Monday, May 11, 2015

White Bean Walnut Spread with Roasted Tomato Tea Toast

I was immediately intrigued by the new book Steeped. I love tea. I drink tea often and have cooked and baked with tea as well, and now here was a book full of “Recipes Infused with Tea.” I received a review copy. What I quickly realized as I started reading the book is that not only is it full of clever uses of tea in all kinds of different dishes, it’s also full of just really delicious-sounding food. The Green Tea Noodles in Asparagus Sauce with Goat Cheese Pearls has a couple of genius things happening in the same recipe. The fresh pasta is made with matcha green tea powder mixed with the spelt and all-purpose flours. And, the dish is served with goat cheese pearls made by rolling little pieces of goat cheese between your palms. They make the prettiest garnish. The Iced Tea Sugar Cookies are made with five options for glazes, and each glaze is made with a different type of tea. For instance, the Mojito Glaze calls for Moroccan mint green tea and lime zest, and the Rooibos Carrot Glaze has rooibos tisane and finely grated carrot. I first learned about tea leaf salads when I read the book Burma, and this book includes a fabulous, big, composed, California-version of a tea leaf salad with chopped avocado, jalapeno, and sunflower seeds. There are also really lovely pairings like the Jasmine Tea Whipped Cream with Shortcakes topped with Canteloupe. I can already imagine how good sweet, ripe cantaloupe will be with the flavor of jasmine tea. This is definitely so much more than a darling, little book about tea. First, I had to try the Roasted Tomato Tea Toasts and experiment with the smoky flavor from lapsang souchong tea. 

You begin by grinding lapsang souchong tea with coarse salt in a spice grinder. It results in a smoky-flavored salt accented with the floral qualities of the tea. This salt was sprinkled on tomato slices before they were roasted. I had just received some tomatoes from our CSA, and I bought some extras at the farmers’ market. This happened two weeks ago, and at that point, our local tomatoes were of the greenhouse variety. They were good candidates for roasting to concentrate their flavors. While the tomato slices roasted, white beans, toasted walnuts, minced garlic, more ground lapsang souchong tea, and some of the tea salt were pureed together in the food processor. Olive oil was drizzled in until the puree was smooth. Last, olive bread was sliced and toasted. I cut the bread to about the size of each slice of tomato. The bread was topped with the white bean puree, then a slice of tomato, and chopped chives. 

These tea toasts were so simple to prepare, and the result was a delightful and unique flavor experience. The lapsang souchong salt is just smoky enough without being overbearing as some smoked salts can be. It combined perfectly with the white bean and walnut spread, and the roasted tomatoes on top. I love now having the idea of this tea and this salt for adding a hint of smokiness in my bag of tricks, and I look forward to using tea in even more new and different ways. 

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16 comments:

  1. Fabulous flavours and combinations! I love your food.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. Walnut spread.. must be really delicious!

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  3. This is my next white bean dip recipe! Love the add of walnuts.

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  4. Walnut spread sounds so perfect! Lovely idea!

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  5. Adding the tea to the salt is fascinating. I like the idea of a book chock full of tea ideas....I drink it all day long. Iced in the summer, of course. Fortunately, we have a marvelous tea store nearby.
    I made a walnut snack cake recently and have some toasted walnuts left...really ought to try the spread. It would be super on crackers.

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  6. I have been curious about Steeped! Your review is wonderful and the recipe a delight!

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  7. This is the second review of this book I've seen today, and it's official - I NEED IT!! I love the different flavors tea can add foods depending on which you use...these toasts sound so perfect for summer!

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  8. I do like the sound of the white bean and walnut spread. This is a very pretty snack. I have not heard of that salt - something to add to my google search list! xx

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  9. What an interesting idea for a spread! I've had all the ingredients in spreads before, but I don't think in the same combination. Or at least in the combination I'm imagining! Sounds like a terrific book (and recipe!). Thanks.

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  10. This week I've been obsessed with dips and this is a really nice version. I haven't used walnuts in dips much before but this looks really nice and smooth! :D

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  11. first of all, white beans are the ideal bean for dips and spreads, so you're automatically off to a good start. those tomatoes roasted gloriously! this is a great nibbler.

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  12. Simply damn delicious appetizer!!!
    Dedy@Dentist chef

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  13. Great sounding idea, I think I have most of these ingredients in the house right now!

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  14. I think Goat Cheese pearls are the loveliest thing I've ever heard of! Sounds like a great cookbook.

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  15. Dear LIsa, What a delicious spread and love the spread with the tomato; a perfect lunch. xo Catherine

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  16. I love any kind of toast. Yum!

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