Acupuncture, El Hobbit, and The Most Amazing Chai

Hello friends!

What a wild ride life can be sometimes. There are ups and downs, and sometimes corkscrews, or long flat stretches when you think you might lose momentum and just stop entirely, and waterfalls and zero-gravity points... 
This past month was a lighter rotation working in the surgery clinic only 50 hours a week, so I have been capitalizing on the opportunity to expand my life. Spanish learning, guitar playing, Tony Robbins Personal Power cassettes (yes, cassettes!!), yoga, Buns of Steel (note the early 90's theme...), gardening, and of course cooking and eating!

Life is too precious to waste it on being mundane.

And so here I am, status post an amazing acupuncture session to move my stagnant overworked Qi, with a copy of El Hobbit next to me as incentive to practice my Spanish (because El Hobbit is far more interesting than Señior Burridan's Donkey).  
I humbly present to you my favorite new recipe of this past month:

The Most Amazing Chai

This starts with amazing almond milk.
Buy a bag of blanched almonds. Don't bother blanching and peeling them yourself- there is minimal cost difference and it's just

 not the same.

Place 1 cup of said almonds into blender with 3 cups of water and 1 tsp good vanilla extract.
Blend. A lot. 

Strain through good cheesecloth, the thicker the cloth the longer it will take - but the creamier the end product will be. I actually use a cloth yogurt straining bag. (and save the almond paste to make something yummy!)
You can stretch to 4 or even 6 cups of water for everyday almond milk, but only use 2.5 - 3 for the thick creamy texture of "half&half" for good chai :)

For the chai itself, follow this recipe: (credit where credit is due-  this tea base is amazing)
http://chai-tea.org/rec/rec101.html

I changed the following: I boiled the spices for a while before adding the tea since I didn't want a bitter taste from using black non-Indian tea. I added the almond milk (instead of half&half) after I strained the tea, with 1 tsp of honey per 6oz tea instead of sugar.

If you boil the almond milk it may separate!!

It is amazingly delicious and makes enough to share...or just more for you!

Peace and Good Eats,

Elizabeth

More recipes to follow, every week, I promise!!

Duck Eggs for Breakfast

A pauper's breakfast fit for a King. Or Queen.

I put them in enough water to cover by 1/2 inch. Bring the water to a boil. 
Once it starts to boil set the timer for 5 minutes for soft boiled, 6-8 for medium to hard boiled.

Peel. Sprinkle with a little herbed Himalayan sea salt. Breathe sighs of utter contentment. Enjoy.

Happy Breakfasting

Homemade Aioli Sauce

Anything fatty and creamy is right up my alley - custard, cheesecake, butter, gravy. If follows, then, that I love mayonnaise. Love. But I hate manufactured pre-fab food, and love simple, cheap, quality, artisan food. Dilemma. 

Solution? Homemade Aioli!  Now, homemade mayonnaise flavored with garlic and/or herbs is called Aioli sauce. There are many varieties of this - some even including pears! My favorite recipe is made with classic herbs, making it very versatile. This sauce is amazing on sandwiches, with seafood, with steak, tossed with steamed veggies...use your imagination!

Some chemistry:  yes! science in the kitchen! my favorite. What we're really trying to do here is emulsify or blend together two things that don't really want to mix. Like oil and water. Egg yolk, lemon juice, and garlic all act as emulsifiers, which will allow the oil you mix in to break down into micro-droplets and make the yummy creamy sauce you're looking for. Cool.

Now - take your time, be wowed by science, and don't be afraid! 

Homemade Aioli

Ingredients: 1 egg yolk, 1/2 cup olive oil (or other oil you like the taste of), and 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice. Pinch of sea salt, dash of garlic powder (or mashed small garlic clove), dash of mustard powder, and 2 fresh rosemary leaves chopped finely.


You begin with an egg yolk. I like to roll the egg yolk in my (clean) hands first to remove all white, then break the yolk and letting it drain into my bowl, leaving the membrane in my fingers to throw away. Not a huge difference, but I find I get a smoother sauce that whips more easily without that membrane. 
 
So.  Clean bowl. One egg yolk. You may grind a garlic clove into a paste and add it now, or just add garlic powder for flavor later. Begin whipping - I do this by hand, some use a food processor or blender. Add one drop of quality olive oil, or other oil that you like the taste of, and whip whip whip. Add one drop of lemon juice, whip. Drop of oil, whip. Drop of juice, whip. 

Now you can begin to add a few drops of oil and one drop of juice, whipping all the time to keep it blended. When you see the oil separate from the creamy base- stop adding and begin whipping. If it will not come together, try adding a second egg yolk, or just scrap it and start over.

Continue blending in small increments of oil and juice until all is combined. Ta-da!

 Now - for extra flavor. Mix in your sea salt, garlic powder, mustard powder, and chopped rosemary. I like to smash the rosemary into the bowl first to release all its aromatics. 
Enjoy :)


All in all - maybe 15 minutes? Totally worth it for an amazing, gourmet sauce using ingredients you already have. Win. 


Happy Eating!