White Honey Green Tea Ice Cream

Here is a recipe which perfectly marries Volcano Island Honey Company's White Honey, some of the best honey in the world, also produced by God, the bees, and a neighboring farm, with our Sweet Roast Green Tea.  This ice cream is smooth, rich, and wonderful!  We used our Original Sweet Roast, but any tea can be used to give variation in color and flavor.  Food coloring can also be added to give a more vivid green hue.  Alternately, use free range chicken eggs, grind the tea before infusing, and consume fresh before the green fades away.

Enjoy!  For a suggestion on how to use the leftover egg whites, see my post for Green Tea Egg White Cake.
by Dana Shapiro 

1/2c Volcano Island White Honey

6 egg yolks

1.5c milk

1c cream

3T (or 2 tsp ground) Original Sweet Roast Green tea
6 drops green food coloring (*optional)

1. Bring milk to a low boil in a saucepan. Promptly remove from heat. Stir in tea leaves, cover and set aside to steep for 10-15min.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl, beat honey with egg yolks until thickened.

3. Strain tea from milk with a fine strainer.  Slowly beat the warm milk into the egg mixture. 

4. Pour into saucepan and place over low heat. Stir constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon until custard thickens slightly. Be careful not to let the mixture boil or eggs will scramble. 

5. Remove from heat and pour the hot tea-honey custard through a strainer into a large, clean bowl. Allow custard to cool slightly, then stir in cream. Cover and refrigerate until cold or overnight.

6. Stir the chilled custard, then freeze in ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions. When finished, ice cream will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer ice cream, transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze at least 2 hours.

Green Tea Creme Soda

This recipe can be modified in many ways.  It can be diluted, spiced up with white rum, or served with ice cream instead of whipping cream.  When I make it, I make two versions, one for the kids, and one for myself.  We all love it!


1 oz Simple Green Tea Syrup
1 oz heavy whipping cream or ice cream
6-8 oz club soda
2 oz Bacardi White Rum (*optional)

Serve over ice and enjoy!

Green Tea Risotto with Pine Nuts and Edamame

Modified from recipe contributed by Chef Rodney Uyehara

Serves 6 

I was delighted to have been given this recipe from a client after she hosted a party of dinner items, all including tea.  Besides tea, my family loves all things rice, so much that a meal which doesn't include it, may not be considered a meal.  For this reason, I often bring rice dishes to pot luck gatherings.  

With the wheat-free dietary movement gaining popularity, as a fancier alternative to fried rice, and because the Arborio rice is eco-farmed by Lundberg, this recipe is a winner in my book.  

Ingredients:
 

2 c Aborio rice

2 c chicken stock, heated

8 oz Hamakua mushrooms, slicced

1/2 c raw pine nuts

1/2 c shelled soybeans

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp chopped garlic

2 Bay leaves

1/4 c extra virgin olive oil

1 T ground Sweet Roast green tea

1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 c whipping cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté sliced mushrooms, pine nuts, and soybeans in butter until beans are semi-cooked.  Set aside.  

 

Combine garlic, rice, and bay leaf in olive oil and stir over medium heat until blended.  

Add heated chicken stock a little at a time while stirring rice mixture.  Cover and cook rice about 15 minutes, until desired texture, lowering heat when mixture starts to bubble. 

Meanwhile, prepare tea and grated cheese by tossing them together.

 Add tea cheese, mushroom mix, cream, and seasonings.  Stir until thoroughly blended. Enjoy!






** A note about Arborio Rice from Lundberg Farms

I enjoy products which are produced with superior methods.  When looking us what "eco-farmed" means, my interest in Lundberg Farms deepened.  Lundberg produces several varieties of organic and eco farmed rice. While the eco-farmed rice is superior to conventionally farmed rice, it does not adhere to the same legal standards as a certified organic rice would.  The company boasts a very honest table of information comparing production in the two methods here.  They are so sincere in their efforts to farm in a way which benefits the environment that the even re-locate eggs laid by migratory water foul in their fields of cover crops before they mow and prepare for planting each spring.  Local children search for eggs and turn them over to a hatchery where they will be hatched, banded, and released back into the wild.  See videos about the egg salvage program here.

Green Tea Egg White Cake

(Munavalgekook)
Serves 8-10

Have leftover egg whites from making green tea ice cream?  Looking for a unique cake to make?  This cake has its roots in Estonia.  Modified here, it is excellent with a cup of our Premium Oolong tea.

6 large egg whites
1c plus 2T sugar
1 1/3 c all-purpose flour
1 heaped Tbsp potato starch
3 tsp ground green tea
1 tsp baking powder
5Tbsp melted butter, slightly cooled


Whisk egg whites and 2 Tbsp sugar until thick, pale, and very foamy.  Mix sugar, flour, potato starch, tea, and baking powder in another bowl, then sift into egg mixture and fold in, gently.  Finally, fold in the melted butter.  Pour the batter into a buttered bundt pan and bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes.  Test for doneness with a toothpick.  Cool slightly before turning out of the pan.  Glaze or enjoy as is.

Simple Green Tea Syrup

Have you ever wondered how to get more antioxidants into your diet without adding too much health food to your diet?  Green Tea syrup can be used for almost anything, from pancakes to mixed drinks or sodas, and many many things in between.  See my recipe collection for more ideas.  Enjoy!

 

2c sugar
1c water
2tsp ground Organic Mauna Kea Sweet Roast Green Tea


Place sugar and water over a low boil until sugar dissolves and liquid thickens.  Remove from heat.  Mix in tea and let sit for 5-10 minutes.  Strain if necessary.  Store covered in refrigerator.

Coconut mochi

Plain white coconut mochi.

Coconut mochi is a great tea snack that can be easily made at home. The plain flavor of coconut mochi can be paired with more subtle and delicate green tea.

Ingredients:

1 lb mochiko
2 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking poder
1 can coconut milk
1 can water
Potato or cornstarch to dust

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x13 inch pan.

2. In a large mixing bowl, stir the mochiko, sugar and baking powder together.

3. Add coconut milk and water to flour mixture. Stir until the batter is smooth.

4. Pour batter into pan. Cover tightly with foil. Bake for 1 hour.

5. Remove mochi from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Carefully remove foil. Let mochi cool completely before cutting.

6. Dust with potato or cornstarch.


* If you experience mochi being too sticky, wait overnight or a day. Mochi will firm up a bit and you can peel the mochi off the pan easily.

 

Waipio sunrise fishing

On Sunday morning I got down to Waipio valley for fishing at sunrise. I had a good feeling about something big. It's been a few weeks since we got some nice sunny morning. Beautiful sunrise. Great way to start a day.

After a few casts on the beach by the river mouth, I got lots of nibbles, but no definitive bites. Finally I pulled one in. To'au, or blacktail snapper. Too small to eat so I let go.

 

 

It's always nice to see Hiilawe fall flowing so grand though it could mean more rain on the farm.

 

I then moved to the other side of Waipio but forgot my camera in the truck, but got three wrasses and moano.

And then a BIG FISH hit on my MW plug, which felt like a bullet train that half emptied my spool and snapped my line behand a rock.

 

One lesson I learned is that what we pay is what we get. I had a cheap reel with not as smooth a drag and mono line was totally damaged near the leader. I totally didnt expect a big fish. Most days the ones that hit MW plugs are mid size. I really need to replace the line and even upgrade the reel. What's more sad is that I lost my trusty MW plug and I have to go back to Hilo to get them again.