Why arent you cooking with tea?Smart Australians and Americans are just starting to use herbal teas in their casseroles and soups to add flavour, after all herbal teas are just a sort of vegetable stock, except that they have many health benefits. In the UK and Europe cooks have been using teas to flavor cooking for hundreds of years. Are all the teas suitable for cooking? Well, the short answer is no. Why? Because some tea has such a delicate taste that its taste will totally disappear once other flavours are added. One good example is white tea, it has such a light taste that it really should be enjoyed by itself. Herbal teas that contain cinnamon or similar strong tasting herbs are very suitable in scones or buns, but not so suitable to use in stews. Rice, couscous, pastas and similar foods can be enhanced simply by draining the teapot into the cooking water! The other end of this tea-in-cooking idea is probably tea that suits cooking better than drinking! By that we mean the green powder tea, Matcha. Matcha is a flour-like grounded green tea that has a very strong taste and is traditionally used in the Japanese tea ceremony. So the best way to enjoy this antioxidant powerhouse is to add it to dishes, or drinks. Just a tiny spoonful of Matcha can add a fusion touch to your vanilla milkshake, cookies or waffles. 
There are also tricks to make tea a better cooking ingredient.
For example, in some scone or bun recipes the tea is coarsely grounded before adding to the dough. You can also replace the water component in your recipe with a strong tea – such as black tea and make it double strength. If using oolong in scone recipes you can infuse it in milk before adding the milk component to your recipe. So what you are waiting for? Arm yourself with your favourite tea and charge to the kitchen! Here are a couple of recipes to get you started. Ham and Corn buns Makes 6 buns These buns are great as breakfast or afternoon tea treats. They are nice and soft with a slightly sticky soft crust. To make the dough use
2 tsp Russian Caravan tea 2oz / 60ml boiling water 8oz / 125g High Grade / Bread Flour (not Bread Mix) 11g (roughly 11/2 sachet) dried yeast 25g butter 3oz / 90ml warm water 12g sugar a pinch of salt a pinch of white sesame seeds Filling (quantity to suit your liking). Diced ham, Corn, Spring Onion, chopped, Half onion, finely diced A pinch of chicken stock powder or salt, 1 tbsp white sesame seeds Grind the Russian Caravan Black Tea either using the back of a Chinese chopper or a pestle and mortar until fine. Add 2oz of boiling water to ground leaves. Cover (with a plate) and let it infuse.
Mix the rest of the Dough ingredients. Add Russian Caravan infusion (including the ground leaves) into the dough. Mix well. The dough should be elastic and doesn’t stick to the side of the bowl (add a little more flour if needed, but the dough should remain moist).
In a clean mixing bowl, sprinkle lightly with flour and place the dough. Sprinkle a little more flour on top of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and a warm towel. Place in a warm place for 30 minutes to rise. Knock back to expel air after 30 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap then warm towel again and let the dough rise for another 30 minutes in a warm place. Preheat oven to 200ºC. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and lightly roll out to a rectangle roughly 20cm wide and 30cm high. Sprinkle all filling ingredients onto dough except sesame seeds. Roll with a light hand into a ‘log’ shape. Dip a sharp knife in water then cut the log into roughly 4cm wide pieces and lay them flat on a baking tray lined with baking paper, at least 2-3cm apart. Cover the dough again with plastic wrap and a warm towel. Let it rise for a further 20 minutes. Brush the dough with a mix of 1 tbsp milk with 1 tsp honey and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Place the dough in an oven and bake for 10 minutes or golden brown. Enjoy when it’s hot! Try pairing these buns with a cup of good oolong tea such as White Dragon. Oolong Scones. This recipe is a new touch to traditional scones. The subtle rose and oolong flavour makes these little gems a perfect start for a weekend morning. They are quick to make and the oolong will help to cut down the bloatedness you feel after stuffing your face with these! If havent any rose oolong on hand, just use plain oolong. Makes 4 1 cup self-raising flour, 30g butter melted, ½ cup boiling water, 1 tbsp sugar 1 tbsp rose oolong, 3 tbsp rose petals, 1 tbsp skim milk powder
Infuse rose oolong with ½ cup of boiling water for 5 minutes. Preheat oven to 180˚C. Sift flour and sugar into a large bowl. Break rose petals into smaller pieces. Add to the flour mixture
Discard tea leaves from tea. Combine tea, skim milk powder and melted butter in a cup. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in tea mixture all at once, reserving about a teaspoon for glazing. Mix quickly into a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured board (using self-raising flour). Mix very lightly and form into 5cm balls. (Add a little more self-raising flour if the dough is too sticky to handle.) Place on an oven tray lined with baking paper. Glaze over with remaining tea mixture. Bake for 12–15 minutes or until scones sound hollow when tapped. Serve warm. Traditionally scones are served with jam and cream, but do try these without the “extra” to enjoy the subtle floral flavour of these scones. The perfect breakfast for a weekend morning. Enjoy them with a cup of English Breakfast or if you are keen to venture, a cup of Spicy Chai without milk or Lemon Black tea will compliment these hot little gems well! Successful Cooking, Patrick
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