Hibiscus ( Roselle) Lemonade

 I started two plants this season. Mei took one and I put the other in a large pot. Mine never got really big but Mei's was huge. I dried quite a bit.

This is a wonderful lemonade! Will make it again.

Ingredients

4 cups water

4 hibiscus tea bags or 4 tablespoons of dried hibiscus petals

4 lemons

4 tbsp simple syrup

How to make hibiscus lemonade:

Boil the water: Pour 4 cups of water into a pot and bring it to a boil.

Steep the Hibiscus Tea: Once the water reaches a rolling boil, remove it from the heat and add the hibiscus tea bags or dried hibiscus petals. Steep the tea for 10 minutes until you achieve a deep red color and a strong hibiscus tea taste.

Sweeten with Simple Syrup: Add the simple syrup to the hibiscus tea and stir well until the syrup dissolves completely. Taste the tea and adjust the sweetness according to your preference by adding more simple syrup if desired.

Squeeze the Lemons: While the hibiscus tea cools down, roll the lemons gently on a countertop to release their juices. Cut each lemon in half and squeeze out the juice. Remove any seeds from the juice.

Mix the Lemon Juice with Hibiscus Tea: Pour the freshly squeezed lemon juice into the cooled hibiscus tea. Stir well to combine all the flavors evenly.

Chill and Serve: Place the hibiscus tea lemonade into a large pitcher or mason jar in the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour or until thoroughly cooled.

Roselle "Fire Cider"

 

Fire cider  has broad-spectrum antimicrobial and antibacterial properties and is an excellent aid for fighting infection. It also produces a heat that helps lower cholesterol. Onions have similar properties to garlic and are also good for colds and flus. Cayenne pepper is one of the best cardiovascular herbs.

1 to 2 tablespoons at the first sign of a cold, and then repeating every 3 to 4 hours until symptoms subside. Some people also take fire cider as a preventative during cold and flu season.

Fire Cider's main ingredients are apple cider vinegar and honey, two of nature's greatest preservatives. This means our tonics are shelf stable and don't need to be refrigerated.

NOTE: This came out really good. I'll be making this again. 

Ingredients:

32 ounces of apple cider vinegar

5 ounces honey 

1 medium onion

1 large garlic bulb

2 ounces fresh ginger root (1/2 cup coarsely chopped) 

2 tablespoons turmeric powder

5 ounces fresh horseradish ( couldn't find)

 8 ounces pomegranate juice

1 orange

 1 Tablespoon  dried cayenne powder

 ¾ cup dried hibiscus

Directions:

Peel the garlic, and coarsely chop the onions, ginger, horseradish, . Place them in a food processor or blender, along with the cayenne pepper powder. Add enough apple cider vinegar to cover. I also added the turmeric powder. 

Place the ingredients from the blender  into a double boiler. Don’t have one? Check out THIS. Add the rest of the apple cider vinegar to the mixture and keep the heat on low with the lid on. Let the mixture heat on low; don’t let it get above 120°F (49°C) for three hours, stirring occasionally. Be careful with the fumes. I have a hotplate and did this outside on the porch. 

 Peel your orange.  Pureed the  orange with a pomegranate juice until smooth.

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After a couple of hours, taste the mixture. If it’s too mild for your fire cider pleasure,  add more of the spicy herbs and cook for one more hour. After three hours of total cooking time, turn off the heat, and add the hibiscus and the juicy pomegranate/orange mixture. Let sit for one hour and check the color—if it’s too light, add more hibiscus. When the cider is a beautiful red hue, strain the mixture through a cheesecloth or potato ricer. You’ll need to squeeze out or press the mixture, or you will lose a great deal of the medicine. (Don’t use your bare hands to squeeze out the cider or you’ll burn/irritate your skin.) Add the honey and mix well, making sure all the honey is dissolved.

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Place in sterilized, clear-glass jars, label, and refrigerate. Dosage is 1 teaspoon (5 ml) as needed.

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Persimmon Roselle Butter

Sharon and Don have been sharing their persimmons with us for quite a few years. Mey and I love them. I have my own tree but something ate every single persimmon that was on the tree! Next season a net is going over it.

This is a recipe I found awhile ago and very happy I made it.

 Ingredients:

4 cups roselles

4 cups water

2 Myer lemons

12 firm Fuyu persimmons, peeled and chopped

1 cup sugar

DIRECTIONS

In a large non-reactive pot, combine washed roselles, water and 1 lemon cut into slices.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

Strain roselle and lemon into a colander. 

Discard roselles and lemon. Return liquid to a boil and add chopped* persimmon.

Cook until softened and use a emulsion blender to smooth out the chunks.

Add juice and zest of 1 lemon and half the sugar.

Return to a simmer and cook 10-15 minutes

 Taste for sweetness and add remaining sugar if needed.

Cook to desired thickness, but remember it thickens as it cools.

This butter may be preserved in sterilized jars and processed in a boiling water bath.

* I used the food processor to chop the persimmon

Roselle Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup  granulated white sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon  salt

1/4 cup  roselle jelly


Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. 

In the bowl of your electric stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until incorporated. Add the egg  and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl as needed.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the flour mixture to the batter and beat just until combined. If the batter is too soft to roll into balls, refrigerate for about 30 to 60 minutes.

 Roll the batter into 1 inch  balls . Then take one ball of dough at a time using your thumb or end of a wooden spoon, make an indentation into the center of each cookie and then fill (spoon or pipe) the indentation with about 1/2 teaspoon of your favorite jam.

Bake for about 12 minutes, or until cookies are just set and the nuts have nicely browned. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool. 

Sweet Roselle

Check out the recipe in the source below. This is originally  called "pickled" roselle.  The recipe was way to sweet for me so I cut down on the sugar


Ingredients :

1 cup fresh roselle (after separate from the central seedpod)
8 teaspoons lemon juice
3/4 cups sugar 



Directions:

1. Make a cut at bottom of seedpod. Push seed out and keep the red fleshy calyx (try keep whole calyx).


2. Wash the red fleshy calyx till clean. 



3. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add in clean red fleshy calyx and blanch for about 5-6 seconds. Remove and drain. Leave aside to cool.
*Important not to blanch too long as it will lost the crunchiness of the pickled roselle and the color won't be a bright.



4. In a mixing bowl, add in cool calyx together with lemon juice and 3/4 cup sugar. Mix gently to combine.

5. Prepare a clean jar. Add in mixture of calyx. 

6. Close the lid and leave the jar at room temperature for 3 days before refrigerate.

*turn over the jar each day to ensure all the calyx is fully covered with sugar syrup.

Source

Roselle Jelly

It's been ages since I've made any type of jelly. When I saw THIS recipe I wanted to try it.

I wasn't sure if he used dried or fresh roselle . I have both but went with fresh since I cut yesterday.

He  used 1/4 cup roselle. My personal preference is a stronger tea thus I used over 1/2 cup.  You bring 4 1/2 cups water to a boil and add roselle.  Let it steep for about 10 minutes then strain. You will notice that the roselle calyx is no longer dark red but a very light sort of pink.

I had to do a taste test and it's delicious! Now to decide which recipe I will bring to the program.

Ingredients:

4 cups Roselle Tea

4 1/2 cups sugar

1 package sure gel pectin

6 to 7  canning jars ( 8 ounce ones)

Directions:

Go to the video above. He does a great job explaining how to make.

IP Zobo

Zobo is the word in the Hausa language for the edible plant Hibiscus sabdariffa ( Roselle), and a drink it is used to make.Zobo is made from the the dried calyces (sepal) of the hibiscus plant flower. Zobo leaves are also called; sorrel, flor de Jamaica and rosemallow.Hibiscus tea may help people with type 2 diabetes better control their blood glucose (sugar). ... Diabetics tend to have less "good" cholesterol and more "bad" cholesterol in their blood, both of which increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.

I might make this for the roselle program. I know I will be making lots of this again, it's easy and delicious!


Ingredients:

 2 cups fresh roselle calyx*
 1/2 cup dried roselle 
 10 cups water
 3/4 cup granulated sugar
 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
 Pineapple rind from 1 ripe pineapple

Directions:

Rinse the roselle calyx thoroughly with cold water to remove dirt or little bugs.

Add the water, sugar, and ginger to the pressure cooking pot.

 Stir to dissolve sugar. Stir in roselle calyx and pineapple rind.

Lock lid in place, select High Pressure and 10 minutes cook time. When timer sounds, turn off pressure cooker and do a natural pressure release. (Mine took about 30 minutes to release naturally.)

Remove pineapple rinds and roselle calyx. Pour into a fine mesh strainer sitting in a large bowl to reserve liquid. Discard solids.

Pour the Zobo into a serving container. 

Serve hot or with ice with fruit of choice.

* remove seed pods 

Roselle Sour Gummy Candies

I'm going to be in Live Oak the 24th of October for my repeat roselle program. 

My slide show is ready but I need to find the right recipe to showcase this wonderful plant..

Unfortunately this recipe does not bring out the roselle flavor. I have a few other recipes to make before the program to see if they make the "cut".



Ingredients:

About 30 shucked roselle calyxes

1 1/2 cup water

3 Tablespoons honey

3 Tablespoons gelatin 

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a small sauce pan,  boil the roselle with the water with the lid on (to keep the water from evaporating). Reserve 1/3 cup of the liquid.

2. Combine all other ingredients in another pan and add the reserved 1/3 cup of Roselle tea.

3. Gently melt over a low fire, stirring out the lumps,  until the mixture starts to boil 

4. With a spoon,  pour into Silicon molds. If you don't have molds,  you can also pour it into a small baking pan lined with parchment and slice it into strips like fruit roll- ups,  or chunks if the pan was quite small, or even thin slices for gummy worms.

source