Cooking with Tea

You won't believe your taste buds when you whip up these tea-riffic creations. You'll enjoy adding your favorite Boston and Bentley's Finest Tea blends to these delectable meals. Give a boring breakast meal a touch of elegance. Add some zest to a dinner dish! Once you add tea to your classic recipes you'll never cook the same again!

1) Rooibos Brulee Pancakes 

Ingredients
• 3 tea bags of Bentley’s Vanilla Almond rooibos tea 
• 2 C. boiling water
• 2 C. complete pancake mix (such as Aunt Jemima's Buttermilk Complete®)
• 1/4 C. butter, or as needed
• 1/4 C. brown sugar
• 1/2 C. pecan halves (optional)

Directions
1. Steep rooibos tea bags in boiling water for 5 minutes.
2. Remove tea bags and allow tea to cool. 
3. Heat a skillet (preferably a cast iron pan) over medium-low heat until a drop of water on the surface sizzles for a moment before disappearing.
4. Whisk together 1 1/2 cups cooled tea with pancake mix.
5. Melt 1 teaspoon butter in the center of pan.
6. Place 4-5 pecan halves into the melting butter.**
7. Pour about 1/3 cup pancake batter directly over pecans and butter.
8. Sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar over the top of the pancake, and add another thin pat of butter over the sugar.***
9. When the edges of the pancake appear dry and bubbles form on the top, turn and cook for about 40 seconds or until lightly browned.
10. Remove from pan; add any melted sugar from the pan to the top of the pancake.
11. Repeat with remaining pancake mix, butter, pecans, and sugar. Make your darling rise and shine for these delectably rich pancakes!
*Makes 8 pancakes
**Chef’s note: Cooking pecans on the bottom side of the pancake toasts them more than sprinkling them on top.
***Chef's note: Brown sugar will caramelize on the top side once the pancake is flipped in the pan.
 
The above recipe for Rooibos Brulee Pancakes courtesy CVH at allrecipes.com

2) Oolong-Crusted Scallops With Citrus Sauce

Ingredients
• Juice of 1/2 orange
• Juice of 1/2 lemon 
• Juice of 1/2 lime 
• 8 T butter, cut into small pieces
• Salt and pepper
• 1 T plus 1 tsp Boston Tea’s Peach Passion oolong tea leaves, finely ground in a coffee grinder
• 12 sea scallops, tough muscle removed and patted dry
• 2 T olive oil

Directions
1. Heat juices in a saucepan to just below a simmer.
2. Whisk in butter, a few pieces at a time.
3. Season with salt and keep warm.
4. Place ground tea on a plate.
5. Season scallops with salt and pepper. Press both sides into the ground tea.
6. Heat oil in a cast-iron skillet or sauté pan over medium heat.
7. Sear scallops 1-2 minutes per side or until just warmed through and not yet fully opaque.
8. Place 3 scallops in each of 4 shallow bowls and spoon the sauce around them. You’ll want a dollop of these scallops!
*Makes 4 servings 

The above recipe for Oolong-Crusted Scallops with Citrus Sauce is adapted from Daniel Patterson of Coi Restuarant and excerpted from New York Times (Steep Increase).

3) Jasmine Tea Rice

Ingredients
• 2 1/2 T Boston Tea’s Jasmine green tea
• 1 1/2 C. jasmine white rice
• 1 tsp kosher salt

Directions
1. In a medium saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to a boil.
2. Place tea in a heatproof bowl.
3. Cover with the hot water and steep for 5 minutes.
4. Strain through a sieve set over the saucepan and cool.
5. In a large bowl, rinse rice with cold water until the water runs clear.
6. Drain and add to cooled tea.
7. Stir in salt and let sit for 30 minutes.
8. Cover saucepan and place over medium-high heat.
9. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 17 minutes.
10. Let stand for 5 minutes. Tea in rice makes it twice as nice!
*Makes 6 servings

The above recipe for Jasmine Tea Rice was adapted from Daniel Patterson of Coi Restaurant and excerpted from New York Times (Steep Increase).

4) Marmalade Glazed ham with sweet orange tea sauce

Ingredients
For Ham
• 1 16-19 lb. smoked bone-in ham, fully cooked
• 36 whole cloves
• 1 C. orange marmalade
• 1/4 C. Dijon mustard
• 1/2 C. plus 2 T water

For sauce
• 2 C. cold, filtered water
• 4 tea bags of Boston Tea Party Tea Orange-Spice herbal or black tea
• 2 C. canned low-salt chicken broth
• 1 C. orange juice
• 3 T orange marmalade
• 1 T Dijon mustard
• 1 T cornstarch dissolved in 1 T water

Directions
1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.
2. Trim any rind and excess fat from upper side of ham, leaving 1/4 inch-thick layer of fat.
3. Using long sharp knife, score fat in 1 inch-wide diamond pattern.
4. Insert 1 clove into center of each scored diamond.
5. Place ham in heavy large roasting pan.
6. Bake until thermometer inserted into center of ham registers 120 degrees F, or about 3 hours 45 minutes.
7. Melt 1 cup marmalade in heavy small saucepan over medium heat.
8. Whisk in 1/4 cup mustard and 2 tablespoons water.
9. Boil until mixture thickens enough to coat spoon without dripping, about 6 minutes.
10. Set mixture aside.
11. Transfer ham to cutting board.
12. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F.
13. Place same roasting pan atop burner set on medium heat.
14. Whisk remaining 1 1/2 cups of water into pan, scraping up browned bits from bottom.
15. Transfer pan juices to 4 cup glass measuring cup.
16. Freeze pan juices 15 minutes.
17. Spoon fat off top of pan juices. Reserve pan juices.
18. Line same pan with foil. Return ham to pan.
19. Generously spoon marmalade mixture over ham.
20. Bake ham until glaze is set and begins to caramelize, about 20 minutes.
21. Let ham stand 30 minutes.
*Makes 12 servings

To make sauce
1. Bring 2 cups cold, filtered water to a boil in heavy medium saucepan.
2. Add tea bags.
3. Remove from heat; cover and let steep 10 minutes.
4. Discard tea bags.
5. Add 2 cups of chicken broth, 1 cup orange juice and 3 tablespoons of orange marmalade to tea.
6. Boil mixture until reduced to 3 cups or about 12 minutes.
7. Whisk in 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard and reserved pan juices.
8. Return to boil.
9. Whisk in cornstarch mixture.
10. Boil until sauce thickens slightly or about 4 minutes.
11. Season sauce to taste with pepper. Carve ham and serve with sauce and Pineapple-Mint Relish. Ham it up with your friends and family!

The above recipe for Marmalade glazed ham with sweet orange tea sauce courtesy Bon appetit, April 1999; Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Marmalade-Glazed-Ham-with-Sweet-Orange-Tea-Sauce-101403