Having just returned from a trip to Asia, discussion of this topic at our last education board meeting turned my thoughts first to Thai iced tea. Although a rather sweet concoction, made with Thai black tea and sweetened condensed milk, it sure hits the spot over a tall glass of ice in the balmy tropics, and is a delightful refreshment any summer day (recipe).

According to Marie Nadine Antolo's book, Healing Teas (see this month's book review!), iced tea was an American innovation. It was actually the inspiration of Richard Blechynden, who had a tea stand at the St. Louis Fair in 1904. Because the weather was hot and no one wanted a hot beverage, Blechynden poured freshly brewed tea over ice. It was an immediate sensation. In recent years, prepared herbal and black iced teas have become as readily available as soft drinks (check out the Tazo teas in the Co-op's beverage cooler!).

My mother-in-law still brews a pot of double-strength Red Rose tea every day during the summer months to have ready by lunch time (on hot, sunny days she makes sun tea out in her garden). She adds a quarter cup of sugar to the pot while it's still a little warm and pours it into a glass pitcher full of ice, adding a couple of fresh-squeezed lemons before bringing it to the table. Though I seldom make traditional iced tea like my mother-in-law, I relish those summer meals at her table. "Steeped in tradition" must be a phrase that refers to just such a feeling.

Theoretically, any tea that you enjoy hot can be served chilled. However, some teas are particularly nice when iced. Fruit juice/tea blends have also become popular and they make nice refreshments for children too. Zinger teas mixed with berry juice have been a popular blend for years.

To make some, start with good tea—just because it's iced, doesn't mean you can skimp on quality. And, as with hot tea, the water is very important—it should be pure and clean (if you don't like the taste of the water, you won't like the taste of the tea), so use bottled water if your tap water is inferior. And be sure to brew tea in china, glass or stainless steel.

Exceptionally clear iced tea can be obtained by steeping the tea in cold water and leaving it in the refrigerator for 12 hours. The tea can then be taken with or without ice. But you can certainly get a high-quality iced tea from hot water. For green teas and light, flowery, herbal teas, use water that has been brought just to the point of simmering; for oolong and most herbal blends, brew with water that's hissing and has bubbles rising; steep heavy black teas and herbals with roasted ingredients in water that is fully boiling. Let your tea steep until the delicate flavors are released (usually 3-5 minutes). If you merely want to try your favorite tea on ice, prepare it as you normally would, then cool it in the refrigerator and serve over ice. Or try one of these following blends:

Plum-Fennel Iced Tea

Here's something to try later in the summer, when your plums are in season, and your fennel is seeding.

• 3 orange pekoe tea bags
• 6 cups water
• 1½ tablespoons fennel seeds
• 4 plums (about 1 pound), pitted and cut into ½ inch pieces
• 1 cup chilled simple syrup (equal parts sugar & water, fully dissolved), or to taste
• Garnish: plum slices

Ginger Iced Tea

• 4 China oolong tea bags
• 4 cups water
• ¼ cup peeled and sliced fresh ginger root (about a 2½ inch by 1½ inch piece)
• ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon chilled simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water, fully dissolved), or to taste

Lemon Balm Punch

Simple, sweet, and lemony, this blend is very soothing.

• A couple of sprigs of fresh lemon balm, crushed
• 2 cloves
• 1 tsp honey

Thai Iced Tea

Thai tea (cha Thai) is a blend of finely chopped black tea leaves, vanilla bean, ground sweet spices such as cinnamon and star anise, and orange food coloring.

• 1 ½ c simple sugar syrup (equal parts water and sugar, fully dissolved) or 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
• 5 c water
• 1 c Thai tea leaves
• Ice cubes
• 1 to 1½ c light cream

Homemade Frozen Yogurt
By Pamela Lee, from the June 1998 Newsletter

I don't have an ice cream maker, but I still wanted to see if I could make a delectable, creamy-textured frozen yogurt. When I accepted the challenge of writing about this, I simply thought I would use my trusty old Champion Juicer to churn out a smooth frozen treat. After all, I'd used it years ago to successfully make tofu "ice cream," before commercial brands were readily available. But alas, I found that the Champion melted the frozen yogurt cubes too much to be an effective tool for this job. So, after reading about making quick granitas with a food processor, I turned to this handy kitchen tool, and it worked. I then wondered if a blender might work as well. It didn't. The blender delivers delicious, cold smoothies, but not what I'd call frozen yogurt. If you have an ice cream maker, by all means use it for these recipes. Simply chill the mixtures to about 40 degrees, then follow the directions with your machine.

I found that the biggest challenges to making homemade yogurt were obtaining the right texture and the right, satisfyingly-full oral sensation. Nonfat yogurt doesn't provide the "mouth-feel" that I want, but low-fat or regular yogurts do. Yogurt and fruit, frozen and then processed is tasty, but lacks thick body. The addition of gelatin provides the satisfying, smooth texture I want, but knowing gelatin's origin drove me to try agaragar. And I'm pleased to report that it works just as well. Agaragar (also sometimes called kanten) is made from several varieties of red seaweed. Hundreds of years ago, the Chinese and Japanese learned how to freeze-dry and dehydrate the seaweed fronds into kanten bars which can be used as gelatin. Our Co-op stocks agaragar powder in the bulk herb section. The agar also comes in flake form and the traditional kanten bar.

As I experimented with recipes, I found I didn't want an overly sweet product. I cut the amount of sugar in most recipes by one-third to one-half. To me they were still plenty sweet. Also, too much sugar seems to defeat the health benefits of eating yogurt.

Whether yogurt's beneficial bacteria can survive the chilly temperatures of frozen yogurt seems to be still under debate. One article I read said they couldn't; another said they could survive quick-freezing.

If, like me, you don't have an ice cream maker, freeze your yogurt concoctions in plastic ice cube trays. After they freeze solid, empty the ice trays into a large bowl then pulse 5 to 6 cubes at a time in the food processor. The trick is getting a creamy frozen puree, not a grainy, melted shake. Use the pulse button in repeated three-second bursts. It took me about a dozen of these pulses. My food processor is really old; a newer machine might do the job more efficiently and might handle more than 6 cubes a time. But don't add more cubes than can sit in a single layer in the processor bowl. Turn the machine off, open the bowl, and check the mix, stirring until you get a smooth texture.

This first recipe is my own agar-thickened invention. I invite you to vary ingredients and experiment with any of these recipes. Even the less-than-perfect frozen concoctions tasted mighty good.

Pineapple-Banana Frozen Yogurt

• 8-oz Brown Cow Farms Creme-at-the-Top Maple Yogurt
• 8-oz plain, nonfat Nancy's Yogurt
• ½ t. agaragar powder
• 1/3 cup pineapple juice
• ¼ cup crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 large or 2 small bananas

1. Stir the teaspoon of agaragar powder into the pineapple juice. Heat in the microwave on high for 25 seconds, stir. Then microwave until the mixture comes to a boil. Stir well, then place the hot mixture in a blender and pulse. Add the banana and yogurt. Blend well. Add the crushed pineapple. Pulse briefly.
2. Turn the yogurt mixture into an ice cube tray. Freeze until solid.
3. Use a food processor to puree 5 to 6 cubes at a time. If overly thick, add a few tbls of milk or rice milk. Pulse for 3 seconds about 12 times, until smooth and creamy. Eat immediately, or store in a well-sealed container in the freezer.

Variation: With an ice cream maker, follow step one, then chill until the mixture is about 40 degrees F. Freeze according to the directions that come with your machine.

The next two recipes are from Cook's Illustrated Magazine, May/June 1996. If you want to use agaragar powder, substitute about 1 t. of it for the gelatin. Dissolve and heat it in the milk. The recipes' ¾ to 1 cup of sugar was way too sweet for me. Though I give you the recipes as they were written, I used a scant ½ cup of raw sugar in the Vanilla Yogurt Recipe, and a scant 1/3 cup sugar in the strawberry recipe.

Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

• Makes 1 generous quart
• 2 cups low-fat plain yogurt
• 2 t. unflavored gelatin (or 1 t. agar-agar)
• 1 ¾ cups whole milk
• 1 cup minus 2 T. sugar
• 1 5-inch piece vanilla bean, slit lengthwise.

1. Spoon yogurt into fine-mesh strainer set over glass measuring cup. Place measuring cup in refrigerator; let drain until yogurt releases ½ cup liquid, 1 to 2 hours.
2. Sprinkle gelatin over ¼ cup of the milk in a small bowl; let stand stirring frequently, until gelatin swells, about 10 mins. (If using agar-agar, omit this step and use the milk and the agar in the next step.)
3. Meanwhile, heat remaining 1½ cups milk, sugar, and vanilla bean in small sauce pan, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Remove pan from heat.
4. Add swelled gelatin to hot milk-sugar mixture, stirring until completely dissolved. Scrape seeds from softened vanilla bean into mixture, whisking seeds to evenly distribute; discard bean. Cool to room temperature, then mix with drained yogurt.
5. Refrigerate yogurt mixture until it cools to at least 40 degrees. Pour chilled, gelatinous mixture into canister of ice cream machine; churn until frozen. (Can be served as soft-frozen yogurt at this point, or can be stored in a sealed, plastic container for 2 days before it becomes icy.)

Note: With my food processor method, after step 4 I poured the mixture into ice cube trays and froze, then pulse-processed as before.

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

Makes 1 generous quart.

Really ripe, sweet fruit will make a tremendous difference in this recipe. The liquid in the strawberries makes this frozen yogurt become icy fairly quickly, so rather than storing it, it's best if eaten the day it is made.

• 2 cups low-fat, plain yogurt
• 1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 t. unflavored gelatin (or 1t. Agar-agar)

1. Spoon yogurt into fine-mesh strainer set over glass measuring cup. Place measuring cup in refrigerator; let drain until yogurt releases ½ cup liquid, 1 to 2 hours.
2. Meanwhile, mix berries, ¼ cup of the sugar, and vanilla in medium bowl. Crush fruit lightly with potato masher; let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
3. Pour ¼ cup of the milk into small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over milk; let stand, stirring frequently, until gelatin swells, about 10 minutes. (If using agar, omit this step and add the agar and all the milk to the next step.)
4. Meanwhile, heat remaining ¾ c milk and ½ c sugar in small saucepan, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat.
5. Add swelled gelatin into hot milk/sugar mixture, stirring until completely dissolved. Cool to room temperature, then mix with crushed strawberries, with drained yogurt.
6. Refrigerate yogurt mixture until it cools to at least 40 degrees. Pour chilled, gelatinous mixture into canister of ice cream machine; churn until frozen. This can be served as soft-frozen yogurt at this point, or can be stored in a sealed, plastic container for 1 day before it becomes icy.

Note: With my food processor method, after step 5, I poured the mixture into ice cube trays and froze, then pulse-processed as before.

For additions or corrections to this page, please contact the Webmaster.