Over the final few weeks of her CSA share, Olivia built up quite a collection of red peppers. Both hot varieties (Krimzon Lee, Serrano, Jalapeno, Shishito) and sweet bells (Apple Pimento, Carmen, Red Knight Bell) were filling up the crisper until enough accumulated to make this relish.

Sweet with piquant heat and spiced just so with orange, cinnamon, and clove using Arbor Teas Organic Holiday Spice Black Tea, this ruby-toned relish makes a useful condiment to have on hand to dress up holiday meals or to gift away to friends this season. Or use it to top a soft cheese and crackers for a quick snack or appetizer, mix with ketchup for a fancy chili dipping sauce, or dollop over your take-out ramen bowl to add a festive touch.

Check out the full recipe for Holiday Spice-y Red Pepper Relish.

Aubrey
Arbor Teas

Happy Summer everyone! Hope you enjoy this Cooking with Tea recipe From the Kitchen of Olivia!

Smoky Yerba Mate Lentil Burgers
makes 6 burgers

2 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon loose leaf organic Yerba Mate
1 teaspoon loose leaf organic Russian Caravan Black Tea
1 cup dried Beluga lentils, picked over and rinsed (will yield about 3 cups cooked)
4 large eggs
½ teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 small carrot, shredded
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 cup whole grain bread crumbs
olive oil, if pan frying

Pour boiling water over tea leaves in a medium bowl. Cover and steep for about 4 minutes, then strain tea into a large saucepan, discarding tea leaves. Add the lentils to the sauce pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed and the lentils are firm but tender, about 30-40 minutes. Cover the pan and let rest it rest off heat, until remaining liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the lentils, eggs, and salt. Pulse until the mixture becomes a thick paste, allowing some lentils to remain whole. Transfer the lentil mixture to a mixing bowl and stir in the onion, shredded carrot, and garlic. Next add the breadcrumbs and stir to combined. Let rest for a couple of minutes to allow the bread crumbs to absorb some of the moisture. Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions and form into 1½-inch-thick patties.

Grill for 5-8 minutes on each side until browned and crisped on both sides.

Alternatively, if cooking indoors, heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium low, add the patties, cover, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, until the bottoms begin to brown. Flip and cook the second side for 7 minutes, or until golden.

Citrus and Tea Cream Pie
adapted from Martha Stewart

Cornmeal Pie Dough
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup medium-ground yellow cornmeal
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon sugar
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
¼ cup ice water

Lemon-Chamomile Cream Filling
3 cups whole milk
3-4 tablespoons loose organic chamomile (or whatever other tea flavor strikes your fancy)
¼ cup cornstarch
1 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
4 large egg yolks
1½ teaspoons finely grated lemon zest (or other citrus zest)
¼ cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice (or other fresh citrus juice)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Meringue
4 large egg whites
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
a pinch of salt

To make the Cornmeal Crust:
Pulse flour, cornmeal, salt, and sugar in a food processor to combine. Add butter, and process briefly until mixture resembles coarse meal. With the machine running, slowly add ice water until dough just begins to hold together.

Shape dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.

Roll cornmeal dough to ⅛-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Ease the dough into a 9-inch pie dish and trim the edges, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Tuck overhang under dough so edges are flush with rim and crimp edges. Prick the bottom of dough with a fork in several spots and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375° F. Line dough with parchment and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until edges begin to turn golden, about 15 to 18 minutes. Lift up the parchment to remove the pie weights. Continue to bake, uncovered until the crust is golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes more. Let cool completely before adding the cream filling.

To make the Cream Filling:
When ready to make the filling, bring milk to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat, add the loose leaf tea directly to the hot milk, cover, and steep for 5 minutes. Strain the milk through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing on the spent tea leaves with a spatula to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard tea.

Combine cornstarch, sugar, and ¼ teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the tea-infused milk. Turn heat to medium-high and cook, stirring constantly, until bubbling and thickly coats the spatula. This should take about 7 minutes total (about 2 minutes after it comes to a boil).

Whisk yolks in a separate bowl, then pour in the milk mixture into the yolks in a slow, steady stream, whisking until thoroughly incorporated. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it returns to a boil, 1 to 2 minutes more.

Remove from the custard from heat, and stir in lemon zest and juice. Add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until butter melts before adding the next piece. Let cool in the saucepan off heat, whisking occasionally, for about 10 minutes.

Pour custard into the prepared crust. Press plastic wrap directly on surface of custard, taking care to smooth out any wrinkles as these will appear on the finished pie as it firms. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or overnight) so that the custard filling is chilled and firm.

To make the Meringue:
Just before serving, combine egg whites and sugar in a heat-proof mixing bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Whisk until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is warm, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla, cream of tartar, and a pinch of salt. Transfer the bowl to the mixing stand and whisk on medium-high speed until shiny, stiff peaks form, about 7 minutes.

Pipe the meringue in dollops over the pie. If you’d like, toast the tips of the meringue with a culinary torch. Or, bake the meringue-topped pie briefly on a rimmed baking sheet under a broiler until lightly golden.

Serve immediately.

Hope you enjoy this Cooking with Tea recipe From the Kitchen of Olivia!

Remember taking turns to shake that jar of cream in kindergarten until it thickened and yielded a soft, spreadable butter? Patience-inducing yet awe-inspiring to a 5-year old. Making cultured butter from scratch is just one step up from that sort of classroom demo magic. And using a modern stand mixer makes it an easily approachable task if your kitchen amenities are sans old-fashioned butter churn and butter bats. Furthermore, fresh, liquid cream presents a blank canvas on which you can layer a custom flavor profile at the very foundation, before churning. You can add cultures for tangy-ness as well as ingredients, like tea, that steep best in liquid without altering the final texture. Compound butters, a different approach to flavored butter where herbs, aromatics, syrups or fruit pastes are mashed into solid butter, while good in there own right, offer only the opportunity for flavor afterthoughts, post-churning.

So in the spirit of DIY, I present you with directions for culturing butter and flavoring it using Arbor Teas’ organic, loose-leaf tea. Cultured tea butter should not be confused with Tibetan butter tea, a yak milk-derived, fortifying hot beverage for the iron-stomached. This is a wholly different dining experience. I chose two very different Arbor Teas to make two unique flavors. The first was organic genmaicha green tea, which is composed of Japanese green tea leaves mixed with toasted brown rice kernels. This tea flavor brings to mind popcorn, and thus lightly salted butter flavored with genmaicha lends itself to savory applications: smeared on crusty bread or slathered on roasted vegetables. The second was organic masala chai black tea. Redolent with warm spice and delicately sweetened (post-churn) with honey, this makes a welcome addition to a breakfast table spread or to afternoon tea fare.

As a premium for churning your own butter, you will also produce a good amount of deliciously drinkable, tea-flavored buttermilk. I used the excess to make the tiny corn biscuits pictured above. They were a perfect vehicle to deliver taste tests of homemade tea butter (either sweet or savory) to friends. A note of caution, though, before proceeding: you may start consuming more butter then you ever thought necessary.

Cultured Tea Butter and Buttermilk
makes about a half pound of butter and about 1 cup buttermilk

2 TBS organic loose tea leaves
2 cups heavy cream (the best quality you can find: highest butterfat, least pasteurized)
2 heaping TBS plain whole-milk yogurt, crème fraîche or buttermilk (be sure these do not contain any additive gums or stabilizers)
Ice
⅛ – ¼ tsp flaky sea salt
1 TBS (or more to taste) honey (optional)

Make a tea sachet by packing the loose tea leaves in a tea sac or other type of disposable filter and tying securely with kitchen twine. Place the tea sachet in a clean glass mason jar. Pour the heavy cream and yogurt over the tea. Stir to combine. Cover loosely and place it in a warmish part of the house – the ideal temperature is around 75° F, but anywhere in the range from 70-80° F will work.

After 12-18 hours, the cream should be noticeably thicker and should taste slightly tangy. If it hasn’t thickened yet, leave it alone for another few hours and eventually it will. When your cream has thickened, remove the tea sachet and scrape off any thickened cream that may adhere to the filter, adding this back to the cream. If you are not ready to make your butter right away, transfer the container to the fridge where you can leave it for up to another 24 hours.

When ready to churn the cream, remove it from the fridge and allow it to stand at room temperature until it reaches about 60° F. If you’re making it from room temperature you’ll need to place the bowl in a bath of ice water for a few minutes to cool it down.

Fill another large bowl with water and ice cubes and set this aside.

Pour the cream into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat at high speed using the whisk attachment. A hand-held electric beater or even whisking vigorously by hand will also work. When the cream starts to form stiff peaks (see picture), reduce the speed to low. Watch carefully, first the peaks will start to look grainy, and a few seconds later the cream will break.

When it does, clumps of pale yellow butterfat will form leaving a pool of buttermilk in the bowl (see picture). Stop beating. Carefully strain the bowl over a cup to drain away as much buttermilk as possible. Reserve the buttermilk for another use.

Next the butter must be washed with ice water to remove any residual buttermilk, which could cause the butter to spoil prematurely. If using a stand mixer, switch the whisk attachment for the dough hook. If you don’t have a stand mixer, a fork or a stiff rubber spatula will do. Pour some of the reserved ice water over the butter, kneading it vigorously. The water will turn cloudy and the butter will seize up, making it cohere and knead more easily (see picture). Pour out the liquid and repeat as many times as needed (about 3-4 times) until the rinse water in the bowl is completely clear. After the last of the rinse water has been poured off, continue kneading for a few more minutes to get as much water as possible out of the butter. Pour off any residual liquid. Add the salt (and honey, if using) now and continue to knead until completely incorporated.

Pack the cultured tea butter into ramekins or shallow jelly jars, roll it in parchment paper, or use it to fill shaped molds before covering tightly and refrigerating. Or place in the freezer for longer term storage.

Butter tea, known as Po cha in Tibet, is made from churning tea, salt and yak butter. The tea used is a particularly potent, smoky type of brick tea from Pemagul, Tibet. A portion of this brick tea is crumbled into water and boiled for hours to produce a smoky, bitter brew called chaku. This is then stored until used to make butter tea. To make  a serving of Po cha, some of the chaku is poured in a wooden cylindrical churn called a chandong, along with a hunk of yak butter and salt and churned for a couple of minutes before serving.

Po Cha is consumed several times a day, every day, by Tibetans.  There are many benefits associated with drinking po cha, especially in high altitude areas like Tibet, because of its warming quality and high calorie count, which keeps energy levels up. The butter from the drink also helps prevent chapped lips – another valuable benefit on Tibet’s windy, exposed steppes. It is also believed that the tea used aids digestion, keeps the mind focused, and promotes a healthy cardiovascular system.

Care to give it a try?  Butter tea is not for the faint of heart, but might be just the thing for your next expedition!  The authentic ingredients used to make po cha are hard to be found outside Tibet, but you can still get a close taste using the following recipe:

Butter Tea Ingredient List:

• 4 cups of water
• 2 teaspoons of Organic Black Tea (perhaps a smoky one, like Organic Russian Caravan or Organic Lapsang Souchong)
• ¼ teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• ½ cup of milk or half and half.
• A blender

Directions for Making Butter Tea:

• Bring the cups of water to a boil, and then turn down the heat.
• Put the 2 spoons of tea in the water and continue to boil for a couple of minutes, then strain.
• Combine the tea, salt, butter and milk or half and half in the blender and blend for 2-3 minutes –the longer the better.
• Serve and enjoy!

Samples were offered at a brunch that centered around the task of making homemade bagels. Surprisingly, jasmine yielded the most predominant flavor, and was preferred by all who sampled. The lapsang souchong gave a more traditional lox-like option. For something light and different, schizandra berries, found in Arbor Teas’ newest organic loose leaf tea, lent a hint of tangerine. Though salmon is most common, this method of curing can be applied to any fatty fish. One day, I’d like to try it on pork belly to make bacon… If you get to it before me, let me know how it turns out!

Tea-Cured Salmon

1 pound salmon filet, deboned with skin on
1 cup loose leaf tea
½ cup turbinado sugar (granulated will work too)
½ cup kosher salt or flakey sea salt

Mix the tea, salt and sugar in a small bowl. Line a large, non-reactive casserole dish or baking pan with plastic wrap. Pat the salmon filet dry and lay it skin-side down in the pan. Sprinkle the tea-salt-sugar cure mix over the salmon and coat evenly. Fold the edges of the plastic wrap over the salmon (somewhat like a present) to wrap tightly. Use something heavy – about 5-10 pounds – to weigh the salmon down. Refrigerate for 3 days. You must allow up to three days for curing. Remove the salmon from the refrigerator and use cold water to rinse off the cure mixture. Pat the salmon dry with paper towels, then place skin side-down on a cutting board. With a sharp knife, slice the salmon diagonally off the skin. The sliced salmon will keep for about a week in the refrigerator. Layer the slices on sheets of wax paper and store wrapped in plastic.

Hope you enjoy this Cooking with Tea recipe From the Kitchen of Olivia!

The recipe guide below calls for just five simple ingredients. Adding Arbor Teas organic loose-leaf tea to the pops adds a whole new flavor dimension and an extra level of refreshment. Upon freezing, the tea flavor truly comes forward of the fruit. This is achieved by first making a tea-infused simple syrup. You could stop here and use the chilled syrup in cocktails or more casual summertime beverages, or you could forge on by adding fruit and freezing it on a stick. Wide grins are your guaranteed reward for just these few extra measures.

The flavors of pops I’ve made so far include: Peppermint-Blueberry, Crimson Berry Fruit Tisane-Cherry, Pineapple Passion Green Tea-Strawberry, and Raspberry Green Tea-Peach. Purposefully, though, this recipe is specific about ratios and vague on flavors. I’m leaving it to you to peruse the Arbor Teas selection and be inspired by what’s available at your local fruit stands. And don’t be deterred if you don’t own frozen pop molds. Try the tricks outlined here for a simple substitute.

Hope you enjoy this Cooking with Tea recipe From the Kitchen of Olivia!

Tea-Flavored Frozen Fruit Pops
makes about a dozen

2 cups water
8 TBS organic loose-leaf tea
2 cups sugar
3⅔ cups fresh or frozen fruit
1 tsp lemon juice

In a medium saucepan, heat the water to boiling. Remove from heat, add the tealeaves, cover the pan, and allow the tea to steep for 5 minutes.

Strain to remove the leaves. Return the freshly brewed tea to the saucepan and bring to a slow boil. Add the sugar, stirring constantly until it completely dissolves, about 2 minutes.

Add the fruit to the tea-infused syrup. Gently boil the mixture until the fruit is soft, stirring occasionally, about 5-8 minutes depending on the type of fruit. Remove from heat and pass the mixture through a food mill (or strain through a mesh sieve) set over a bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much fruit as possible. Add the lemon juice to the fruit puree mixture and stir to thoroughly combine.

Cool to room temperature and then divide the mixture among the ice pop molds. Freeze until semi-firm (~2 hours), insert popsicle sticks, then continue freezing until completely solid, at least 8 hours or overnight.

To release pops for serving, dip the bottoms of the molds in warm water for 10-15 seconds.

Requiring only a handful of ingredients, few things are more simple, yet so satisfying to make than classic shortbread.  These delicate cookie complement a glass of milk or a cup of tea equally well, and their buttery, not overtly sweet nature takes on additional flavors with ease. Here I’ve paired a basic shortbread dough with three classic organic, loose leaf teas from Arbor Teas: organic Earl Grey Black Tea, organic Matcha Green Tea, and organic Masala Chai Black Tea. With each tea selection and a few additional mix-ins, three distinctive flavors and hues spring from the platform of a once plain dough. Try all three, or mix and match to your own preferences.

The standard shortbread recipe presented here is endlessly adaptable, so don’t hesitate to play to your tastes. As a technical aside, though, know that it can be a bit tricky to work with this butter-laden dough. Success in perfectly shaped cookies comes from keeping the dough well chilled before rolling and again before baking. Also placing the cookie sheet furthest away from the heat source, in the bottom third of the oven, will prevent spreading as they bake. Hope you enjoy this Cooking with Tea recipe From the Kitchen of Olivia!

Earl Grey Shortbread

makes ~2 dozen 1-inch square cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Earl Grey black tea leaves, finely ground*
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
½ tablespoon finely grated orange zest

Matcha Shortbread

makes ~2 dozen 1-inch square cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons matcha green tea powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Chocolate Chai Shortbread

makes ~2 dozen 1-inch square cookies

¾ cup all-purpose flour
⅓ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 tablespoon masala chai black tea leaves, finely ground*
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Method

Whisk flour, tea, (cocoa powder, if using) and salt in a small bowl; set aside.

In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar (and zest if using) and beat until fluffy. Add the flour/tea mixture to the mixing bowl, then beat on low speed until just incorporated. The dough will be very soft.

Transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment paper (or plastic wrap), shape into a disc, and wrap tightly to seal. Refrigerate the dough until firm, at least 2 hours or, preferably, overnight. The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Position a rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350° F. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about ⅜-inch thickness and cut into shapes. Space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment. Chill cookies in the refrigerator on a baking sheet for 10-15 minutes or until firm. Re-roll the scraps and cut out more cookies, as above, chilling the scraps between batches.

Bake the shortbread in the bottom third of the oven, one sheet at a time until the edges are golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks. These cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for about a week.

*You can grind the tea leaves in a small food processor, spice grinder, coffee grinder, or by using a mortar & pestle.

I like the idea of imparting unique flavors directly to a hard-cooked egg, but I’m not one to eat such things directly out of hand. A quick poll of the egg eating habits of some friends, however, confirms that I seem to be in the minority. In any case, if you’re like me and prefer to incorporate hard-cooked eggs into other recipes here are a few suggestions to take tea-steeped eggs to the next level:

• Sieved over roasted fresh asparagus or a salad of spring greens. Press the eggs through a strainer, or grate on the finest facet of a box grater to create mimosa flower-like bits.
• Deviled with whole-grain mustard and cream fraiche to serve at you next picnic or barbeque
• Mashed with olive oil and sea salt. Enjoy as creamy sandwich filling between slices of crusty bread
• Stirred into a sauce gribiche, a vinaigrette bound with chopped hard-cooked egg, shallots, capers and herbs that makes a fine complement to roasted potatoes or grilled fish

Hope you enjoy this Cooking with Tea recipe From the Kitchen of Olivia!

Chinese Tea Eggs
6 eggs
2 TBS organic loose leaf Pu’erh
¾ cup soy sauce
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp dark brown sugar
4 pieces star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp cracked black peppercorns
2 strips dried tangerine or mandarin orange peel (optional)

Place the eggs in a medium-sized pot with enough cool water to cover by 1-inch. Bring the water to a boil, then lower heat to simmer for 3 minutes.

Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl of cool water. Reserve the simmering water in the pot for use in the next step of the recipe. When cool enough to handle, take the back of a spoon and gently crack the eggs evenly all around the shell. Take care when cracking to leave the shell intact. This allows the dark steeping liquid to seep into the egg white, staining it with a marbled design. The more you crack, the more intricate the design will be.

Add the remaining ingredients to the pot of simmering water, stirring to combine. Return the cracked eggs to the pot as well. Bring the liquid to boil again, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 40 minutes. Turn off the heat and cover the pot with a lid. Let the eggs steep for a few hours to overnight. The longer the eggs steep, the more intense the flavor and color will be.

Drain the eggs, peel and serve. Unpeeled eggs can be refrigerated in a covered container for up to 4 days.