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[waterflyoriginals]

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[villagetea]

What goes good with Village Tea? Chocolate Pistachio Cookies

What goes good with Village Tea?

Chocolate Pistachio Cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup(s) sugar

2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

3 ounce(s) semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

4 ounce(s) (about 1 cup) salted shelled pistachios, ground to a paste in a food processor

1 large egg white

1/8 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract

Pinch of coarse salt

6 ounce(s) bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 tablespoon(s) vegetable shortening

Slivered, unsalted, shelled pistachios (optional), for garnish

Directions

1.    Make filling: Bring 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved; set aside.

2.    Put egg yolks in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk by hand until yolks are warm to the touch, about 2 minutes. Fit mixer with the whisk attachment. Mix yolks on medium speed; pour in sugar syrup. Raise speed to high; mix until mixture is cool and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium; drizzle in melted chocolate. Refrigerate until firm, about 45 minutes.

3.    Make cookies: Put pistachio paste and rest of sugar in the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until smooth. Mix in the egg white, vanilla, and salt.

4.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Transfer dough to a pastry bag fitted with a small (about 1/4 inch) plain round tip (such as Ateco #10). Pipe 1-inch rounds onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing about 1 inch apart.

5.    Bake cookies until firm and golden around edges, about 10 minutes. Transfer on parchment to a wire rack, and let cool completely.

6.    Place cookies, bottom sides up, on a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Spread 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons chocolate filling on bottom of half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies. Freeze 1 hour.

7.    Make glaze: Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add shortening; stir until combined. Let cool, stirring, until mixture is lukewarm.

8.    Using a chocolate fork or regular fork, hold 1 cookie at a time above bowl of chocolate glaze. Spoon glaze over cookie, letting excess drip back into bowl. Transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Garnish with slivered pistachios. Refrigerate until set, 5 minutes. Cookies can be refrigerated in single layers in airtight containers up to 3 days.

[villagetea]

Where does tea come from?

The history of tea is long and complex, spreading across multiple cultures over the span of thousands of years. Tea likely originated in Yunnan, China during the Shang Dynasty (1500 BC–1046 BC) as a medicinal drink. The earliest credible record of tea drinking dates to the 3rd century AD, in a medical text written by Hua T'o. Tea was first introduced to Portuguese priests and merchants in China during the 16th century. Drinking tea became popular in Britain during the 17th century. The British introduced tea production, as well as consumption to India, in order to compete with the Chinese monopoly on tea.

The earliest record of tea in a more occidental writing is said to be found in the statement of an Arabian traveler, that after the year 879 the main sources of revenue in Canton were the duties on salt and tea. Marco Polo records the deposition of a Chinese minister of finance in 1285 for his arbitrary augmentation of the tea taxes. The travelers Giovanni Batista Ramusio (1559), L. Almeida (1576), Maffei (1588), and Teixeira (1610) also mentioned tea. In 1557, Portugal established a trading port in Macau and word of the Chinese drink "chá" spread quickly, but there is no mention of them bringing any samples home. In the early 17th century, a ship of the Dutch East India Company brought the first green tea leaves to Amsterdam from China. Tea was known in France by 1636. It enjoyed a brief period of popularity in Paris around 1648. The history of tea in Russia can also be traced back to the seventeenth century. Tea was first offered by China as a gift to Czar Michael I in 1618. The Russian ambassador tried the drink; he did not care for it and rejected the offer, delaying tea's Russian introduction by fifty years. In 1689, tea was regularly imported from China to Russia via a caravan of hundreds of camels traveling the year-long journey, making it a precious commodity at the time. Tea was appearing in German apothecaries by 1657 but never gained much esteem except in coastal areas such as Ostfriesland. Tea first appeared publicly in England during the 1650s, where it was introduced through coffee houses. From there it was introduced to British colonies in America and elsewhere.

[villagetea]

Jasmine Chicken Soup with Green Tea Soba

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil, divided

3 medium-large carrots, peeled and sliced into 2- by 1/2-in. sticks

2 medium red onions, sliced into half-moons

1 large fennel bulb, stalks trimmed and bulb cored and sliced into thin strips

1 1/2 ounces fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into matchsticks (a generous 1/4 cup)

About 1 tsp. kosher salt, divided

About 1 tsp. pepper, divided

2 tablespoons of Village Tea Company Inc. Loose leaf Smooth Jasmine Green Tea

2 qts. reduced-sodium chicken broth

2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (2 lbs. total)

1 tablespoon freshly ground coriander seeds

1/2 pound green tea soba noodles or spaghettini (about 8 oz.)

1/4 cup mixed chopped parsley, chives, and cilantro

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°. Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a large, heavy ovenproof frying pan or wok over medium heat. Add carrots, onions, fennel, ginger, and 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until vegetables soften, about 9 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and wipe pan clean.

Boil 3 cups water. Remove from heat, add the loose leaf Smooth Jasmine Green Tea, cover, and let steep 5 minutes. Heat chicken broth to a slow simmer in a pot. Strain tea into broth. Season broth with some salt and set aside, covered.

Dry chicken with paper towels. Rub with 1 tsp. oil. Season all over with 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper and the coriander.

Heat same pan used for vegetables over high heat. Drizzle in remaining 2 tsp. oil, then add chicken, skin side down. Cook until skin turns very dark brown, almost black; then flip over with tongs and transfer pan to oven. Bake chicken until just opaque, in center, about 15 minutes (cut to check). Let stand until cool enough to handle.

Cook soba according to package directions. Drain and rinse. Remove chicken skin and slice meat from bones. Put 6 large, wide bowls into turned-off oven to warm. Bring broth to a simmer, covered.

Pile noodles into bowls. Top with chicken and vegetables, then ladle in broth. Sprinkle with herbs.