Sweet Potato Tea Bars and High Tea at Montage Hotel, Los Angeles

Almost every culture in the world has a tradition or relationship to TEA. So many people have stories about family gatherings, or moments with special people spent over a cup (or glass) of tea.

I grew up in the southern part of the United States and my relationship to tea was a tall glass of "sweetened ice tea". In fact, where I grew up you would have to ask the server if you wanted tea that was not brewed with a lot of sugar in it already. A cup of hot tea was usually made by the cup with a string attached bag of Lipton. It would be left in the cup too long which meant more Teddy Bear honey was needed.

Sweet Potato Tea Bars

If I went to a friend's house where they poured a cup of tea from a pot, with fresh tea leaves inside I assumed they were rich or from England.
I was in college before I was introduced to the whole "going to tea" or "taking tea" or "having High Tea" delightful pleasure. Since then, I seek out places that serve a great Tea.

For a couple years, I worked with a stylish Tea Salon in Los Angeles where I had the chance to learn about tea and developed many recipes that used tea as an ingredient or infused with the flavors. Our specialty was World Teas. We broke the mold of just the proper English Tea by creating recipes inspired by different countries and their flavors.

If you read my blog often, you know there are several recipes using tea to enhance the flavor base (ie. Cowboy Smokey Tea Tomato Jam, Tea Poached Shrimp Summer Rolls, Stove Top Smoked Fish, Green Tea Croquembouche, Matcha Green Tea Doughnuts. )

If I could pass on just 3 important ideas about tea it would be these:

1) Using real tea, not old flakes in a stringed bag, makes all the difference in the world.
2) Water temperature can make or break the flavor and the true taste of the tea.
3) Don't over brew - it's the same thing as burning food and that's why it taste bad.

When I have visitors to California, or visit a friend's city I almost always suggest going to a tea in the area. There is something very replenishing about sharing a plate of scones, a couple mini-sandwiches and tiny desserts while chatting over warm and fragrant tea pots.This month, my online Lets Lunch Bunch has the theme of High Tea for us to share across the miles in our virtual lunch date. When my daughter and a friend from Italy were here, we took the opportunity to seek inspiration by having tea at the exquisite Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills. The room was quiet (until we started giggling and sharing stories) and the food was delicate, but plentiful. In case you are thinking this is just a "Ladies" tradition, there were more men in the room than ladies the day we were visiting. There were several obvious business meetings going on around the room, a family stopping for a breather during their busy day, and a couple who sounded like they were on a first date (not that I was listening.)When I returned home and pondered how I could combine the proper tea fare I had partaken in during the afternoon, yet give a nod to my much more casual background. I came up with Sweet Potato Tea Bars.Sweet Potatoes, packed with good healthy nutrients, make a good combo to the antioxidants in tea. The creaminess goes so well with a hearty smokey black, yet the earthiness pairs well with a grassy green tea. Also, they're just damn good.Tea is one of earth's most natural healing liquids. I recommend drinking more of it. Do it slowly. Do it often. Do it with people you love.

Also: Check out all of the inspired High Tea ideas with the Lets Lunch pals:

Charissa‘s Egg Salad Tea Sandwiches with Honey Mustard, Tomatoes & Basil at Zest Bakery

Emma‘s Brown Sugar Shortbreads With Hawaiian Jam at Dreaming of Pots and Pans

Grace‘s Taiwanese Sandwiches at HapaMama

Karen‘s Saskatoon Berry Tartlets at GeoFooding

Linda‘s Mesquite Hemp Cocoa at Free Range Cookies

Linda‘s Singapore-Style Ginger Tea & Kaya (Coconut Jam) Toast at Spicebox Travels

Lisa‘s Little Lemon Meringue Tarts at Monday Morning Cooking Club

Mai‘s Cougar Gold & Shallot Shortbread at Cooking in The Fruit Bowl

Patrick‘s Welsh Rarebit at Patrick G. Lee

Rashda‘s Spiced Chickpea & Sweet Potato Tidbits at Hot Curries & Cold Beer

Rebecca‘s Millionaire’s Shortbread at Grongar Blog

Steff‘s Lemon-Lime Shortbread Cookies at The Kitchen Trials

Join us next time, have lunch with us online. Go to twitter and put in the hashtag (#letslunch) and leave us word you'd like to join. We're growing with every lunch. :D

Recipe: Sweet Potato Tea Bars

Crust-
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks butter (6oz.)
2/3 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla

1) Mix the crust ingredients in a large bowl. Press the crumbly crust into a parchment lined 9" pan.
2) Bake in a preheated 350F oven for about 15 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then pour in the filling.

FILLING:

1 Large Sweet Potato (baked)
8 oz. cream cheese
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 lemon juice and zest
1/4 cup milk

1) Beat all ingredients until creamy.
2) Pour into the pre-baked crust. Return to a preheated 350F oven. Bake for about 20 Minutes (until set.)
3) Cool and chill for 20 minutes before cutting into bars.
4) Garnish with chopped nuts or powdered sugar.

Apple Ring Tarts - Simple Saturday

What can I tell you about these crispy, rustic, sweet, caramelized Apple Ring Tarts (with a surprise brandy soaked cherry in the middle) that can be made in just a few minutes? Well, 'nuff said.

Apple Ring Tarts

There are only a few ingredients to this:Yet, the flavor is Classic American Apple Pie with buttery layers of French Puff Pastry. You can make a few of these using just a couple apples, or make enough for a banquet. There is something about biting into your own little apple tart that can make you feel cozy and connected no matter where you are eating.

Recipe: Apple Ring Tarts

1 sheet of Puff Pastry
1-2 Apples (peeled, cored, and sliced in rings about 1/2" thick)
1/2 Lemon juiced + equal amount of water
1 cup Brown Sugar
2 Tbls. Cinnamon
**Optional (but so good) Dried Cherries - soak them in a few Tbls. of Brandy (or Apple Juice)**

1) Dust your work space with a little flour and roll out the Puff Pastry a few inches in all directions.

2) Dip each apple ring in a bowl of equal parts lemon juice and water, shake off the drips and hold for the next step.

3) Pour the brown sugar and cinnamon into a large zip-lock bag. Place a few apple rings in at a time and shake gently to coat thoroughly.

4) Place an apple ring on the rolled out puff pastry and cut a circle around the slice with at LEAST 1 inch extra all the way around. (I used the top of a large container to cut mine.)

Do this one apple ring at a time so you can use the space wisely.

5) Pull the sides of the pastry dough up and around each apple ring, crimping and pleating the dough as you go. Squeeze to make sure each crimp sticks to the other one.

6) Reuse the extra pastry dough by stacking pieces of it on top of each other and roll it back out. This preserves the layering in the puff pastry dough.7) Drop a brandy (or Apple juice) soaked dried cherry in the center hole. Place the tarts on a parchment lined baking sheet and into a preheated 375F oven for 20-25 minutes.

Turn the pan once during the baking and if the dough has puffed in the middle just give a quick press down on the center to release the steam and continue cooking. Cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan.

Garnish with Powdered Sugar or a Honey glaze.

GREAT NeWs! These freeze well! Before cooking them, place the pan in the freezer and when frozen you can place them in a bag or container. Cook straight from the freezer onto a baking pan, just add a couple minutes cooking time if needed.The apple slice is just soft enough, but still tangy. The pastry is flaky and melt-in-your-mouth. It's sweet without making your teeth ache. Then, there's that little brandy soaked cherry surprise to finish it off. What you don't know is that I have a few warm ones just waiting for me to stop talking, so~~

Crostata, Tarte or Pie - Good No Matter How You Slice It (Daring Bakers 11/10)

Tarte Aux Poires Et Chocolat (Pear & Chocolate Tart)

A little while back, I had the pleasure of being the Chef for an evening with Anne Willan (creator of LaVarenne in France). It was a small tasting event at the chic Algabar Tea in Los Angeles. The night was a book signing event with invited guests that included an evening of Anne's travel stories and a sampling of her chosen recipes prepared by...me (gulp). Although I was nervous with desire to prepare and please with the courses from her book, "The Country Cooking of France" (and a bit intimidated for sure), the evening was a complete success. Anne could not have been more gracious, elegant and warm. She included me in the Q & A after the meal, and praised me generously. In a town like Los Angeles - where I have worked beside some people (celebrities) whose work I admired, only to find them lacking in the "how to not act like a jerk" department - Anne Willan was a treasure.When I read this month's Daring Baker's challenge was a crostata (an Italian tart), I immediately thought of the many Tartes I made that night for our tasting. Although, I love all Italian foods and I've made many Italian Crostatas, I also love to be connected to the process in a personal way. Besides, this time I was going to be not only cooking it, but eating it too, oh yeah.

The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

If we get very specific here: a Crostata (Italian) is very often a free formed pastry and a Tarte (French) is more structured. The actual ingredients may vary according to local supplies, the fruits that are in season and the availability of eggs, butter and sugar. In the United States, we often just use the word "Pie" for anything that is encased in pastry no matter how big or small, fruit or savory, baked or fried. No matter what you call it, when it's this good your mouth will be too full to talk about it anyway.

As part of the challenge, we were given the recipe for the pastry and it follows:

Pasta Frolla-

1/2 cup minus 1 Tbls. superfine sugar
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 stick (8 Tbls. ) cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces.
grated zest of half a lemon
1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl 1) Whisk together the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl.
2) Rub or cut the butter into the flour until the mixture is coarse crumbs.
3) Pour the flour mixture onto the work board, make a well in the center of the mounded flour mixture and pour the beaten eggs into it.
4) Add the lemon zest to the flour/butter/egg mixture
5) Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients and use your fingertips.
6) Knead just until the dough comes together into a ball
7) Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plasic. Chill for at least an hour
8) When ready, remove the chilled dough and roll out thin and a little bigger than a 10" tart pan.
9) Carefully lift the dough and place into the tart pan, pressing gently around the inside edges and rolling your rolling pin over the top to trim the pastry so it fits the tart pan.
10) Chill the tart shell in the pan for about 30 minutes so the pastry doesn't shrink when cooking.Fill and Bake as your recipe suggests, or blind bake (pre bake ) the tart shell for filling with a custard or fruit.

Tarte Aux Poires Et Chocolat recipe (* waiting for permission to reprint, please check back) and seriously consider getting a copy. I have probably made over 30 recipes just from her book.