Karen's Cooking Corner

Loose leaf tea provides a wealth of flavors and varieties, hot or iced, without artificial flavor and sweeteners.

Cold Brewed vs. Iced Tea

Traditional iced tea is quick while cold brewed provides flavor alternatives and great tasting cold green teas without being bitter.

Brewing hot over ice is fast, yet extracts compounds which can cause bitterness, especially in green and white teas.

Cold brewed is ideal for loose leaf green teas. Cold brewing also offers new tastes to your black teas, leaves tannins behind and is a simple way to make cold green and white tea. And with an overnight steep it can be ready first thing on those hot summer mornings!

Iced Tea

Cold Brewing Loose Leaf Tea

Determine how much iced tea total you wish to make.

Use a container that holds the entire volume of water.

Add 1 ½ tsp loose leaf tea per 8 oz. of water (1 ½ Tbsp. white tea).

When using herbs or other picked plants from your garden, add a small amount of boiling water to ensure any lingering bacteria are killed off.

Fill the container with cold water and place in the fridge.

After 8-10 hours, depending on desired strength, strain off infused tea from the leaves with a strainer. 

Having trouble deciding on a flavor? Any loose leaf tea will make a delicious iced tea! Try making a cold brew or iced tea with Dominion Tea's Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Pear Raspberry Green, or Sencha, all available from South Mountain Creamery!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

7 tablespoons SMC unsalted butter, chilled in freezer and cut into thin slices

3/4 cup cold SMC buttermilk

2 tablespoons SMC buttermilk for brushing

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
3. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together in a large bowl.
4. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender or fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 5 minutes.
5. Make a well in the center of butter and flour mixture. Pour in 3/4 cup buttermilk; stir until combined.
6. Turn dough onto a floured work surface, pat together into a rectangle.
7. Fold the rectangle in thirds. Turn dough a half turn, gather any crumbs, and flatten back into a rectangle. Repeat twice more, folding and pressing dough three times.
8. Roll dough on a floured surface, about 1/2 inch thick.
9. Cut out 12 biscuits into 2 1/2-inch circles (with a round cutter) or squares.
10. Transfer biscuits to the prepared baking sheet. Press an indent into the top of each biscuit with your thumb.
11. Brush the tops of biscuits with 2 tablespoons buttermilk.
12. Bake in the preheated oven until browned, about 15 minutes.

This delicious recipe combines apples, sour cream, sugar and a few others to make a scrumptious dessert. Use SMC Sour Cream, Certified Humane eggs, butter, and apples from our produce bags for a farm fresh treat!

INGREDIENTS:

1 unbaked 9 inch pie crust

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup SMC sour cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 SMC Certified Humane Brown egg

2 cups diced apples (found in this week’s produce bag)

 1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup chilled SMC butter, diced

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Press the pie crust into and up the sides of a 9 inch pie plate.

In a medium bowl, stir 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour, and salt together. Mix in the sour cream, egg and vanilla until smooth. Add apples and stir to coat them in the sour cream mixture. Pour the mixture into the pie shell.

Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F and continue baking for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the topping in a medium bowl. Stir together 1/3 cup of flour, 1/3 cup sugar, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.

Remove pie from oven and cover the top of the pie with the crumb topping. Continue to bake for 15 minutes, or until topping is lightly browned and apples are tender. Allow the pie to cool, and chill before serving.

Top your apple pie with a dollop of freshly made whipped cream, using South Mountain Creamery's Heavy Whipping Cream! View the recipe here.

Broccoli Cornbread

from the kitchen of Karen Sowers

Ingredients:

¾ cups SMC Butter (melted)

1 package McCutcheon's cornbread mix (available through SMC)

4 SMC Certified Humane Brown Eggs, beaten

1 cup Cottage Cheese (available through SMC)

1 small onion, chopped (typically available in SMC Vegetable Bags)

2 cups fresh Broccoli or 10oz frozen broccoli (chopped) (typically available in SMC Large Vegetable Bag)

Directions

Greek Yogurt Parmesan Chicken

Ingredients:

4 SMC boneless/skinless chicken breasts

1 cup plain Green Mountain Creamery Greek yogurt (about 2 containers)

1/2 cup parmesan cheese - grated

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2) Combine Greek yogurt, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, seasoned salt, and pepper in a bowl.

3) Line baking sheet with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.

4) Coat each chicken breast in Greek yogurt mixture and place on foiled baking sheet.

5) Bake for 45 minutes, or until juices run clear.

Try making these all natural dyes using everyday ingredients!

Yellow: Two cups water plus 3/4 tablespoons turmeric creates a yellow or deep gold. Also try orange or lemon peels, carrots, chamomile tea, celery seed, green tea, ground cumin, or saffron.

Pink: Two cups water + two cups grated beets, raspberries, red grape juice or beet kvass (no vinegar is needed for the beek kvass)

Orange: Two cups yellow onion peels and five cups water. Also try carrots or paprika

Blue/Green: Three cups tightly packed shredded cabbage plus enough water to cover one inch above shreds. Also try fresh basil or grass for green eggs. To make blue eggs, try ½ cup blueberries plus 1½ cups water or purple grape juice.

Red: Three to four cups tightly packed red onion peels plus water to cover about one inch above. Also try rose hips, pomegranate juice, or raspberries.

Experiment with other household ingredients for more color options!

Ingredients/Tools Needed:

Natural dye materials (see above)

Water

Vinegar (1 tablespoon per dye color)

Pots (for simmering ingredients)

Mesh Strainer

Small Bowls or Mason Jars

SMC Certified Humane Brown Eggs

Directions for Making All Natural Dyes

Bring dye supplies and water to a boil. Use approximately ½ to ¾ cup of the natural dye ingredient per one cup of water, except for the spices… you’ll use a lot less. The water should come to ½ – 1 inch above your dye material. Turn heat down to low and simmer, covered, for 15-60 minutes until desired color is reached. Keep in mind that the eggs will be several shades lighter so it’s best to go for deep, rich hues.

If you’re using juice, you can skip the boiling. Just add the vinegar and get started.

Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature

Pour dye through a mesh strainer into bowls/mason jars and add 3 teaspoons of vinegar for each cup of dye liquid

Add eggs and place in fridge until desired color is reached (I started mine in early afternoon and leave them overnight)

Did you know you can dye brown eggs instead of white for a different range of colors? When brown eggs are immersed in dye, they take on darker, bolder colors. Learn more about dyeing brown eggs in our blog post.

South Mountain Creamery's Brown Eggs are Certified Humane, meaning they meet the Humane Farm Animal Care Standards. Our laying hens receive a nutritious diet without antibiotics or hormones, shelter, resting areas, sufficient space, and the ability to engage in natural behaviors. SMC's eggs are also high in DHA and Omega 3 Fatty Acids. www.southmountaincreamery.com

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

Shepherd's Pie

In early cook books, Cottage Pie was a dish using leftover roasted meat of any kind. The pie was lined and topped with a mashed potato crust. The term "shepherd's pie" did not appear until 1877. Since then, it has become synonymous with "cottage pie", regardless of the main ingredient. The term "shepherd's pie" has been used with recipes containing lamb, since shepherds are concerned with sheep and not cattle. (source: Wikipedia)

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon Manoli Canoli olive oil

1 tablespoon SMC butter

1 onion, diced

2 pounds SMC ground lamb

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon ketchup

3 cloves garlic, minced (available in vegetable bag)

2 1/2 cups water, or as needed

1 (12 ounce) package frozen peas and carrots, thawed

2 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and halved

1 tablespoon SMC butter

1 pinch ground cayenne pepper

1/4 cup SMC cream cheese

1/4 pound SMC cheddar cheese, shredded

1 SMC Certified Humane egg yolk

2 tablespoons SMC milk

salt and ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place olive oil and butter in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and ground lamb; brown the meat, breaking it up into small crumbles as it cooks, about 10 minutes.

Stir in flour until incorporated, and then mix in salt, black pepper, rosemary, paprika, cinnamon, ketchup, and garlic. Cook and stir until garlic is fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.

Stir in water. Reduce heat to medium-low and bring mixture to a simmer; cook and stir until thick, about 5-6 minutes.

Remove lamb mixture from heat and stir in peas and carrots until combined.

Spread lamb mixture into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish and set aside.

Place potatoes into a large pan of salted water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well and return potatoes to pan.

Mash butter, cayenne pepper, cream cheese, and cheese into potatoes. Mash until combined and potatoes are smooth. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Whisk together egg yolk and milk in a small bowl. Stir into the mashed potato mixture.

Top the lamb mixture in the baking dish with the mashed potatoes and spread evenly to cover.

Bake in the preheated oven until the top is golden brown and sauce is bubbling up around the edges, about 25 to 30 minutes.