Bear Cuisine

Homage to Downton Abbey

Recently we invited friends to afternoon tea. They had not experienced the pleasures of an afternoon "cuppa" and we wanted to share the pause that can truly refresh. I wanted to include scones, which I have never made before and found a lovely recipe for savory scones in Scones and Tea, published by Teatime Magazine.

Rosemary-Walnut Scones

(makes 8 scones)

1. 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2. 1 tsp baking powder
3. 1/2 tsp salt
4. 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
5. 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, diced
6. 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
7. 1 TBS chopped fresh rosemary
8. 1/2 cup plus 2 TBS heavy whipping cream, divided
9. Garnish:fresh rosemary sprigs

Prehat oven to 375 degrees F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour,baking powder, salt and pepper. Using a pastry blender, cut butter into flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add walnuts and rosemary, stirring to combine. Gradually add 1/2 cup cream, stirring until just combined. (If the mixture seems dry, add more cream, 1 TBS at a time, until a dough forms.)

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into an 8-inch circle. Cut into 8 wedges. Places wedges on the baking sheet.

Brush the wedges with the remaining 2 TBS cream.

If desired, garnish each wedge with a rosemary sprig.

Bake until lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes.

If you enjoy tea or just like to bake treats for friends and family, I highly recommend this book and TeaTime Magazine.

 

The Umstead Hotel, Carey,NC

 

Our friend Jane Bruce, who lives in Pittsboro, NC, treated us to afternoon tea at The Umstead Hotel in Carey, NC. This is an elegant,modern place with an Art Nouveau feel to its spacious interiors. The art was outstanding and included work by North Carolina potters Ben Owen and Marc Hewitt and installations by Dale Chilhuly.

Tea was beautifully prepared and presented we enjoyed every bite. But the highlight of the afternoon was the lovely harp music played by Winnifred Garett. A completely relaxing time , immersed in the beauty of our surroundings and gorgeous, lush music.

Jane is lost in rapturous appreciation of the music

Derby Day

April went by on jet skies and we realized that we hadn't broken bread with many of friends in too long. So we decided to throw a spur-of-the-moment Kentucky Derby Party. Amazingly enough, everyone was free and seemed delighted by the idea. I had great fun coming up with a menu and then I had even more fun watching the food disappear from the table. That has to be one of a cook's greatest satisfactions.

TEA SANDWICHES

The sliced cucumber was served on mint butter and topped with chopped mint.

Since there were several southerners in the group, Pimento Cheese was called for.This recipe is my current favorite. This comes from Sitty Bell Powell Staub and was published in  the 2003 Pimento Cheese Invitational collection.

PIMENTO CHEESE

1. 1 pound Colby Longhorn cheese, grated
2. 1/2 pound sharp Cheddar, grated
3. 2 cloves garlic, minced
4. 7 ounce jar diced pimento, drained
5. 1/2 cup Miracle Whip Salad Dressing
6. 1/2 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise
7. 1/2 teaspoon read pepper
8. 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

Process grated cheeses and minced garlic cloves in a food processor. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, adding the remaining ingredients. Mix well. Store in the refrigerator, but allow the mixture to reach room temperature before making the sandwiches.

Other sandwiches used Benedictine Sandwich Spread as the filling. The spread was created by Miss Jennie C. Benedict  of Louisville,KY in the 1890's for tea sandwiches.

BENEDICTINE SANDWICH SPREAD

1. 8 ounces cream cheese
2. 1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and grated
3. 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and grated
4. 2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
5. 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
6. Salt
7. Green food coloring

Place cream cheese in a bowl and mash with a fork until smooth. Wrap cucumber in cheese cloth, then squeeze out and discard the juice. Add the cucumber to the cream cheese and mix thoroughly.

Wrap the onion in cheesecloth and squeeze juice into the cream cheese mixture. Discard the onions.

Mix the mayonnaise and Tabasco sauce into the cream cheese mixture. Season to taste with salt, then add 1 drop of green food coloring. Mix well. Serve on thinly sliced white sandwich bread, top with another slice of bread, trim and cut into finger sandwiches.

ASPARAGUS WRAPPED IN PROSCIUTTO

I used a trick from Harris Salat (The Japanese Food Report) to give the asparagus greater depth of flavor. Boil one cup of dashi with 1 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce. Let the mixture cool. Bring a pot of water to boiling and put in the asparagus for 10 seconds; remove and shock in an ice-water bath. marinate the vegetables in the dash-soy stock over night. You don't know what the diference is, but the process defintely adds umami notes to the vegetables.

STRAWBERRIES WITH CHOCOLATE FONDUE

The strawberrries would have been good by themselves, but I couldn't resist gilding the lily and served them with a Chocolute Fondue. This recipe is from Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk. It couldn't have been any easier.

CHOCOLATE FONDUE

1. 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2. 2 tablespoons butter
3. 1 14-ounce can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk.
4. 2 tablespoons water
5. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a heavy saucepan, over medium heat, melt choclate chips and butter with Eagle Brand and water. Cook and stir constantly until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add vanilla.

Serve warm as a fruit dipping sauce.

Deviled Eggs with Jalapeno

We gave the deviled eggs a a southwestern taste by adding some diced jalapeno pepper to the mix.

Last, but not least, were Ina Garten's Rosemary Cashews. These are irresistable.

ROSEMARY CHASHEWS

1. 1 pound roasted, unsalted cashews
2. 2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves
3. 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4. 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
5. 1 tablespoon kosher salt
6. 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Spread the cashews out on a sheet pan. Toast in the oven until warm, about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the rosemary, cayenne, sugar,salt and butter. Thoroughly toss the warm cashews with the spiced butter and serve warm. I should add that they are as good served at room temperature.

One of the guests, "You've created the perfect High Tea." Of course, High Tea doesn't normally include Mint Juleps. But that's the subject of another post.

 

The St. James Tea Room: August 2012

This visit to the St. James found us seated in Styles. Styles was the fictional setting of Agatha Christie's first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which led to an outstanding career as a mystery writier. Christie eventually held a Guinness World Record for being the best selling and most translated writer of all time, second only to the Holy Bible in world-wide distribution. In their passport of The St. James Tea Room British Greats, we find this description" "what she brought to her stories was not just a great understanding of plot, suspense, character creation and simple reading enjoyment, but also a delight in highlighting grace, civility, beauty, gentility and excellence. You never see the modern immoral, ends-justify-the-means anti-hero in her writing but always a high moral character, utilizing grace and tact instead of force in the solving of crimes, and settings that were decidedly civil and genteel." Christie's writing embodies the virtues that the Tea Room holds dear.

This month's theme has been The Knights of Camelot; as always the savories, breads and sweets were delectable.

King Arthur's Meat Pie, Sir Galahad's Roasted Pepper and Goat Cheese Tart, Sir Lancelot's Pork Tenderloin and Peach Chutney, Pendragon Zucchinini Spiral and Guinevere's Radish Sandwich.

Paired with English Breakfast Black Tea.

Merlin's Soda Bread with Butter and The Sword in the Scone with Lemon Curd and Clotted Cream.

Paired with Blueberry Festival Scented Black Tea.

Sir Gawain's Summer Pudding, Sir Percival's Figs and Raspberries in Lavender Cream and The Black Knight's Chocolate Financier.

Paired with Iced Orange Flower Oolong Tea.

The St. James Tea Room

One of the pleasures  of travel is the discovery of places and experiences that you don't find at home. An even greater pleasure is discovering something new and wonderful in your own hometown. Such a place in Albuquerque is the St. James Tea Room. 

I have always loved the British Tea Cermony known as Afternoon Tea. With its leisurely pace and fablous sweets and savories, Afternoon Tea makes a "cuppa" a civilized beverage that is without peer in western culture. Albuquerque is an unlikely place for a first class tea room, but the St. James is a lovely tribute to the English tea room.It even has a listing in Bruce Richardson's The Great Tea Rooms of America. Founded in 1999 by Mary Alice Higbie, the St. James provides a respite from the frenetic pace of our lives and a chance to reconnect with old friends or deepen frienships with new ones.

 

The Library
Part of the charm of the St. James is found in the cozy dining areas that have been created. Private nooks, similar to British parlors, are separated by curtains and given names like Chartwell or Magdalen. . Each alcove is furnished with period chairs and sofas and Victorian bric-a-brac. You really do feel as if you have stepped back in time.

Kay was most pleased to be whisked away to this enchanting place in the Land of Enchantment.

Each month a different theme is chosen and a different menu, offered. We now count ourselves amoung the devoted tea room regulars who keep returning to find out what new delicacies have been created for our pleasure.

In June of this year, the theme was "Last Stop Paddington Station," a tribute to Kingdom Brunel.

The traditional cream tea scone with clotted cream and lemon curd is always on the menu.This month this course was paried with Yin Hao Jasmine Green Tea.

The Savory Course paired with Earl of St. James Traditional Black Tea

 Turkey and Avocado Sandwich,Curried Lamb Sweet Potato Pasty,Tea Sandwich: Cucumber with Green Olive and Pecan Cream Cheese,Cold Pea Salad, Quinoa in an Endive Caboose

The Sweets paired with Iced Summer's Bounty Scented Black Tea

Cherry Claflouti.Train Car Chocolate Biscuit Cake, Honey Thyme Panna Cotta with Roasted Apricot Puree

When you visit Albuquerque, be sure to add the St. James to list of must-visit stops.