Tea Recipes #2

TEA-SMOKED CHICKEN

• 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns
• 2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 3- to 3 1/2-pound chicken
• 1/4 cup loose Lapsang souchong tea or tea removed from 11 tea bags
• 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
• Asian sesame oil for brushing chicken

In a dry, small, heavy skillet toast peppercorns over moderate heat, shaking skillet, 5 minutes. Cool peppercorns and with a mortar and pestle or in an electric coffee/spice grinder coarsely grind. In a small bowl stir together peppercorns and salt.
Pat chicken dry and rub inside and out with peppercorn mixture. Transfer chicken, breast side up, to a steamer and steam over boiling water, covered, 25 minutes, or until chicken is just cooked through.
While chicken is steaming, line bottom and lid of a wok with heavy-duty foil. In wok stir together loose tea and brown sugar until combined well.
Arrange a metal rack about 2 inches above tea mixture and transfer chicken, breast side up, to rack in wok. Heat wok, covered, over moderately high heat until wisps of smoke begin to appear, 2 to 3 minutes, and smoke chicken, covered, 6 minutes. Turn chicken over and smoke, covered, 6 minutes more. Remove wok from heat and let chicken stand, covered, 15 minutes.
Transfer chicken to a cutting board and brush lightly with oil.

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RASPBERRY TEA GELEES WITH WATERMELON

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups water plus 1 cup ice water
• 4 raspberry tea bags
• 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juicea
• 2 1/4-pound piece watermelon, rind and seeds discarded, cut into 1/4-inch cubes and chilled (about 3 cups)
• 12 small fresh mint leaves

Bring sugar and 2 cups water to a boil over moderately high heat and boil, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Add tea bags and remove pan from heat. Steep tea 5 minutes and remove tea bags, carefully squeezing any liquid in them into pan.
Sprinkle gelatin over 1/4 cup ice water in a small bowl and let stand 1 minute to soften. Stir gelatin mixture into hot tea over low heat until gelatin is dissolved completely. Remove pan from heat and stir in remaining 3/4 cup ice water and lemon juice. Chill mixture 45 minutes or until thickened to the consistency of raw egg white, and stir in watermelon and mint leaves. Rinse six 1-cup molds in cold water, shaking out excess water (do not dry). Spoon mixture into molds and chill until set, about 2 hours.
Dip each mold into warm water to loosen and invert gelées onto dessert plate. Garnish gelées with mint sprigs.

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TEA-AND-LEMON GRAVY

• 8 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium onion, halved
• 1 fresh rosemary sprig
• Neck, heart, and gizzard, reserved from 22-pound turkey
• 1 lemon
• 1 Earl Grey tea bag
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 5 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel

Combine first 6 ingredients in large saucepan. Using vegetable peeler, remove peel from lemon (yellow part only). Add peel to broth mixture. Bring mixture to boil; reduce heat and simmer until neck and gizzard are tender, about 45 minutes.
Remove neck, heart, and gizzard from broth; finely chop heart and gizzard. Pull meat from neck and chop. Strain broth. Return broth to pan; boil until reduced to 3 cups, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat; add tea bag. Cover; steep 10 minutes. Discard tea bag.
Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Cook until light brown, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Whisk in broth and cream. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer until slightly thickened and smooth, stirring frequently, about 8 minutes. Stir in grated peel and neck, heart, and gizzard pieces. Season with salt and pepper.

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Black Tea: Making the Grade

Black teas, such as Assam, Ceylon, or Darjeeling, are graded according to the size and condition of the dried leaf. Unlike oolong teas which are graded according to the quality of the brewed tea, black tea grades do not strictly correlate to the desirability of the final product. Nonetheless, familiarity with black tea grades at least provides the drinker with an idea of a tea's characteristic flavor and optimum brewing time since whole leaf teas, for example, typically produce a smoother beverage and brew longer than their broken leaf counterparts.

Black tea grades begin with a division between whole leaf grades and broken leaf grades. Tea purchased in loose leaf form is usually whole leaf and is preferred by aficionados. The basic whole leaf grades are:

• Pekoe (pronounced "PECK-oh") refers to whole leaves of the same size; historically, the grade was limited to leaves from the branch tip, but the definition is broader now; "souchong" refers to large leaves from farther down the branch and therefore of lower quality
• OP (orange pekoe) refers to the largest leaf size and a higher quality leaf (younger, more tender, and closer to the bud) than pekoe; "orange" refers to a family of Dutch traders rather than the fruit flavor
• FOP (flowery orange pekoe) refers to the inclusion of the leaf bud in the tea; the highest grade of FOP is SFTGFOP (Special, Finest, Tippy Golden, Flowery Orange,Pekoe) which consists nearly entirely of tips; an estate (rather than blended) SFTGFOP Darjeeling second flush (second picking of the year) might easily cost $100-150 per pound

The basic broken leaf grades are:

• BOP (broken orange pekoe) black tea comprising broken segments of somewhat coarser leaves and no tips
• BOPF (fannings) small leaf particles of leaf sifted out of better grade teas; when brewed properly, fannings will make a tea often as good as a whole leaf grade
• Dust The smallest particle of leaf size which is normally used for tea bag tea; because the particles are small with so much exposed surface area, they infuse more quickly than whole leaf tea and they also go stale more quickly