Guest Blog: Salt, pepper…tea?

The next time you brew a cup of tea, consider making an extra cup to add as an ingredient in your favorite dishes.
The Chinese have been using these tasty little leaves to embellish main courses, side dishes and more for several thousand years. Tea adds antioxidants, as well as flavor, and there are many types and flavors available to the home cook.
Cookies and muffins with chai and Earl Grey teas were my introduction to cooking with tea. Today’s cook has several options, from using ground-up leaves, to brewing tea directly from leaves or using tea bags for recipes and as a base for braising liquid, marinades and sauces.
The first rule is to use teas that you enjoy drinking, according to Diana Rosen, author of several books on cooking with tea, including “Steeped in Tea: Creative Ideas, Activities & Recipes for Tea Lovers.” There are so many types of tea, both herbal and caffeinated, and all can be used in recipes, such as loose leaf that is organic, loose leaf that is commercially flavored and tea in bags.
Probably the highest quality and the most expensive are the loose and the organic loose teas. Even Teavana (now owned by Starbucks), the national chai vaunted for its exotic flavors and high quality, is not all organic in its stock. Tin Roof Teas (www.tinroofteas.com) in Raleigh, N.C., is a regional shop that offers organic stock, and its teas can be bought online.
“Depending on the type of tea you use and how you use it will determine what to expect as a final product,” said Jeannie Hinson of Tin Roof Teas, who said she gets her inspiration from cookbooks and Pinterest but finds it more fun to get creative rather than to follow precise recipes.
The better the tea, the better the sauce or glaze or cookie will finish. Many brands are available to try, such as The Republic of Tea, which offers some organics and is available locally at World Market and The Fresh Market or can be ordered online. Most shoppers will recognize brands such as Bigelow and Tazo in their local supermarkets, along with the Sleepytime herbals, Lipton and others.
Bigelow has a connection to South Carolina, having taken over the Charleston Tea Plantation on Wadmalaw Island, just south of Charleston, in 2003. Only its American Classic line uses the leaves grown there.
“We enjoy cooking with our brewed teas and brewed tea concentrates because they add flavor and balance to recipes but no calories,” said Elaine Gavoli of Bigelow Teas, which has recipes on its website (www.bigelowtea.com). She said techniques for using tea vary recipe by recipe but that most of her company’s recipes call for brewing the tea and specify how long it should be brewed.
Giving tea a try
Saturday, I decided to try the Roasted Chicken with Constant Comment Glaze. I used chicken pieces instead of a whole chicken and roasted them simply with salt, pepper and rosemary, then whipped up the glaze and served it for lunch. It was delicate and delicious. Next time I will try it with herbs and the sauce, and I may substitute pomegranate juice for the cranberry.
I also adapted a shortbread recipe from the Food Network website (www.foodnetwork.com) to fit my preference for smaller output, greater vanilla flavor and less sugar overall, and I used one of my favorite teas, chai. The recipe calls for grinding the chai in with the flour in the food processor, and I discovered some woody pieces of clove that were a bit larger than I prefer in my cookies. Next time, I will put the loose tea in a spice grinder first and then into the food processor with the flour as directed. My cookies came out of the oven sweet and redolent of chai.
Calabash, N.C., resident Linda Hinson recommended another recipe that calls for grinding the tea — maccha (or matcha) brownies. Maccha is a formulation of ground green tea leaves, and the recipe can be found at https://fortunegoodies.com/green-tea-brownies.
The following are other tips for cooking with tea that come from Whole Foods Supermarkets’ blog, written by Alana Sugar (www.wholefoodsmarket.com/blog), and it also includes recipes.
Tips on using tea in cooking
Here are some tips on using tea, courtesy of Whole Foods:
• Grind tea leaves in a spice or coffee grinder or a pepper mill; add to spices and herbs.
• Cut open a favorite tea bag and add its ingredients to melted butter; cover and steep for extra flavor.
• Add tea leaves to cookies, muffins and scones.
• Use brewed tea in place of water when cooking grains.
• Add brewed tea in place of water when making soups and stews, baking breads and quick breads.
• Save brewed or infused teas from the pot to use as a marinade for meats or as an addition to sauces or gravies.
• Never use a variety of tea you would not want to drink. Trust your own palette.
• Green and white teas tend to be mellow, while black tea is stronger.
Chai Shortbread
Makes about 18 cookies.
2 tbls loose chai tea leaves
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbls powdered sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 stick butter, cut into chunks
Preheat over to 375 degrees.
Place tea, flour, salt and powdered sugar in a food processor. Pulse. Add in the butter and vanilla. Pulse until a dough is formed,
Take the dough out and pat it into a log. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and put into refrigerator for 30 minutes. Slice off cookies.
Place cookies on parchment paper in a baking pan, and bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are brown. Cool on pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to rack.
Roasted Chicken with Constant Comment Glaze
Glaze:
8 Bigelow Constant Comment tea bags
1 cup boiling water
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cranberry juice
1 8-pound chicken
1 lemon, cut
1 onion, peeled and cut
1 cup chicken stock
2 tbls starch
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cook time is 2 1/2 to 3 hours or as per directions. Steep tea bags in the water for 5 minutes. Squeeze bags and discard. Reserve tea.
Prepare a glaze by heating butter, brown sugar and cranberry juice into a saucepan over medium heat until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.
To prepare chicken, remove giblets and neck, rinse inside and out, and pat dry. Place the cut-up lemon and onion in the cavity and truss closed. Bake in preheated oven, keep glaze warm on stove, and baste with glaze every 20 minutes.
To make gravy, dissolve cornstarch into chicken stock. Scrape brown bits from roast pan into gravy. Add stock, whisking constantly until thickened, about 1 minute.
Mint Medley® Tabouleh Salad with Feta, Cucumber and Olives
Printed with permission from Bigelow Tea.
Serves 6.
6 Bigelow Mint Medley Herbal Tea Bags
3/4 cup bulgur wheat
1 1/4 cup boiling water
1 large tomato, split and cut
1/2 cucumber, peeled and cut
3/4-1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup sliced scallions
1/4 cup pitted Greek olives
1 1/2 tbls extra virgin olive oil
1 tbls chopped mint
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
Pour the bulgur wheat into a bowl. In a glass measuring cup, pour 1 cup of boiling water over the tea bags and steep for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags to a small strainer and press as much liquid as possible back into the cup. If needed, add additional boiling water to measure 1 cup, then pour it over the bulgur wheat. Let it stand until all the liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally. Add the tomato, cucumber, feta cheese, scallions, mint and olives, turning to mix well. Pour in the olive oil; add salt and pepper, and toss again. Serve over a bed of lettuce leaves.
Lamb Chops with Plantation Mint® Gravy
Serves 6.
1 cup canned beef broth
6 Bigelow Plantation Mint® Tea Bags
2 tbls honey
1 tbls flour
1 tbls butter at room temp
6 bone-in lamb chops
1/3 cup crumbs
1 tbls of finely chopped, flat-leaf parsley
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
14 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine the bread crumbs, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Coat both sides of each chop with mustard, and press breadcrumb mixture onto chops. Place chops on a rack on a baking sheet, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
Bring beef stock to a boil in a small saucepan; turn off the heat. Add the teabags and steep for 10 minutes. Remove the teabags to a small strainer and, using the back of a spoon, press as much liquid as possible back into the pan. Stir in the honey and return to a boil, stirring until the honey is incorporated.
In a small bowl, combine the flour and butter into a smooth paste. Turn off heat, add the butter/flour mixture to the gravy, bit by bit, and whisk until it is incorporated and the sauce thickened. Remove lamb chops from the oven, let stand for 3 to 4 minutes.

By: Joan Leotta

Source: For The Sun News – October 14, 2014

Source: www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2014/10/14/4530018_salt-pepper-tea.html?sp=/99/123/126/&rh=1

Source: www.facebook.com/TinRoofTeas