August Uncommon Tea

I'm a bit of a tea addict. I practically collect it. When I'm in NY, I always stop in my favorite tea shop and emerge with $50 worth of goodies from rooibos to oolong. I even follow tea company accounts on Instagram. And you know those scary Facebook ads, the ones that are hawking products that are almost always exactly something that you've been looking for or didn't know you needed? Sometimes mine are for tea. I'm pretty sure that's how I discovered August Uncommon Tea. In any case, they have every type of tea one needs in life, from dark and rich to light and floral with everything in between, and all are available in 14g deluxe samples, which are good for four cups of brew. Try before you buy is my motto!

I went a little crazy and purchased a baker's dozen of samples last fall, just at the beginning of peak tea drinking season. I justified the number as I planned to give a few to a tea-drinking friend, though in reality he only received three. And I had a hard time deciding which ones to give up.

Some of the teas have fairly unusual ingredients, like the Leatherbound which has an obvious caraway note. The Black Lodge features smoky banana and black truffle. I think both of these flavors are my favorites of the ones I've tried thus far.

And of course I do plan to try more. In fact, I have the site open in another browser tab and have already put a few more samples in my shopping cart. (Psychocandy! Biarritz!) This is one addiction that is not harmful--well, except that caffeine gives me heart palpitations, but I never drink *that* much tea. (That would be a lot.)

Tell me - are you a fan of tea? What is your favorite type? Do you prefer herbal blends or real tea? To be honest, I like it all. Because of the caffeine thing, I need to drink more decaf teas, so Rooibos is always on my playlist. But I can't quit black tea, which is actually my fave. I just maybe drink less of it. Maybe.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Raw Spice Bar

Though I live in the hometown of one of the biggest spice producers in the world, I find myself buying spices online far more often than I buy them in the supermarket. It's not that I don't trust the supermarket brands--I have never had an issue with any of them--it's that I really have no idea how long those spices have been hanging around the store. Especially more exotic items, like star anise or garam masala. How often does the average Giant/Safeway/ShopRite/Wegman's shopper buy something like that, and how often does the store replenish its stock?

There are several really good spice shops online, and I've tried them all. Each has products not available at the others. Some shops have really wide ranges of seasonings, while other shops carry what might be considered more specialty items. RawSpiceBar is in the latter category. While they do sell things that just about everyone has in their spice rack--granulated garlic, cumin, ginger, peppercorns--they also have the more esoteric grains of paradise (a member of the ginger family that's like a citrusy black pepper), sansho peppers (a Japanese cousin of Sichuan peppercorns), and asafoetida (a stinky resin used as a substitute for garlic and onions in some Indian dishes). RawSpiceBar specializes in spice blends, and as with the individual spices, they have both the familiar (poultry seasoning, herbes de Provence, taco seasoning) and the exotic (Ethiopian berbere, Turkish baharat, Indian chaat masala). Rather than use larger jars, RawSpiceBar sells their freshly toasted and ground spices in 1-ounce containers (about 2 tablespoons). With their subscription service, customers can choose to have their supply replenished in 1, 3, or 6 month intervals, so they never really run out, yet the spices are fresh every time.

When RawSpiceBar approached me with samples in exchange for writing about them, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try another source for seasonings. I was especially interested in the more oddball spice blends, but was happy to take whatever they sent. To be honest, I was a little disappointed to receive a package of apple pie spices. I mean, how interesting is cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice? Not very. But RawSpiceBar's version of this blend also contains green cardamom, ginger, star anise, grains of paradise, and rosemary. It's a blend that definitely kicks the milquetoast ass of supermarket apple pie spices. It's bold. It's spicy. And it goes fabulously with apple, as I found when I used it in a simple apple tart. But it also works with pumpkin. I made a quick pumpkin butter with leftover canned pumpkin, brown sugar, and a big pinch of RawSpiceBar apple pie spices and pretty much ate the butter straight from the jar with a big spoon.

Thanks to RawSpiceBar for introducing themselves to my pantry. I have a couple more samples that I will be playing with in the future, and then I'm going to order myself some fancy stuff like French vadouvan, Persian advieh, and Japanese curry powder. Yum.

Spicy Apple Tart

4 large apples (I have found that Cortland are especially tasty in tarts, but use your favorite)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon Raw Spice Bar apple pie spices
1/4 cup sugar
1 refrigerated pie crust
Apricot jam

Peel the apples and cut them into quarters. Slice off the core bit and cut each quarter into 4-5 slices. Put in a large bowl and toss with lemon juice, spices, and sugar.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Place the crust into a 10" or 11" tart pan with removable bottom, gently pushing the dough to fill the corrugated sides. Trim excess pastry flush with the top of the pan. Arrange the apple slices in concentric circles within the pastry, making sure to fill in all the gaps with other apple slices. It doesn't have to look neat or perfect; it will still be beautiful.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the apples have started to brown and the crust is a nice golden brown. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and allow the tart to cool for at least 30 minutes.

Warm a few tablespoons of apricot jam in the microwave until it's more liquidy. Brush a thin coating of it over the cooled tart.

Serve warm, room temperature, or slightly chilled. Whipped cream, creme fraiche, or ice cream are fine accompaniments.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Indian Ceviche

It's Fancy Food Show season again and food samples have been showing up on our doorstep. A box of popcorn products was eagerly anticipated particularly because it contained three bags of Masala Pop. I had tasted Masala Pop's Rose Caramel flavor at the show last year and was excited that not only did it taste delightfully (yet subtly) of rose, but it was also a kettle corn-style product that wasn't overly sweet. The package we received from the company also included Chai Caramel, with true sweet-spice chai flavors in a light caramel glaze, and Savory Coconut, which has a lovely turmeric/coconut thing going on.

I decided that the Savory Coconut would be smashing on ceviche. What? You've never had popcorn on your ceviche? It's a popular accompaniment to the dish in Ecuador. It gives the ceviche a nice crunch.

If you can get impeccably fresh shrimp, then you can probably make this dish the traditional way, by "cooking" the protein with the citrus juice alone. However, as most shrimp available are IQF (individually quick frozen) and who knows how many times they may have thawed and refrozen by the time they get to your house, I recommend lightly cooking the shrimp first with heat. I poached mine in salted water just until they were pink, iced them down immediately, and popped them in the fridge until I was ready to assemble the dish.

Because the popcorn had Indian flavors, I decided to do the same with the ceviche by adding pinches of cumin, garam masala, and ginger. Not a lot, just enough to be noticed. Coconut milk might have been a nice addition, but I didn't want to detract from the coconut flavor in the popcorn. Feel free to add a few dribbles if you are so inclined.

This makes a lovely appetizer, lunch, or even a light summer supper with a green salad and some bread.

Shrimp Ceviche with Indian Flavors

3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
Juice of 2 limes (divided use)
Salt
1/2 lb 31-40 shrimp
3 tablespoons finely chopped bell pepper
3 tablespoons finely chopped tomato
1 tablespoon finely minced tender cilantro stems
Pinch ground cumin
Pinch garam masala
Pinch ground ginger
Tabasco or hot sauce to taste
Cilantro leaves
Masala Pop popcorn

Combine the red onion and the juice of half a lime in a small bowl with a pinch of salt. Cover and set aside for at least an hour.

Poach shrimp until just pink in simmering salted water. Chill shrimp in an ice bath and refrigerate until ready to use.

Remove shells and chop shrimp into dime-sized pieces. Combine with the peppers, tomatoes, cilantro stems, and spices. Drain the onion and add to the shrimp, along with the juice from the remaining 1 and 1/2 limes. Taste for seasoning and add salt, a few shakes of hot sauce, and additional pinches of the spices if you feel it needs them. Refrigerate until cold, about an hour.

Serve garnished with cilantro and Masala Pop popcorn.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Munk Pack Oatmeal Fruit Squeeze

Since the Fancy Food Show, we've been getting lots of tasty products to review. One of my favorites is Munk Pack Oatmeal Fruit Squeeze. Part cereal, part smoothie, completely delicious, Munk Pack is a great snack to throw in your bag and take with you to eat at work or on the road.

There are three flavors: raspberry coconut, blueberry acai flax, and apple quinoa cinnamon. My favorite is the raspberry coconut, which definitely tastes of raspberry, but also has banana and apple in it. (All three flavors have apple, the Blueberry Acai Flax has banana, too.) It's hard to describe the texture of the stuff....it's not thick and gloppy like oatmeal, nor is it runny like applesauce, but perhaps somewhere in between. Mostly smooth, with bits of grain. And bits of coconut in the raspberry flavor. It's really quite tasty, and at 100 calories or less, a lot better for you than a candy bar (but, I understand, not chocolate).

Munk Pack products hit all the right buzzwords du jour: gluten-free, non-gmo, kosher, vegan. The products have no added sugar, 3-4g of fiber, and are packed in a BPA-free pouch that lets you squeeze every drop of goodness right into your gullet.

You can purchase Munk Pack Oatmeal Fruit Squeezes at Eddies on Charles Street and on Roland Ave and at Wegman's. Or at Amazon, which of course has everything.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



Posted on Minxeats.com.