One of my former students bought me a wonderful tin of oolong tea while traveling home to Taiwan for the Winter break.
The oolong teas of Taiwan are heavenly. They have a robust, earthy flavor and an amazing array of health benefits. Oolong teas may aid in digestion, and thus pair well with heavy Winter meals such as pork and beef roasts, pasta, and rice dishes. They also contain an array of beneficial antioxidants and a small amount of caffeine to keep the drinker alert and focused throughout the day.
The dried leaves are often rolled: either by hand or machines utilized on tea plantations. During the steeping process, the leaves spring to life and unfurl to reveal their beautiful leaf structure. Some branches are incorporated in the mix as well, contributing to the unique appearance and flavor of oolong teas.
To infuse oolong tea, bring water to a full boil and steep between 3-5 minutes. Oolong teas can be infused multiple times, and many oolong aficionados argue that the second, third, fourth, and even fifth infusions are the best!
A week ago I was introduced to Chinese hot pot for the first time when I joined my friends David and Maggie at Moy's Chinese Restaurant in Columbus.
As I scanned the menu, my eyes were continually drawn to the menu section labeled "hot pots." Curious, I asked the server what they were and was advised that they are delicious and very authentic.
After choosing an eggplant, chicken, and salt fish (dried salted fish incorporated into many recipes for flavor) hot pot, I anxiously awaited its arrival.
I was thrilled to receive a beautiful miniature clay pot bubbling contently atop a stand with lit Sterno can. The hot, mildly spicy mixture had a delicious blend of eggplant, onion, chicken, salt fish, garlic and ginger.
Searching the web for a recipe for this delicious dish, I found the below video and recipe which look like they'd create a very close approximation of the delicious meal I enjoyed at Moy's.
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmqSfhsRY74
Recipe:
http://loft48.blogspot.sg/2013/07/claypot-chicken-with-salted-fish-and.html?m=1
For Christmas my lovely wife Lindsay purchased me a Royal Doulton cup and saucer in the pattern used by British expert in manners and social graces, Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced bouquet).
Image from: http://showbizgeek.com/whatever-happened-to-the-cast-of-keeping-up-appearances/
IMDb has written a wonderful description of Hyacinth's famous China pattern. According to IMDb, "Hyacinth's china pattern, described as 'Royal Doulton with the
hand-painted periwinkles', is actually a pattern called 'Braganza' and
was manufactured by The Colclough China Company. The Colclough China
Company was founded in 1890 and was taken over by Royal Doulton in the
early 1970s (so Hyacinth is only stretching the truth a bit). The
Braganza pattern was discontinued in 1992, and production under the
Colclough name was discontinued in 1996. Hyacinth's cups and saucers
were once valued at 20 pounds by Maxwell, Nixon and Kray."
From
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098837/trivia
Click below to view Hyacinth entertaining with Royal Doulton:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0dn2FeFaSU
Foraging is a wonderful way to add a variety of healthy foods to one's diet. While home for the holidays, my father presented me with foraged eastern black walnuts he had collected from a tree near his home. My father neatly packaged a portion of the shelled walnuts in a small Tupperware container and labeled the date and location of harvest.
Black walnuts differ considerably from English walnuts. The first, and most obvious difference, is the thicker shell. While English walnuts available in most stores for home cracking have thin, easily cracked shells, black walnuts have a thick, dense shell surrounding them. The flavor is also completely different. Black walnuts are robust, earthy, and have a much stronger flavor than English walnuts. To read more on black walnuts click here:
http://forestry.ohiodnr.gov/walnut
When they fall from the tree, black walnuts are encapsulated in a thick, fleshy husk which must be removed before the walnuts within can be properly dried and cracked. This outer material can be removed by running over the walnuts with a vehicle. My father remembers my grandfather smashing the husk off in the street of their Flint, Michigan home with a pair of rubber boots.
Once the exterior material is removed and the walnuts have been left to sit for several months to try, a heavy duty hammer is the most commonly used method to crack the walnuts open. The Lehman's company in Kidron, Ohio, offers one of the only commercially available black walnut crackers:
https://www.lehmans.com/p-1612-hard-shell-nutcracker.aspx
When considering the possible ways to enjoy the shelled walnuts gifted to me by my father, I chose to make a black walnut pesto, appropriately named Bob's Black Walnut Pesto after the walnuts' harvester. The robust, earthy gems were pulsed in a food processor with Michigan hydroponic basil, three cloves of garlic, and about 5 tbs of olive oil. Parmigiana cheese is usually also added to pesto but I chose to forgo this ingredient so my pesto retained a stronger black walnut flavor.
The resulting pesto was placed in a small jar and covered with a thin film of olive oil. Stored in the refrigerator, it will be good for a week and has been delicious on bread and in pasta.
Personal qualities important to embracing the light side of the force include clarity, focus, and mental alertness: all of which can be enhanced through daily tea consumption. While it is never expressly depicted in Star Wars, the likelihood that the Jedi are avid tea drinkers is very high. I imagine the Jedi Master Yoda hanging a small kettle over the fire in his lair to boil tea made using water collected from the murky depths of Dagobah's swamps.
Tea banishes the mind and spirit of dark thoughts, hydrates and strengthens the body, and contributes to overall health. Steeping tea at home and work is a simple process requiring minimal time and cost.
Boil water using a standard or electric kettle. If using teabags, use 1 teabag per 8-12oz cup, and if using looseleaf tea, use 1 tsp of leaves per 8-12oz cup. If brewing tea in a teapot or kettle, adjust the amount of tea accordingly (For example, for a teapot which holds 24 ounces, use 3 tsp of tea: or 1 tsp per 8oz cup).
Use a cup or mug that brings you peace and harmonizes your mind and spirit. For the above cup of tea, I've chosen a mug I purchased when I visited the Monterrey Bay Aquarium which makes me think of my love of the sea. The tea infuser I'm using has a fine stainless steel mesh which separates the tea leaves from the brewed tea.
Steep tea for 3-5 minutes depending on taste and enjoy!
As you enter the New Year, don't forget to make tea a part of your daily routine for health, wisdom and prosperity.
May the Force be With You in 2016,
The Food Pope
