Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Soy Milk for Earth Day!

I got my soymilk maker that I bought on ebay in the mail today! What a great earth day present to myself! I promise I will post a more detailed entry once I've made my first batch (beans are soaking as I type this).

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Jasmine Tea Biscotti

I first had these at Far Leaves in Berkeley and thought, "Hey, I could probably make this." So I did, and I love them! They're good served with any green tea, or black for that matter. The only problem is every time I've made them, I've forgotten to write down the recipe--specifically I always forget how much tea to put in! So this time I took notes and took pictures. I basically just modified a spiced biscotti recipe but instead of cinnamon and cloves and all that, I add ground up jasmine tea leaves. I've also reduced the vanilla a teensy bit.



Ingredients:


2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp ground jasmine tea or the contents of about 6 tea bags*.
2/3 c sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/4-1/2 tsp vanilla*

*Note: So I actually failed this time around and with only 1 Tbsp of jasmine tea (about 4 tea bags) the biscotti were not jasminey enough. It might be because I usually use looseleaf tea that has been ground up in a mortar and pestle (or you could use a spice grinder). I'd guess that 1 1/2 Tbsp might be enough, although you might want to try 2 Tbsp. Also, the original recipe I modified this from calls for 1/2 tsp vanilla. I reduced it so I could taste the jasmine more. It's up to you.

First, mix all the dry ingredients besides the sugar and including the tea.
Then, whisk the eggs and sugar together and add the vanilla.


Fold the dry ingredients into the wet. This will make a dry, crumbly dough (which makes sense because the only liquid is egg!).


Form the dough into two flat loaves on a greased cookie sheet. Those green specks are the tea leaves. There should be more of them.


Bake at 350 for 25 min or until the edges begin to brown. Let cool for 10 min. Meanwhile, reduce the oven temp to 325. Once the loaves are cooled, slice them on the diagonal and place the slices on their sides back on the cookie sheet. Pop them back in the oven for around 15 min, flipping them halfway through.