Cranberry tea biscuit

I was caught in the act of looking up teas to buy online. And was told off for it. I’m not allowed to buy more until I’ve finished the bulk of what I already have. 

First World Crisis.

So I looked online for a couple of recipes for biscuits and adjusted to my laziness/what was available. After a couple of hits and misses I thought I’d better save it online to use again.

It’s a great recipe for those who are addicted to caffeine. Pop a couple in your mouth if you need to wake up early for lectures or stay up late to study. I found that 2 biscuits of these have the same effect as a cup of coffee!

Prep time- 20 minutes 

Cooking time- 12 minutes 

Here’s what i put in:

• 3 tablespoons of loose leaf tea (I used picnic tea, which is like a weaker English Breakfast. Other recipes call to split open tea bags.. but I really needed to use my loose leaf!)
• 1/3 cup of dried cranberries (I used Craisins)
• 1 1/4 cup of plain flour
• 1 pinch of salt
• 110g unsalted butter chopped (apparently the butter is of better quality and you can monitor the salt content in the butter much better yourself when it is unsalted)
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice (I used lemon zest in a previous recipe but I found that the zesty pops of the lemon took the focus away from the taste of tea)

Instructions:

1. Food process/Pulse/Blitz the tea leaves so that they’re smaller
2. Pulse up the cranberries with the tea so that they become small grains (the size of broken rice)
3. Mix in all the ingredients with a spoon so that the cranberries are distributed evenly, then pulse it all together. Once you’ve finished the food processing, the dough should be on the dry side, looking a bit crumbly.
4. Using the warmth of your hand, gather up the biscuit dough and form a long log. Wrap this up in baking paper and shove it into the freezer to chill (I stuck it in for 15minutes)
5. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius. if fanforced, crank it up to 170 if not.
6. Take our your log and slice out 0.5-0.8cm slices (i used a cheese slicer ).
7. Lay it out onto baking paper- you don’t have to give it much space because it won’t spread much. (I reused the baking paper I wrapped the biscuit log in)
8. Stick it in the oven for 12 minutes, or until it goes a light brown.
9. Once done, empty it out onto a cooling rack and eat!

Just an important note: please don’t eat these biscuits late at night if you want to sleep! I kept forgetting to tell people that it was made with with tea so they ended up sleeping after 2am!

Fresh peppermint tea

After a long cool summer and an even cooler autumn we now sit in the middle of winter and experience a lift of temperature. 

Could spring be coming a little early?

I dare not say in case it chases the weather away.

Nevertheless, I sit at home on my second day of sick leave enjoying fresh peppermint tea straight from my balcony garden.

It’s always a joy to harvest what you have grown; albeit small and simple. 

It’s a beginning!

This tea was also a beginning for me, the first of many trials and errors.

I simply took a handful of peppermint and stuck it in a glass of water after washing it a few times to get rid of soil and any bugs. 

It was nice steeping at 80 degrees. Very pretty with a light green-yellow stain flowing down from the surface. It did indeed flavor the water like the familiar mint tea you can find in tea bags but really really subtle. 

Note to self: use 2 handfuls next time!

I steeped the second cup right after the water boiled at 100 degrees. Ahh what a mistake! I was drinking peppermint spinach soup! That’s right- peppermint leaves do taste like spinach once boiled.

Who would have thought?

It's an impressive looking drink though! 

I think I'll dehydrate the leaves before drinking next time

Great Century Restaurant, Bankstown

There's nothing like a good Chinese seafood restaurant where the prices are low, the wait staff are friendly and the tea is fragrant.

We now enter Great Century Restaurant, one of the many great places to eat in Bankstown. During the weekends it's bustling with families coming in for good value yum cha while weeknights are a lot quieter with few families coming for a good dinner, utilising the mid week specials on the mud crab and lobster.
We are promptly greeted by the manager who took us to a round table, asking us how we've been and if we're here for seafood again tonight. Oh yes...why else would we come?





Jasmine tea is ordered for  our table and a small plate of fried salted peanuts come out.

I dont know what is considered culturally appropriate or rude, but it's fun and challenging to pick peanuts up with chopsticks rather than stick your fingers in the plate.






The tea is fragrant and not at all burnt which is how all restaurants should serve their tea. But sadly many chinese restaurants scald their tea and serve a cheaper grade tea stem that turns bitter on tasting.

I much prefer tea where the leaves are long and full, where you can see jasmine petals and the fragrance transfers to the taste. This was good tea.
 While the tea was being served conversation began about the crab. There was the usual king crab versus mud crab, option of lobster and how we wanted it cooked. I appreciate coming here on quiet nights as we have more time to talk to the waiters, each of them well educated with how the chef cooks the crab and each of them with opinions on the best way of eating crab. They approved of our choice but encourage us to try different styles when we come back next time.




We were in luck as they were also serving Peking Duck tonight which came out quickly after a second plate of peanuts was ordered.  As it was my mum's birthday, we did not hesitate to go all out.


Carvings of duck on warm pancakes were generous with a good crispy skin to meat ratio.

 

A squeeze of hoi-sin sauce, a stalk of spring onion, a slice of cucumber and voila!
 
Two tasty juicy peking duck packages for each person.
The left over duck is sent back to the kitchen to be cut and presented properly.




In the meantime, a large platter of chilli mud crab comes out. Its red and orange and piled up high.

There is no way to eat this with class so chopsticks are left by the side of the plate and fingers come out to hold up the large pieces of crab.
 
The sweet spicy sauce is mixed with garlic and congealed with egg. Its lapped up quickly. The shell of the crab is hard and meat is white, firm and sweet - a sign of a freshness.
 


 The duck comes back again in another large plate and we attack it quickly, the drumsticks disappearing first.




A hot pot of combination tofu comes out "to fu poh". The sauce is soaked up by the tofu and the bottom of the pot reveals the vegetables we need to balance the meal. Not a wow dish but it doesnt disappoint. You will find wom bok cabbage, mushrooms, carrot, ginger, chicken, BBQ pork, calamari, scallops and prawns. It's a bit pricey nearing $20.

Three dishes were all we could muster tonight. We've learnt the long way many times not to over order for out family. Before we signaled for the bill a plate of sweet orange slices and a plate of almond & peanut cookies were served up.

 

 


The biscuits were a lovely way to end the night as we rolled out of the restaurant and into the carpark.



 Great Century Restaurant can be found on 23 Greenfield Parade, Bankstown NSW 2200, Australia
+61 2 9796 3366 ‎ 


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