Soups:
General note: Use stock cubes dissolved in hot Mountain Blend instead of water or dilute your liquid stock with Mountain Blend.
Use 3 to 4 Mountain Blend tea bags (depending on preference) for every 1-¾ pints (1liter) of brewed for these recipes.
Here are a couple of soups for you to try.

POTATO SOUP WITH HERBS
1¾ oz (45g) butter
2 onions, finely chopped
1lb 2oz (500g) potatoes, peeled and sliced
6 chicken OR vegetable stock cubes
dissolved in 1 ¾ pints (I liter) of hot Mountain Blend
dried mixed herbs, to taste
nutmeg, to taste
salt, to taste
coarsely ground black pepper, to taste
2fl oz (50ml) thin cream

  1. Sauté onions in butter until tender.
  2. Add potatoes and stir-fry lightly.
  3. Add stock, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are done.
  4. Puree potatoes with 18 fl oz (500ml) of the stock in a food processor. Add the remaining stock.
  5. Return to saucepan and bring to the boil while stirring constantly.
  6. Flavor with mixed herbs, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
  7. Remove from heat, stir in cream and serve hot.

(Serves 4-6)

CARROT SOUP
1 oz (25g) butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1lb 2oz (500g) carrots, scarped and coarsely grated
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
6 chicken OR vegetable stock cubes
dissolved in 3 pints (I,75 liter) of hot Mountain Blend
1 tsp (5ml) sugar
nutmeg, to taste
salt, to taste
coarsely ground black pepper, to taste
2 tsp (10ml) butter
4tsp (20ml) fresh parsley, finely chopped

  1. Sauté onion in butter until tender.
  2. Add carrots, potatoes and stock.
  3. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender.
  4. Puree vegetables with 9 fl oz (250ml) of the stock in a food processor. Add the remaining stock.
  5. Return to saucepan.
  6. Add sugar and flavor with nutmeg, salt and pepper.
  7. Add butter and parsley and bring to the boil again.
  8. Simmer for 5 minutes
  9. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve

(Serves 4)

BROCCOLI SOUP
3-¼ oz (90g) butter
2 onions, chopped
2-½ oz (70g) of cake flour
4 chicken OR vegetable stock cubes
dissolved in 2 ¾ pints (I.5 liters) of hot Mountain Blend
1lb 10oz (750g) of fresh broccoli, broken into florets
1 large tomato, peeled and chopped
¾ tsp (3ml) dried thyme
½ tsp (2,5ml) dried rosemary
¼ tsp (1.25ml) nutmeg
1tbsp (15ml) fresh lemon juice
salt, to taste
coarsely ground black pepper, to taste
9 fl oz (250ml) milk
7 fl oz (1/3pint or 200ml) plain yogurt

  1. Sauté onions in butter until tender.
  2. Stir in cake flour and boil for 1 minute.
  3. Add stock gradually while stirring constantly.
  4. Add broccoli, tomato, thyme, rosemary, nutmeg and lemon juice.
  5. Flavor with salt and pepper.
  6. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer until broccoli is tender.
  7. Puree in a food processor.
  8. Add milk and yogurt.
  9. Heat (do not bring to the boil).
  10. Garnish and serve immediately.

(Serves 6-8)

Marinades:
You can use Mountain Blend as the base of any marinade. It works especially well with red meat and chicken as the Rooibos tea in Mountain Blend works as an excellent natural meat tenderizer. One can even dilute a store bought commercial BBQ sauce with Mountain Blend. Experiment with ratios of BBQ sauce to Mountain Blend to find what works best for you. If you are using a store purchased BBQ sauce, a good starting point is 75% BBQ sauce to 25% Mountain Blend. For best results, marinate meat in the refrigerator for 12 to
24 hrs.