rim of each glass in the salt, creating a thin, even crust all around the rim.

Pour half of the margarita mixture into a cocktail shaker, add half of the ice cubes and shake vigorously for about 15 seconds (this is important to achieve the perfect strength -- some of the ice needs to melt into the margarita -- and the right degree of frostiness).  Strain into two of the prepared glasses, then repeat with the remaining margarita mixture.

I'm sharing this recipe at IHCC

Strawberry-Limeade Iced Tea

When our weather turns hot in Texas a cold glass of anything is pure heaven.  This flavored tea is part of April's Southern Living's spread on Strawberry Delights.

The base recipe is for Strawberry Limeade which is great all by itself.  You can add a little spritzer water to zing it up a bit.

For the iced tea version, you simply substitute fresh brewed tea for the iced water.

The strawberry limeade mixture doesn't lend itself as a sweetener for the tea, just flavors it nicely.  Between the two, I would stay with the base recipe and leave out the tea.  The strawberry and lime flavors are more prominent and the coloring is much prettier without the tea giving it a murky look.

Strawberry Limeade Iced Tea
Makes 7 cups

Ingredients:
3 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1 cup sugar
4 cups freshly brewed tea, chilled
2/3 cup fresh lime juice (about 4 large limes)

Mise en place:

• brew tea and set aside to cool, then chill in refrigerator
• wash, core and slice strawberries into large mixing bowl
• measure out sugar
• juice limes

Method:
Stir together the strawberries and sugar in a large bowl; crush strawberries with a wooden spoon, and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.

Process strawberry mixture in a blender or food processor until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides as needed.

Press mixture through a wire-mesh strainer into a large pitcher; using the back of the spoon to squeeze out juice; discard solids. 

Add cold tea and lime juice, stirring until blended.  Cover and chill 2 to 4 hours.
For Strawberry Limeade, use 4 cups cold water instead of tea.