TEA PARTY MENU PLANNING EVENT COMING SOON

TASTING TEA PARTY MENU PLANNING  TEA LAB

    The Tea Lovers Festival is back this May and I will be offering a new Tea Lab

 concentrating on menu planning.

Explore the different types of tea party menus from one to four course teas, pairing food with tea and recipe ideas to delight your guests.  We will also discuss food budgeting, food prep planning and tips for presenting the food for serving.

All this while enjoying our own gourmet tea party at The Bistro Garden at Coldwater

in Sherman Oaks.

A separate email will be sent once the menu is finalized and registration is set up.

So mark your calendars for Friday, May 16^th from 1:30 – 3:30pm at The Bistro Garden.

Sponsored by The Tea Lovers Festival.

For more information on the festival itself, see the logo and link below.

JOINING HOT TEA MONTH and CHINESE NEW YEAR

This year (2014), National Hot Tea Month and Chinese New Year 

fall on the same month so I am celebrating both events with this recipe for 

CHINESE TEA LEAF EGGS.

CHINESE TEA LEAF EGGS (Chinese New Year recipe)
This recipe combines hard-boiled eggs with the subtle flavor of anise and the deep brown hues of black tea and soy.
The cracked patterns from the broken shells make these quite attractive!
You can eat them sliced in quarters or rounds and chilled as a side dish, appetizer or snack.
Or if you wish to use them to celebrate Hot Tea Month, serve them in tea sandwiches.   

Yield: 8 whole eggs that can be sliced into smaller portions

INGREDIENTS

• 8 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups water
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon black soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons black tea leaves
• 2 pods star anise
• 1 (2 inch) piece cinnamon stick
• 1 tablespoon tangerine zest

DIRECTIONS

>>In a large saucepan, combine eggs and 1 teaspoon salt; cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and cool. When cool, tap eggs with the back of a spoon to crack shells (do not remove shells).

>>In a large saucepan, combine 3 cups water, soy sauce, black soy sauce, salt, tea leaves, star anise, cinnamon stick, & tangerine zest. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, & simmer for 3 hours. Remove from heat, add eggs, & let steep for at least 8 hours.

TEA PAIRING SUGGESTIONS
Since we are celebrating Chinese New Year, it is only natural you would want to pair these eggs with Chinese teas.   

PROVENCE TARTINE - recipe

It's always nice to come up with different menus

for afternoon tea. 

Open face sandwiches are a bit lighter with one less piece of bread

and offer a nice layering effect visually.

Picking the right bread for the filling

is another subtle aesthetic than can elevate the flavors.

There is a famous bakery (boulangerie) in Paris that locals flock to for their daily bread and many fine dining establishments serve throughout the city.  Poilâne bread differs from the usual baquettes found in most bakeries and stores because it is a sourdough bread made with stone-ground flour, sea salt from Guérande and a wood-fired oven.  Poilâne has a small range of breads to ensure their quality. Each bread was developed to satisfy a specific use.

Today's recipe is directly taken from Lionel Poilane's Favourite Savoury Tartines cookbook.  Tartines are the French version of open-faced sandwiches.  He calls it "borderless food." 

PROVENCE TARTINE (Serves 2)

Ingredients

• 12 oz / 350g  eggplant
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4t tomato paste
• 1T vinegar (not malt)
• 1 pinch of oregano or fresh coriander, according to preference
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Directions

Grill the eggplant for around fifteen minutes, turning it occasionally

so that the skin chars all around.

Remove from oven, and peel while still hot.

Slice in half and cut into pieces.

Saute the onion slightly in a little olive oil,

then put into the food processor bowl with all the other ingredients.

Process until you have a paste, and then

add in olive oil slowly as if you were making mayonnaise.

Taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary.

Chill.

When ready to serve



Spread the mixture thickly on slices of warm toast, and enjoy.

If you would like to learn more about Poilâne,
here is their website:   www.poilane.fr