The Calmer Sutra Peppermyntle Tea and Ginger Infused Honey from Australia, which were in the spring box of MARY’s secret ingredients are, of course, divine as a cup of tea with honey. Lovely before going to bed at night, the peppermint is a digestive aid as is the ginger in their ginger infused honey. Add the lemon kick from the myrtle and you’ve got a flavor explosion in your cup. I LOVE the ginger honey! The ginger adds a kick of heat perfectly combined with the sweet honey, the combo is quite nice! (Please remember to refrigerate your honey after you’ve opened it.) With the myrtle being indigenous to Australia, a little research came up with a lot of dessert recipes for this herb. So of course I could have followed in that direction which would also work well with the honey, but I chose to go the savory way instead with this Tea and Honey Marinated Chicken Breasts recipe.
This is my first time marinating with tea and this resulting dish was just delicious! Besides the chicken being juicy, tender and subtly flavored, the browning was beautiful and I do believe that was because of the tea and honey!
Here’s the recipe:
TEA AND HONEY MARINATED CHICKEN BREASTS – serves 4
3/4 cup of water
1 tbs. Calmer Sutra Peppermyntle Tea
4 scallions, white and pale green only, chopped
3 tbs. canola oil, divided
Zest of one lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbs. low salt soy sauce
1 tbs. Calmer Sutra Ginger Infused Honey
1 tbs. chopped fresh ginger root
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Heat the water over high heat to a simmer. Pour over the tea leaves and steep for 5 minutes. Strain the tea mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, and discard the tea leaves. Add the scallions, 2 tbs. canola oil, lemon zest and juice, soy sauce, honey, ginger and garlic. Stir to combine and place over a bowl of ice water to cool. Make 4 to 5 diagonal cuts 1/4” deep across each chicken breast half. Pour marinade into a zip lock bag, add chicken and massage the chicken with the sauce, turning occasionally and refrigerate overnight.
Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. 
Remove the breasts from the marinade and pat dry. Place the marinade in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer. Add the chicken to the skillet without crowding and cook until browned, 3 – 4 minutes. 
Turn the breast and continue cooking until the juices run clear when pierced with a knife, an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Set aside on a platter to rest for 5 minutes. Serve the chicken topped with the sauce.
I served this with fluffy Jasmine rice, topped with the sauce and a side of the Eggplant Tomato Yum.
