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Jasmine tea was my introduction to the beautiful world of tea. Its light floral and fragrant flavor makes it a great complement to any meal or dessert. However, I noticed that unlike other teas such as Earl Grey or matcha, jasmine tea is rarely a featured ingredient in other dishes. As such, I decided to make it the guest star in one of my favorite desserts: biscotti. Growing up in New Jersey, I rarely had coffee or tea without a crunchy accompanying piece of biscotti, which literally translates to “twice baked” in Italian. This biscotti recipe is super simple to make and the subtle jasmine flavor adds a touch of gourmet to a classic treat.

Jasmine Tea Biscotti (Yields 1 Dozen)
• 5 tsp loose jasmine tea
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use a mortar and pestle to crush jasmine tea leaves into a coarse powder. A spice grinder works well too. As a rule of thumb, finer powder infuses the dough with jasmine tea flavor whereas coarser powder releases flavor when you bite a tea leaf.

2. Whisk together eggs, sugar and oil until mixture becomes foamy and pale yellow. Stir in crushed jasmine tea leaves.

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3. Add in flour, baking powder and salt. Stir with a spatula until you form a solid dough.

4. Spread biscotti dough onto a baking sheet to form a 12 x 4 log of 1 inch thickness. Bake for 40 minutes.

5. Remove dough from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes but no more than 10 minutes. If you begin slicing the dough too soon, the pieces may crumble but if you wait too long, the dough with harden and become tougher to slice cleanly. Slice biscotti into 1 inch slices

6. Lay biscotti slices on a baking sheet, flat side down and bake for 10 minutes. Turn over and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

7. Serve with jasmine tea (obviously!). Biscotti can last up to a week when kept in an airtight container. In my opinion, biscotti tastes even better after a day or so when it’s super crunchy and dunkable.

Drinks

Vietnamese Iced Coffee

November 13, 2014

Vietnamese iced coffee (cà phê sữa đá) is not just a beverage; it’s an experience. After the inner child in you fills a glass almost halfway through with luscious condensed milk, you let the ambrosial coffee seep slowly through a french drip filter. Then…you wait. With each drip, your nostrils fill with sweet aroma and agonize in anticipation. Nothing but pleasant exchanges between you and your wake up call. No tattooed baristas yelling a bastardized version of your name across an agitated crowd that should have received their orders five minutes ago. No fumbling over the counter only to find that they’re out of half and half. No need for fluffy modifiers like “nonfat,” “light blended,” “no foam,” “extra shot,” and “skinny.” And then the moment you’ve been waiting for: the last coffee drop arrives. You take your spoon to craft a marbled masterpiece and reward your taste buds with sweet, sweet decadence.

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Vietnamese Iced Coffee (1 serving)
• 2 tbsp coarsely ground coffee & chicory
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 -2 cups hot water
• ice

1. Fill your desired coffee cup at least a third of the way full with condensed milk. I like my coffee really sweet so I fill it up almost halfway! I also like using a glass cup so I can watch the magic happen.

2. Place the french drip filter over your glass and add coffee. A dark roast is usually used since the condensed milk is such a strong sweetener. You will actually find that coffee with chicory is the traditional choice when making Vietnamese coffee. After the French civil war, coffee was a scarce crop and the French soon realized that chicory, a bitter plant root, enhances the flavor of coffee (and adds packaging weight) at little cost. Considering that Vietnamese cuisine is so heavily influenced by French culture after years of colonization, it is no wonder that chicory eventually made its way into Vietnam’s coffee cups.

3. Place the filter lid over the coffee and pack the grinds down tightly. Don’t worry if a few grinds fall through the filter.

4. Pour hot water into the filter over the lid. (Obviously don’t try to pour boiling hot water with one hand while taking a picture with the other like I did.)

5. Continue to pour more water until you brew enough coffee to reach the brim of your cup.

6. Stir condensed milk and coffee. Let your artistic side come out for 10 seconds.

7. Add ice and fun straws. Tada! Happiness in a cup.

Soups

Chili Tikka Masala

November 9, 2014

If there is one dish that I will always be in the mood for, obviously aside from those sentimental meals like my boyfriend’s biscuits and gravy or my mom’s phở, it’s tikka masala. Whether it’s smothered in chicken, lamb, or paneer, that creamy, spicy tomato sauce will send me over the edge every. single. time. Now that the weather has gotten quite chilly, I decided to make tikka masala in chili form, combining two staple comfort foods into a new one. PS. This soup goes great with some lemongrass cornbread!

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Chili Tikka Masala (Serves 4-6)
• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 2 tsp seasoning salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 cups tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can red kidney beans, drained
• 1 can pinto beans, drained
• 4 tsp garam masala
• 3 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

1. In a skillet, saute minced garlic in vegetable oil until slightly burnt and crispy. Add in ground beef and stir until the meat is evenly spread out in skillet. Add in seasoning salt and 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper.

2. When meat is thoroughly cooked, drain excess liquid and set aside.

3. In a medium pot, mix together tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, beans and chopped onions. Add garam masala, sugar, cayenne pepper, salt, turmeric, cumin and black pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Garam masala is another one of those miracle spices that incorporates commonly used spices in Indian cuisine into one. It’s quite similar to Chinese five spice, which is a common ingredient in majority of Chinese dishes.

4. Stir in coconut milk and mix evenly. Add ground beef and let simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

5. Remove from heat. Garnish with cilantro or green onions and serve with cornbread. Voila! A warm, hearty soup just in time for those cold nights.

Desserts, Sides

Lemongrass Cornbread

November 9, 2014

Whenever we bought variety muffin packs growing up, I somehow always got stuck with the corn muffin, after all the chocolate chip and banana nut ones were gone. As such, I always thought of corn bread as the evil homemade (Isn’t that the worst word to hear when you’re a kid?) cousin of the corn muffin, which to me was the most boring muffin on earth. Seriously, even bran muffins had raisins! However, I quickly had a change of heart on a trip to Charleston where almost every meal is served with cornbread as a side. I had an epiphany when I realized that cornbread makes a delicious supplement to any flavorful dish. Not only that, I ate cornbread with a variety of additional ingredients like cheese, onions, and nuts. How silly of my inner child, reducing the best type of bread to have at the table with a poor excuse for dessert! In this recipe, I added lemongrass for a little Asian kick.

Lemongrass Cornbread (Serves 4-6)
• 1 cup corn meal
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup lemongrass syrup (recipe below)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp oil
For lemongrass syrup:
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 lemongrass stalks

1. Remove the ends off lemongrass stalks. Chop into 1 to 1.5 inch pieces.

2. In a pot, mix 2 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar. Add chopped lemongrass and mix evenly. Boil on medium to low heat for 90 minutes. If you like a strong lemongrass flavor, let the syrup simmer for longer. Feel free to make this the night before, as it takes a bit of time. After the syrup has thickened, use a slotted spoon to remove the lemongrass.