Tea Time Thursday Friday?

Er... oops! I totally spaced today was Thursday. I knew, I just spaced it though. Or I should say yesterday since it's 12:30am right now. My rule is usually if I haven't been to bed it's still Thursday, so here goes. Sorry, everyone, I promise to do better next week!

Well.. I did have something planned but it got interrupted by a very special gift. Please excuse me for a minute...

*jump up and down and squeals like a teenager at a boy band concert*

Ok, sorry had to get that out. You see, this week I was the lucky recipient of a package from Montreal, Canada. Mon ami, Joel, a tea purveyer who resides in China and owns Golden Teahouse in Montreal, sent me a bunch of new teas to try. They are mostly Oolong teas and then one package of Chrysanthemum pearls which I had requested. I can't wait to try them and tell my readers ALL about them!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Joel! I heart your gift.

Gaeng Jeud Mara Sai Moo

I’m not sure if it’s the bitter cold here in Iowa that reminded me I had made this soup recently or if I’m craving it again. It’s probably both. In Thailand, soups are divided into two categories; spicy soup and non-spicy soup. The spicy soup category includes those favorites such as Tom Yum Gai and Green curry. The non-spicy soup, generally not well known in the States, is more typical of the western idea of a broth type soup. We ate both types quite a bit and if there were children under the age of six in the house there was always a bowl for them at the children’s table. Unlike it’s western counterpart Thai non-spicy soup is eaten with rice and is part of the main meal.



Pork-stuffed Bitter Melon soup is one of my favorite non-spicy Thai soups. It is probably taken from the Chinese as there is a huge Chinese influence in Thailand. The first time I had it I absolutely hated it but, the more I ate it the more it grew on me. Now I get cravings for it’s unique flavor. You can find bitter melon at your local Asian market if they have a good produce section. I’m lucky mine does so when I get a craving for this soup I can just pop down for one and scurry home to make soup.

One thing I’ve noticed about Thai soups is that it does not require a lot of time. While you can use stock or bullion cubes I’ve done it without. I make mine pretty much the same way I’ve seen our cook back home make it a million times.

1 bitter melon, cut into 3-4 sections, hollow
½ lb of ground pork
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground white pepper
1 cilantro root or 3 cilantro stems, finely minced. Keep leaves for garnish.
2 Tbsp soy sauce

If you have a mortar and pestle ground garlic, white pepper, and cilantro until it forms a paste. If you do not, mince together finely. Mix ground pork, white pepper, salt, garlic, and cilantro stems until combined. Stuff into hollowed bitter melon. In a pot bring to boil 4-5 cups of water, add stuffed bitter melon and soy sauce. Boil for half an hour until melon is very tender. Garnish with a dash of white pepper and cilantro leaves, serve with rice.

Enjoy!

Recipe slightly adapted from Thai Table.

Tea Time Thursdays VI - Pound cake

Welcome to the sixth edition of Tea Time Thursdays. Please let me know if you have a blog an would like to join me in any tea related post. I may be contacted via email or you can just leave me a message on the blog. If you want to join me, I’ll be happy to feature your blog and write a short note regarding your post of the day.

Last Sunday I decided I would try a recipe found on eGullet.com for a pound cake. I’ve grown up all my life eating Sara Lee’s frozen pound cake but, never thought of making my own. Well, since this year I decided I wanted to learn more about baking, I figured, "Hey, Why not?"



This pound cake is rich, moist, and dense. It’s a little sweeter than what I’m used to but, it made a great treat for afternoon tea. I sliced up some strawberries, whipped up some cream, and made a wonderful strawberry shortcake. Today's tea was the Dalai’s Daily from Gong Fu Tea store. I’ll post about that next week.



For Becca’s delicious pound cake recipe click here.

Enjoy!

Tea Time Thursday V - Wu Yi Shan Red Cape

Welcome to the fifth edition of Tea Time Thursdays. I know I've been a little lax in blogging lately. I can only plead illness as my excuse. I've not been up to much cooking lately but, I have got some baking in. I don't do so bad at mixing stuff and sticking it in an oven for awhile so in the next couple of Thursday's I'll be unveiling my creations. Hopefully, things will get better and I'll be blogging about more wierd asian creations soon.

I'm in love...

with Oolong teas, that is. If you remember I wrote about an Oolong tea for the first Tea Time Thursday, check it out here, and was waxing poetically about it then. Well, after a few weeks of drinking that tea non-stop I got a little bored with it. So I snuck off to Gong Fu Tea store again and asked Mike for a slighter stronger oolong. What he suggested was Wu Yi Shan Red Cape. Here's the information on Gong Fu Tea's website about this tea:

"Red Cape Oolong tea was prepared by and for the Chinese Imperial Family of the Yuan Dynasty (13th and 14th centuries). This is a wonderful, highly oxidized Oolong grown on the slopes of the famous Wuyi Mountain in Fujian Province – home to some of the world's most prized teas. The leaves produce a liquor that is smooth, rich and woody in character. Treat yourself to this royal tribute tea. "




You know I didn't know that until today when I went to the website to link it for you all. Interesting, you learn something new everyday. While I don't think the Wu Yi Shan Red Cape will replace my favorite oolong so far it is a good tea to drink while eating various Asian cuisines, especially Chinese. This tea leans a little more towards black teas or, in tea-speak, is more oxidized than the previous Oolong tea I have tried. Wu Yi Shan Red Cape tea taste slightly more bitter in the aftertaste and less floral but it's a very clean flavor. It doesn't fight with any of the flavors found in Chinese food and would help refresh the palate as you ate. So the next time you're in the mood for Chinese take-out, pick up some Wu Yi Shan Red Cape tea to go with it. It was good enough to serve the Imperial Family so I'm sure you'll like it. You may just feel a little like royalty yourself!

Enjoy.

Tea Time Thursdays IV - Earl Grey Creme Brulee

Welcome to the fourth edition of Tea Time Thursday. Today I decided to show you a dessert made with tea. Last month, a recipe in Midwest Living’s January/February 2006 issue caught my eye as it included the use of Earl Grey tea. I had just purchased a wonderful Earl Grey Darjeeling from Gong Fu Tea store and decided it would be fun to try making a dessert out of it. I’ve never used tea in cooking before but, I have heard of using tea in a few Asian recipes. Please join me today as I make my first recipe using tea.

I’ve had creme brulee at fancy restaurants before but never thought to make it myself as I thought it was complicated. After reading the recipe I realized it wasn’t complicated it just needed a few specialized pieces of equipment that I didn’t have. Luckily, BAM lent me her set and finally got a chance to try my hand at making creme brulee.



The first thing I did was heat the heavy whipping cream and half&half until it just began bubbling. I then add the Earl Grey tea and let the seep for an hour off the heat.



When it was done seeping I strained the loose tea using a fine sieve.



Next, in a seperate bowl I combined the egg yolks and sugar with a whisk, thouroughly.



Ladle creme brulee mixture into ramekins and bake in a bain-marie on a 350 degree oven.



After 45-50 minutes remove from oven and cool on rack. When the ramekins have cooled cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour to 24 hours.



Right before eating sprinkle with sugar and carmelize top with a culinary torch. Serve.

The Earl Grey Creme Brulee was good but, I'm not sure I would make it that often. I think I prefer the classic version of creme brulee more than this one. The flavor of the Earl Grey tea came through very clear and was almost a little bitter. It's a rich dessert and I could only eat one small ramekin before getting full. My favorite part? The carmelized crunchy sugar topping, of course. Yum!

Here's the recipe I adapted from Midwest Living if you would like to give this a try.

2 cups half-and-half or light cream
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 Tbsps Earl Grey Darjeeling, loose leaf
9 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar plus 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar for carmelized topping

Enjoy!