Mel's Tea of the Day

Thursday Morning Tea is Crisp, Clean, & Refreshing 

I am enjoying a cuppa of Avra Organic Spa Slimming Tea. This tea came from one of my favorite salons to relax at in SF. They used to offer complementary tea during spa services. unfortunately the spa has closed, but I still have some of their lovely tea. 

   

Mel's Tea of the Day

HAPPY HUMP DAY! 

To get me over the hump I went down to Autobahn Cafe here in Oakland for a cuppa Chai. They have the spiciest blend I have found near my work.  

Mel's Tea of the Day

An Earl Grey Tazo Tea Latte from Starbucks is how I started my Mon this week. Earl Grey is one of my favorite teas to start the morning. Earl Grey is a complex earth blend that has just the right amount of kick to get me going. 

Food Bloggers Meetup at Bar Tartine

We had dinner with the S.F. Food Bloggers Meetup group at Bar Tartine. Very unusual (but tasty!) food. The limited menu was different from what was listed online, and Tea Time is sad we didn't get to try the chilled apricot soup. Sounds like a recipe opportunity, we guess.... J.K. and Angela were "early"/on time again, so we waited a bit before the next two members arrived. Angela ordered the Sparkling Beet cocktail, which was delightful. The pink tinted drink was light and almost fruity at first and became more earthy/beety as the sparkling wine warmed and the flavors layered on the tongue. While we waited we caught up and tried to wrap our minds around the different menu options. (Lots of Sauerkraut, in fact the whole menu seemed to have a Russian influence this visit.)

Sparkling Beet Cocktail.

Le Menu

J.K. and Angela have been Meetup members for a while, but there are so many groups you can join that while we've been co-hosting chocolate events for a couple years, we just joined the bloggers group and this was our first event. As we talked with the host/organizer and another blogger we learned a lot! (If you see an ad on this blog anytime soon, it will be the fault of this group.) This was exactly what we wanted, information and feedback about food blogging from people with more experience. Tea Time had also been a bit nervous about the check, sometimes you don't know what kind of people will turn up at these events (order something Expensive then insist on "splitting" the bill equally, for example). However, as we four sat and chatted, we realized it would be advantageous to share the small plates and worry about the bill when it came. (Spoiler: it was easy as pie to split the food bill 5 ways and add your drink to that total, yay.)

We ended up ordering 4 items just before our fifth diner dashed in from her other event. She ordered a glass of wine and we chatted more while we waited for our plates to arrive. Tea Time ordered the Russian Salad which featured golden beets (this is the second time we've been surprised with golden beets at a restaurant, when will they show up at the farmers market?), which are slightly sweeter and a bit less earthy than their red/purple cousins. The dressing was creamy and paired well with the fennel, avocado and greens.

Russian Salad

Our tablemates went for the Beef Tartare. Angela kept asking J.K. if she wanted to get it (she loves the raw beef), but she insisted no, as she usually finds it drowned in olive oil and such. However Tea Time was very glad to taste this dish as it was light and not "drowned" in anything, letting the meaty taste shine. The crusty bread was the perfect vehicle to scoop it up and into a waiting mouth.

Beef tartare

While we were talking about the menu, we came around to tripe. Angela hasn't eaten it, not really avoiding it, but never seeking it out either. J.K. has eaten it a couple times. Tea Time wasn't super excited about this dish, but of course we had to taste it when our more adventurous tablemates made their choice. They had both tasted tripe prepared many ways by many cultures and wanted to add another experience to their belts. Angela was entranced by the rich broth of the soup, which was layered with flavors. The tripe was a bit chewy, the texture bringing to mind short ribs (specifically L & L lunch plate style), which made the tripe feel like an old food friend, not something exotic.

Grilled tripe soup

Just call J.K. the cheese stealer. We looked away for a second and she had a green lump on her plate. Angela made her give back the disguised goat cheese (granted it is a romantically lit--um, dark--resto) and made her share with the group. The bread was, again, perfectly cripy and paired well with the cheese and seaweed sprinkled on top. Delish.

Goat cheese with grilled bread

Umami kelp sprinkled on top, yum.

Our table agreed we were all happy with the portion sizes. This is not a place where you go to eat dinner, then feel like you need to go out and get a burrito after you're done. We did ask the waiter specifically about the cheese dumplings dish, so we were a bit surprised that what he called an 'entree' was about the same portion as our appetizers. (Perhaps the colors on the plate count as food? No one licked them so we can't be sure.) However, the tastes on the plate were consistent with the rest of our meal, with rich cheesy dumplings we split between the 5 of us. Plus the mashed butternut squash was a seasonal treat with the creamy sauce.

Cheese dumplings with butternut squash.

There were just 4 dessert choices and our table took a bit to consider each one before unanimously voting the lava cake as winner. This came with an ice cream on the side sitting in a puddle of berry jam. We all got out our spoons and after a group photo, we dug in. The cake was rich and chocolatey. (How many times have I written those words in this blog? Let me know, you'll win a prize!) A very good dessert overall. It was a great dinner and we had wonderful conversation as well. Thanks to our dinner partners @lifeislikefood, @nutritionize and @gnaihc we hope to dine with you again, perhaps $1 oyster happy hour?? (As a reminder, blog readers can follow us on Twitter @teatimeadventur and you'll get previews of future posts, plus more ideas of what we like and want to share.)

Dessert!

Tea Time would be happy to come try the Bar Tartine lunch menu, or come back again to dinner for a special occasion. Since the menu here is always changing it would be great to add more challenge foods to our list of been there, done that edibles. Do you have a favorite restaurant with a seasonal menu? Or are you the type of person who orders the same dish every time? Tweet you later, man.

Marshmallows for the swap

After making caramels twice in a row, I decided it was time for a change. I hadn't made marshmallows in a while, and there was a jar of gelatin and a gallon of corn syrup in my cupboard, so marshmallows it  is. If you're worried about corn syrup, get a copy of Marshmallows by Eileen Talanian, which starts with a recipe for Marshmallow Syrup. I used the recipe in Joy of Cooking, which calls for corn syrup. I usually avoid products with corn syrup in them, because so much of what we eat, even meat, is reprocessed corn, but lately corn has become so expensive that cattle are being fed chopped up candy, even (gasp!) chocolate instead of corn, so avoiding corn doesn't seem quite so urgent anymore.

Start by lining a 9 x 13 pan with aluminum foil. The easiest way to do this is to form the foil on the upside-down pan. 

Then turn your pan right side up and the foil form slips right in.

Grease the foil. Non-stick spray is the easiest. Then sift a little powdered sugar over the grease and tap to distribute it evenly. Your pan is now prepared.

Sprinkle the gelatin over the water in your mixer bowl.

Place the mixer bowl over a pot of simmering water and heat until the solution is clear, stirring occasionally to make sure all the gelatin is wet. Dry off the bottom of the bowl, and place it on the mixer. Use the whisk attachment if you have one.

Mix the corn syrup, water sugar and salt in a large saucepan. Mine holds two quarts.

Bring to a boil over low heat.

Raise the heat to high and insert a warmed candy thermometer. I leave mine in the oven while I'm getting to this point. If your oven doesn't have a pilot light, place it in warm water. My pan is too curved to use the clip on the thermometer, so I balance it against a stack of pots.

When your solution reaches firm ball stage, remove the pot from the heat, turn on the mixer and slowly pour the hot syrup into the gelatin solution, avoiding the whisk. Aim for the side of the bowl--you don't want to get splattered with boiling syrup!

Let the mixer run for 15 minutes. Any longer and your marshmallows will be tough. But any less and they'll be too soft. The mixture turns white very quickly (see video) but it isn't marshmallows yet. The directions for most recipes say "pour" the marshmallows into the prepared pan, but it's really "scrape." With a greased scraper. You might want to spray your hands, too, while you're at it.

Even off  the top with your scraper. An offset spatula would be handy here. but it isn't necessary.

Cover loosely with foil and let your marshmallow set overnight before cutting and rolling in more powdered sugar to keep the pieces from sticking together. I don't have pictures of this step because I was afraid of clogging up my phone with powdered sugar.

This is what the marshmallows look like dipped in chocolate.

To make chocolate marshmallows, I added 1/2 cup of Scharffen Berger unsweetened cocoa powder to the bowl before pouring the syrup, so the hot syrup would cook the cocoa. If you want a sweeter chocolate flavor, try Ghirardelli Ground Chocolate. You can also use other flavoring extracts or your favorite alcoholic beverage instead of the vanilla extract called for in the recipe. Commercial vanilla extract is 35% alcohol (that's 70 proof) so don't be afraid to use whisky or liqueur for flavoring.

I do this for fun, but if you don't have the patience to make your own marshmallows and  just want to eat them, check out Sugar Knife Marshmallows. Jenna is currently doing a Kickstarter campaign. This is your chance to get in on the ground floor.

Charles Chocolates in the Mission / Posted by J.K.

I had sponsored Charles Chocolates, which has re-opened on Florida Street in the Mission, on Kickstarter, and it was time to stop by and pick up my "perk." I received a shopping bag stuffed with a sampling of the chocolates, and we took a close look at everything in the shop.

The new shop is a little out of the way (much more convenient than Emeryville, though!) but well worth the trip.

My loot–minus the bar Angela absconded with.

 

The label explains what's in the box, and lists the ingredients

There are large displays of individual chocolates and bars to choose from, and prepared packages for those who can't make up their minds.

  

  

Having just had dinner at Mission Bowling Club, Angela and I were ready for dessert. Everything in the pastry case looked tasty,

but we couldn't resist this huge piece of chocolate cake. It's big enough for three normal people; however, we had no leftovers. This cake is so gorgeous I have to show it to you both in shade and sunlight. The store's outdoors seating wasn't in place yet, so we went down the street to a coffee shop, which didn't object to us sitting down outside with our cake.

Cake in the shade

Cake in sunlight

We highly recommend this cake. I usually prefer my own baking, but this is excellent!

Mel's Tea of the Day

Thursday Tea is full of EGCG

I am enjoying a Green Tea HP supplement pixie today. I love having these in my purse when I'm traveling because it makes it simple to have a good for me drink that I enjoy. They have a great flavor & are better then many of the soda or drink options that are available when I'm out and about. I mix mine with 16 ounces of cold water.