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Lemongrass Tea

You will remember from a post earlier this week that my local farmer's market had some immature lemongrass it was selling. It's not immature for all purposes, but for using in a stir-fry or curry, that size lemongrass wasn't going to work very well. It does work, however, for things like making tea. There is no set recipe for things like this -- it depends on your taste. For me, I filled my largest saucepan with water and heated it it boiling.

While waiting for the water to boil, I chopped the lemongrass into lengths that would fit in the saucepan. On a whim, I also sliced up a lemon.

When the water boils, take off heat. Add lemongrass and lemons (if using). Place a lid on the pot and let infuse. At least 20 minutes. I think I got sucked into a movie when mine was infusing, and wound up leaving everything in there for a good 2 hours. No harm done.

I took a quart of this tea with me to an outdoor concert recently, and found it very refreshing. I was thinking that it might be nice to add some turbinado sugar to the water while it's boiling, so that you have the slight tip of the hat to lemonade.

Think that bundle of lemongrass leaves is too much to use up in a week or two? It probably is, but fear not! Chop it up into lengths that can fit easily in a freezer-safe container and then pop in your freezer. Now you have some lemongrass leaves for future use, if necessary.

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