Tea

i finally managed to get some mint! so - i made tea (^.^)
and i made pics of it!
the tea usually gets a lot darker after it's cooled down, but if it's really fresh (like in my pics) it's got a beautiful yellowy-green-honey-color! (^-^) kinda like... umm... white tea?
well, now i'll continue posting as often as possible!
see you soon around!

arabian tea

another recipe!
this time for one of my favorite drinks. this can be enjoyed hot, warm or cold, just as you like it!
it's not the classic arabian tea, which is made with black tea, but a variation my dad showed me:

arabian tea - buder version

what you need:
a few fresh mint leaves (at least 1 handful), 1 cinnamon stick, 4 whole cloves and about a liter of fresh and clean water

how to brew it:
bring the water to a boil, add the mint leaves, the cinnamon stick and the cloves and let it steep for 3 to 10 minutes in a covered pot, depending on how much you want it to taste of cinnamon. remove the leaves, the stick and the cloves and sweeten it as much as you can bear with lots of sugar(^.^)
usually you get it so sweet, that it's nearly impossible to drink, but some people don't like it that sweet (^.~)
then let it cool down.
the arabs drink it very hot, but in my opinion it tastes just as well if it's chilled, if not even better, 'cause you tast a lot more if your taste buds aren't burned (^_^)
it should be of a light yellowish-green color, kinda like acacia honey ... well.... kinda... since the honey's not supposed to be green (x.x)

have fun brewing and drinking, i'll add a picture as soon as i can get my hands on some fresh mint!

recipe for caracs

caracs are my all time favorite tartlets.
the mix between chocolate and sugar is just perfect to sweeten your afternoon!



<<< (half a carac)

here's a recipe i've found online, haven't tested it myself (i usually buy them - i'm way too lazy to bake them myself) but it looks quite accurate:

recipe for 8 caracs

what you need:
8 shortpastry-tartlets, 100ml cream, 10g butter, 200g chocolate (dark),
3sp fondant (sugar glaze), green food color

filling:
boil up the cream and the butter in a pan. take the pan from the cooker, add the chocolate and stir, while it melts. when it's molten, pour it into the tartlets, smooth it out and let it set in a cold place.

glaze:
warm up the fondant (available in the bakery/confectionery) and stir it with a few drops of green food color. pour it over the chocolatey-stuff and cool the tartlets, until it's solidified.

when the glaze is solidified, you can put a small drop of chocolate in the middle of a tartlet, let it set and enjoy it!

(picture found on wikipedia.de, recipe found on chefkoch.de)