I don't get sick often but growing up I was getting Strep throat every year; luckily I haven't had it for a few years. Right now I can almost feel it coming on so I was looking into prevention/home remedies because I'm currently on the Curonian Spit, in Lithuania, which is quite isolated...So for a variety of reasons I came up with this recipe to prevent/cure my Strep Throat paranoia, based on some research.
The basic principle of how these lozenges work come from this video, which suggests that it works just like antibiotics: http://youtu.be/P10JNNvyH-k
...but it's basically "get-better tea" in lozenge form and it's really easy to make.
The recipe makes between 50-60 drops; one should be taken every half-full hour hour, that you're awake, until you feel better.
Ingredients (+ why they work):
Medicinal uses of common herbs/spices from UCLA's website
Tools:
Optional (but useful):
The basic principle of how these lozenges work come from this video, which suggests that it works just like antibiotics: http://youtu.be/P10JNNvyH-k
...but it's basically "get-better tea" in lozenge form and it's really easy to make.
The recipe makes between 50-60 drops; one should be taken every half-full hour hour, that you're awake, until you feel better.
Ingredients (+ why they work):
- 4tbsp honey (coats the throat, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory)
- 1/2c sugar (hardens into a solid)
- 1tsp cayenne powder(brings blood to surfaces which it touches, boosts circulation, high source of Vitamin A + C, has the complete B complexes, AND is very rich in organic calcium and potassium...among other things)
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or grated (stimulates the immune system, reduces pain, antibiotic as well as being anti-fungal/viral/parasitic...etc.)
- 1tsp ginger , finely chopped or grated (reduces inflammation and antiviral are the uses we'll concentrate on for this recipe)
- a pinch of salt (flavor and is less irritating to the mucous membranes in the mouth)
- zest from your favorite citrus (antibacterial, antifungal, aromatic, boosts metabolism)
Medicinal uses of common herbs/spices from UCLA's website
Tools:
- A small saucepan w/ lid
- A sharp knife
- A spoon
- A citrus zester/micro-plane or cheese grater with a fine grade
- A non-stick surface
Optional (but useful):
- A candy thermometer
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Signing UpStep 1: Make a sweet and spicy danger-sauce.
Mix the honey, sugar and cayenne in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover for 4 minutes.
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No word on their medicinal properties but if I miss the nasty flu that's going around I will ascribe all my success to General Tso's Lozenges. I always did feel like Hot n' Sour Soup was a great cure-all for colds... so this is the portable version.
Definitely something to share with a spicy or aromatics-loving friend. Next stop- sriracha caramels? Mmmm...
I used pure cane sugar and raw honey, and as my once fresh ginger root had shriveled, I used a tsp of organic powdered ginger. I passed the whole thing through a sieve once the flavors had a chance to amalgamate for a few minutes, but I must have screwed up the temp, cause mine, while "delicious" came out more like toffee than hard drops. WIll have to try again with white sugar and the right temp. Still can't stop eating them :-) thanks soo much for this great recipe!
They do have a good spicy zing to them. I made the mistake of not letting the honey/sugar/cayenne mixture reach the proper temperature, even though I had let it go the four minutes. I pulled the sauce pan too early as the cayenne smell made me think it might be burning. I now have chewy lozenges with a "Bit-O-Honey" consistency. Still very tasty and my sinuses are open and happy.
Also, careful when dropping onto the parchment paper (or other non-stick surface) as it is easy to make big ones. My lozenges are a bit larger than recommended here (I made 40 instead of the 50-60).
Note to you single people out there, don't take these before going out on a date! The garlic makes itself known.
I can see all kinds of alternative ways to use this "platform." I highly recommend it.
Great idea, good 'ible - thanks a bunch!
Used wax paper. Should have used the nonstick pan. Can't get the drops off of the paper.
Good stuff! Thanks for posting!
But I will be trying these out as a preventative. The science behind them seems quite sound, but there are some diseases that just should not be played around with.
consistency - having a problem. i followed the instructions the first time by using the cold water method (at my sister's, no thermometer, long story) and it seemed right - but the lozenges didn't harden up. they were soft and sticky.
did it again today using a thermometer and even though i used a setting just under med-low, the syrup was well over 300 degr when i took the lid off - juuuuuust getting into the scorched area.
and they're soggy again. it's been about 10min and they're not hardening up at all.
what temperature did you use? could i be adding too much zest? the first time, i didn't use much at all (zest from one lemon and half an orange) - this time, i zested one lemon and two oranges but maybe that was overkill and did something to the syrup?
For me the garlic/ginger/zest mix got cooked by the hot sugar and so all the water in those things went in to the candy. As a result the I went from a candy with almost no water in it to a candy with too much water. in other words it was a 'soft ball' candy even though it had in the past reached the requisite temperature for hard crack.
When this happens the only thing you can do is heat the candy back up to the hard crack stage (300ish F) and let it cool and spoon it out. The down side to this is high heat messes up the shape of proteins. This is a problem because a lot of the medicinal value of the ingredients in the recipe are due to the proteins in them.
A protein can do what it does because of the compounds it is made of and the way it is shaped, for example an enzyme is a protein that exists only to change the shape of a specific other protein. If an enzyme is heated too much its shape changes and it can no longer interact with the protein it is meant to.
The the 'better' way is to wait longer to add the ginger/garlic/zest mix. if you wait till the candy has cooled to the point you have to really hold on to the spoon because it is getting thick, and your spoon is leaving a v grove as you stir you may get better results as the candy will cook those ingredients less letting them keep their water to themselves and damaging fewer proteins in the process.
sorry for the pedantic, long, answer
saves me looking like a doofus by having to ask "why?" 15 times, lol!
what you say makes SO MUCH sense. i'll try it this way with the next batch cause we really really need them now,.
again.
one clementine!?? um... yah. i had way more than that, lol. next time, i'll just put in a wee bit and we'll see how that goes.
your stove gets too hot, too fast so parts burned, i mean caramelized, while others were insulated and did not fully melt. you can get around it by adding a little water in the beginning (1/4 cup) that will boil off as it heats up.
Great concept/jumping off point.