Category: Recipe

Fig leaf tea has many potential health benefits and has flavours similar to rooibos or chamomile. So it may not be everyone’s ….  I like it though! There’s something very earthy about it. It’s gotta be one of the earthiest teas I’ve tasted. 

Here’s a couple of methods to make your own fig leaf tea, with the leaves from the fig tree in your garden.

What is fig leaf tea good for?

Fig leaves are a rich natural source of bioactive compounds and phytochemicals  including antioxidants (also berries have these) phenolic compounds, unsaturated fatty acids and vitamin micronutrients. They include Manganese, Iron, Magnesium, Sodium, Calcium, Potassium, Zinc and vitamins, A, B1 and B2 to start. They can play a vital role against gut conditions, diabetes and cardiovascular conditions. 

Read a study by the National Institute of Health.

Gather your fig leaves

Whatever leaves you have available are fine. Preferably from your own garden so you know how they’ve been treated (no chemicals). The leaves can be fresh or yellowing. 
Wash them clean and then think about your steeping method. 

Take care of the sap dripping from the stalks of the leaves if you harvest them fresh (preferred option). It can irritate some people’s skin. If the sap gets on your skin, wash it off as soon as you can. I harvest using rubber gardening gloves. 

Steep your leaves

If you choose to steep your leaves fresh, they can go straight into the saucepan. Just cover the leaves with water and steep (bring to boil, then down to a low simmer) for one hour. Let the tea mix sit for a further hour and steep. 

Chill your tea 

If you like your tea hot, strain and drink it immediately. Otherwise strain it into a jug and fridge it for later on. I don’t mind it hot, especially in winter. But I generally prefer it cold, because the figs grow in summer time. 

I’ve got a purple heart variety of fig that has massive heart shaped leaves. I only need one of those to make a good pot of tea. 

Dry and store your leaves

If you choose to dry your fig leaves, put them in the oven for 20 minutes on a very low heat or use your dehydrator until dry and crunchy. Crunch them up and store in glass jars, just like other tea leaves. 

It’s fig leaf tea time!

The dry leaves can be strained and steeped just like any other tea leaves, in a teapot, drink bottle or using a strainer. 

Enjoy!

Other uses of the leaves

Food wrap

The leaves can be used as a food wrap like a spinach leaf. Simmer it in salt water for 15-20 minutes until it’s tender. Try wrapping steak, mushroom or other foods in it. 

In preserves

I haven’t tried it yet, but some have mentioned that the leaves can be used in preserves to add flavour. 

Leave a comment if you found this useful. 

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Fruit leather is a great snack for at home or when on the road. It’s healthy and can be made entirely of fruit or vegetables. No need to add any sugar or flavours. These are great for saving a few dollars and stocking the kid’s lunchboxes.

Here’s a method to make your own and keep them stored for when you need them. 

Peel your fruit (or vegetables)

Choose which combination of fruit or veggies you’d like in your fruit leather. Peel them and eat the peels or feed them to your worm farm or pets, ours go to the chickens. 

Blend and blend

Remove all of the tough pith and seeds and put it all into the blender. If you’re using soft mushy fruit like bananas, leave those till later. 

Squeeze the juice

Squeeze all of the juice out by pouring the mix into a cheesecloth and squeezing into a jug or bowl. Keep the fruit pulp, this is what we’ll use. The juice is for drinking, bottle it up. 

Spread onto a tray

Spread the pulp onto baking paper in an oven tray. Get it down to a few mm in thickness.

Bake and cut it up

Bake this in the oven on a low heat around 110C or 230F for a couple of hours. Thickness, sugar and moisture content etc will change the time you need to bake. Grab your scissors and cut it up into strips for easy eating. 

Store it for later

Store your fruit leather strips into a jar with a lid for later. Some people sprinkle these with sugar, I prefer them without. Enjoy with friends!

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You can make your own cold brew coffee by grinding your own coffee grounds, mixing wth water and letting it steep for a while. It’s not too hard, let’s get started. 

Grind your beans and mix your cold brew

You’re going to need your old coffee grounds or coffee beans, a grinder, water and something to steep your brew in. You can use anything. Something glass is ideal or use a coffee pot with a filter, like a Hario Mizudashi. 

Grind your beans (or use the old grounds from your coffee efforts!) in whatever way suits you and add the grounds and water into your steeping pot. It’s easier to put the grounds in first and then the water. I use a ratio of 50 grams / 1.8 oz of coffee grounds to 600ml / 20 oz of water. 

Steep your brew

Place the lid on your pot and steep it in the fridge for half or a full day. Test out the strength that suits you by taking it out at 12 hrs and tasting it. The longer the stronger, until at a certain point and then it becomes bitter. 

Make coffee concentrate ice cubes

I’ve experimented with all sorts to improve the concentration and coffee ice cubes work well. Premake some espresso shots and pour them into a silicone ice cube mould that pops out easily. Freeze! This way your cold brew doesn’t get diluted, it get’s more concentrated. 

Enjoy your cold brew

I pour two thirds of a cup of cold brew and then use concentrated cream (learnt that trick in Japan) or milk if it suits you better to top it up. Throw in your concentrated coffee ice cubes too and enjoy with someone special. 

Leave a comment if this helped your cold brew making.

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How to make spicy ginger beer

I’ve been making all sorts of combinations of this, mixing in other fruit, honey and spices. You can use any organic material that will ferment, basically any fruit. 

I’ve experimented with peach, mango, ginger, strawberry, lychee, watermelon and all sorts. Sometimes you hit a good combination, sometimes simple is best. I love just a simple ginger and a little honey mix. 

Make your ferment mix or ginger plant

Start off by making your ferment mix (ginger plant). Sugar, water and ginger bits in a jar and let it ferment and bubble for a week. Warm weather helps this whole process.

I just pierce a metal jar lid for breathing holes. Add in two tbsp of your fruit ingredient, and one of sugar and ill with water. Keep adding a little fruit and sugar each day. Throw some water or fruit out if you overfill. After a few days it should start to generate CO2 and bubble. Cover it with a cloth or paper towel (keeps the ants out) and then put your aerated lid back on.

Boil your ingredients

I put them in a pot with a little more water than I need, chuck in all of the fruit ingredients and bring it to the boil. Let it simmer for 10 mins and tun the heat off. Then let it cool to room temperature. 

Bottle it up!

Put your boiled mixture (including the fruit) into your sealable bottle (I use these flip cap ones) and add a cup of your ferment mix (or half will do). Give it a gentle roll upside down to mix. Sit it in a cool, dark area to ferment for a week or two. 

Top up your ferment mix

Add whatever you used back into the mix and you can make as much as you like!

If you don’t want to use a ginger plant / fermentation method, you can used a soda machine to carbonate your mix. Just keep it in the fridge and mix it with soda to the strength you like. 

This is all worth the effort, my ginger and honey 🍯 mix is really carbonated and so refreshing in the morning. It’s a real zing and immunity booster in the morning or hot afternoon.

Let me know in the comments if you make your own probiotic ginger beer!

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