Saturday, December 18, 2021

ABRAMS Dinner Party Spotlight: Home Made Basics...Featuring Peach Chai with Purple Basil & Thyme #homemadebasicscookbook #chai #icedtea #coldbrewtea

One week to go until Christmas...where has December gone to?!?!? For today's ABRAMS Dinner Party spotlight, I'm featuring Home Made Basics - Simple Recipes, Made from Scratch. In this comprehensive cooking resource, Author 
Yvette van Boven shares step-by-step explanations for foundational dishes that transform how we cook and eat at home. Accompanied by her signature illustrations and beautiful photography, van Boven provides 400+ recipes that range from simple dressings, vegetables, pastas, gnocchi, tortillas, perfectly poached eggs, and more! New cooks...and seasoned cooks will learn to make satisfying food that's not fussy or complicated. I searched through the recipes for a simple recipe to share at my extended family's Christmas Eve party.

Us Texans love our iced tea...so I knew I had found what I was looking for when I came saw van Boven's Peach Chai with Purple Basil & Thyme iced tea! Warm chai spices...combined with refreshing herbs and juicy peaches. Such an interesting mixture of flavors. I especially loved that prep time was about 5 minutes, then the tea steeped in the fridge. This unsweetened tea isn't typical Texas sweet tea...but it's a welcome variation!

Peach Chai with Purple Basil & Thyme
from Home Made Basics
Ingredients (makes one quart):
  • 2 chai tea bags
  • 1 quart (1 liter) boiling water
  • 1 peach, pitted and diced [NOTE: peaches aren't currently in season, so I used five slices of frozen organic peaches]
  • 2 sprigs of purple basil 
  • 2 sprigs lemon thyme (regular thyme also works)
Step 1: Gather your ingredients, then arrange them in a 1-quart lidded container. I found it easiest to let the tea bag strings hang outside of the container. Pour 1 quart of boiling water over the ingredients in the container, then seal. 
Step 2: Place the container of tea in the refrigerator to steep for at least 2 hours. I steeped my tea overnight to maximize the flavors! I found that steeping the chai overnight resulted in a deep amber color...and a ton of flavor.
Step 3: To serve, pour the chilled chai tea through a sieve into either a clear serving container...or directly into glasses. I garnished each glass with a 2-3 slices of frozen peach...and a basil leaf. So pretty!
This tea is an interesting combination of flavors that works so nicely together. The chai tea features warm Fall/Winter spices...but the peach and herbs are reminiscent of warmer Spring flavors. All I know? The combination works very nicely! This tea is lightly sweetened by an infusion of the juicy peach. I added a tablespoon of sugar-free Jordan's Skinny Syrup Chai syrup to my tea...and it was perfection! I can't wait to share this beverage with my extended family on Christmas Eve...and I hope you'll feature it on your menu as well.

Disclosure: I received a copy of Home Made Basics as part of the ABRAMS Publishing Dinner Party blogging group. All opinions expressed are solely my own.


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