A Catered Tea Party (25 page)

In keeping with the tea theme, the next recipe is for Chinese marbled eggs, basically hard-boiled eggs with their shells cracked and marinated in soy sauce, tea, and spices. This recipe uses black tea, which can either be loose or in bags. The eggs are easy to make, they're a great snack, they look cool, and kids seem to love them. It's one of those recipes that you can tinker with.

 

6 large eggs
1 or 2 tablespoons or 1 or 2 tea bags of black tea
½ to ¾ of a cup of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of Chinese five-spice powder or two-star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon of sugar
A couple of strips of dried tangerine peel

 

Bring water to a boil, put in the 6 large eggs, and let them cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Then take the pot off the burner, take the eggs out, allow them to cool, and carefully crack the shells. You can do this with the back of a spoon or by rolling them around on the counter. The deeper the cracks, the more the marbling. Then add to a pan with boiling water the black tea, the soy sauce, the Chinese five-spice powder or two-star anise, the cinnamon stick, and the sugar. You can also add a couple of strips of dried tangerine peel if you have that on hand. Put the eggs back into the pot and bring the water to a boil. Then turn the heat down to a low simmer, cover the pan, and let the eggs cook for 30 minutes or so. Remove from heat and let them steep for anywhere from 2 hours to overnight in the fridge.

The next recipe has nothing to do with tea, but it is delicious, so I'm including it anyway. This recipe comes from Dino Centra, who is a truly excellent cook.

This is what Dino has to say about the origins of this recipe. Unlike the better-known gnocchi, which are made from potato, these are made from semolina, a durum wheat flour. Long before ships brought native crops from the Americas to Europe, Italy was a land without red sauce, corn polenta, or potato gnocchi. But even without the potato, gnocchi still existed in the form of the classic gnocchi alla Romana, a custardy, oven-baked version made with semolina, egg, cheese, and butter. You could say these are the OG: the original gnocchi.

 

6 cups of milk
Kosher salt
1½ cups of semolina flour
8 tablespoons of unsalted butter, divided in half, plus more for greasing the pan
1 cup of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for grating right before baking and at the table
3 egg yolks

 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large saucepan, heat the milk over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally to prevent scorching, until it is steaming. Season well with salt. While whisking constantly, sprinkle in semolina in a fine shower to prevent lumps: the mixture will thicken and become difficult to whisk. Once all the semolina is added, lower the heat to medium-low, switch to a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly for 10 to 15 minutes, until a sticky, dough-like mass forms and begins to pull away from the sides of the saucepan; make sure to stir deep into corners and all over the bottom of saucepan to prevent scorching. Remove from heat.

Stir in 4 tablespoons of butter until melted and thoroughly incorporated. Stir in the grated cheese until melted and thoroughly incorporated. Scrape in the egg yolks and stir until thoroughly incorporated.

Scrape the semolina dough into a buttered, rimmed baking sheet. Using a wet rubber spatula or wet, clean hands, and rewetting frequently to prevent sticking, press and smooth the semolina dough into an even layer about ½ inch thick. It's okay if the dough does not fully reach all edges of the baking pan, as long as it's even throughout. Press plastic wrap against the surface, and refrigerate until set, at least 40 minutes and as long as overnight.

Using a 3-inch round cookie cutter or similarly sized glass, cut the semolina dough into rounds. The rounds can be refrigerated for up to 3 days covered with plastic wrap before topping with butter and cheese and baking. Scraps can be saved and refrigerated for up to 4 days: deep fry in oil for a snack or assemble in a smaller baking dish to make a mini version of this dish.

To bake, grease a large baking dish or ovenproof skillet with butter. Using a thin metal spatula, scrape each semolina round from the baking sheet and arrange them in an overlapping pattern in the prepared skillet or dish.

Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and drizzle all over the semolina gnocchi. Grate more Parmigiano-Reggiano generously all over. Bake until the gnocchi are hot and brown on top, about 15 minutes.

Serve, passing more grated cheese at the table.

This last recipe comes from an old friend of mine, Linda Nielson, and is worth repeating. It is extremely versatile. This cake goes well with tea or coffee. You can serve it as a snack, put it in a lunch box, or serve it as a dessert. It is tasty and, as my grandmother used to say, a good keeper. What more do you need? Also, ginger is good if you are having digestive issues.

 

⅔ cup of flour
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of baking powder
½ teaspoon of cardamom
½ teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of peeled, grated, fresh ginger
½ cup of brown sugar
½ cup of white sugar
½ cup of applesauce or ½ cup of vegetable oil
4 egg whites, or 4 ounces of egg substitute, or 2 eggs
½ cup of buttermilk or sour milk or fat-free yogurt
6 tablespoons of minced, crystallized ginger

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift the dry ingredients, mix the wet ingredients, combine, add the crystallized ginger, and mix. Butter an 8-inch loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes, and let cool in pan. You can double this recipe and bake in a Bundt pan, if you would like.