tea cup tea

TEA OUTING: PORTO RICO IMPORTING CO.

After a few big shooting days in New York City, I had the pleasure of an afternoon to myself where I could just wander, windowshop and indulge in my senses. I bought a chocolate chip cookie from City Bakery and some pretzel croissants to bring back to Dave, had a beautiful brunch at Minerva in the West Village, then decided to dig into a few tea shops near by.

I walked by Porto Rico and recognized it upon entering as the spot where one of our beloved New Yorker friends, Marcia Tucker, would procure her stash of the finest Earl Grey tea. I think Marcia was the first person in my memory bank to really LOVE loose leaf tea and make the effort to prepare single, bold cups of Earl Grey while we visited from California. Marcia was an amazing vegetarian cook, perpetually composing artful pasta dishes late at night while my friend Ruby (her daughter) and I painted our nails or applied temporary tatoos in their SOHO apartment. Marcia was a luminary in her field of museum directors, she opened the New Museum after being fired from the Whitney and turned many contemporary art paradigms on their head along the way. She was a lovely lady and mentor, someone I'm so grateful to have known and shared several cuppas with.

Porto Rico, Marcia, I love you both.

If You Go:
Porto Rico Importing Co.
201 Bleecker St.
New York, NY 10012

CACAO, COCONUT, CASHEW & DATE HEARTS WITH COCONUT COCOA TEA

Upscale Hippy Food. It's balancing a brioche with a green smoothie, a salted chocolate brownie with an almond milk steamer, putting sprouts on the mascarpone cheese canape and sprinkling nutritional yeast on coconut oil popcorn . . . I love decadence and healthy, all in the balance. Some days it's tea, others it's coffee insanity and every now and again, I'm lapping up hot chocolate topped with dollops of fresh whip cream spiked with vanilla bean.

These little treat fall into the middle of things. The raw gems are full of dates, coconut, cacao and cashews -- very easy to put together in the food processor and nosh on when the sweet tooth or afternoon lull sneaks up. They are gluten free, dairy free, fairly nutritious and satisfy that urge to maniacally throw chocolate bars into the hungry mouth (this happens to you too every now and again, right??!), in a more healthful fashion. The hearts make a great gift and will delight all eaters.

I chanced upon this Roiboos driven Coconut Cocoa Tea while perusing the co-op and I must say it echoes the taste of the little hearts entirely. It's nutty, a tad fruity and somehow chocolatey. With a swirl of honey and dash of almond milk if I'm feeling frugal, whipping cream if it's lingering from a photo shoot, it is tops! It is sweet without being cloying and decaffeinated so safe before bed.

Combined, the tea and hearts filled me with mad healthy and delicious vibes! The type of thing that makes me do the happy dance while blasting Fleetwood Mac full tilt in Studio B, all by myself. They're cosmic like that, just look at the raw heart photo above! Behold the universe on a pan.

Cacao Hearts
Adapted from Oh Lady Cakes via A House in the Hills
makes about a dozen hearts

1 cups raw cashews

1 cup raw coconut shreds (I like the larger size flakes)

6 tbsp cup cacao powder, plus more for dusting

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 medjool dates

3 tablespoons water

In a food processor, pulse all ingredients for about 2 minutes until a dough is formed (it can be loud!). When a uniform dough is achieved, press mixture into a 3/4 inch block onto a sheet of parchment. Cut out with cookie cutters or simply into squares. Dust with more cacao powder and store in refrigerator. They're good out of the fridge or at room temperature.

Coconut Cocoa Tea

I bought mine at Cost Plus World Market and have been drinking it before bed every night for the past week!

MASCARPONE SPROUT CANAPES WITH COCONUT POUCHONG TEA

My friends know me well. Teas from near and far show up in pretty bags, with smiles and tales of "you've got to try this one!" Or "it's like drinking Champagne, I'm telling you!" and exclamation points run rampant. I love this. What a joy to give and receive something that transforms water into celebration. Last week Adrian came by with an outrageous princess tea cup (more on that soon) and the promise of a few teas she'd sampled in Hong Kong. A few days later, Coconut Pouchong was brewing . . . Little did I know this long leafed green tea imbued with the most captivating, REAL coconut flavor would seduce me into an imaginary stroll along a palm tree-lined path, a soothing tropical breeze whispering in my ear and a sleepy sunset in the distance. Transported I was from the grey, wet, difficult winter of Portland . . . The tea banished the rain and ushered in bright snacks too.

About that snack -- What to pair with this pleasant, aromatic brew? Why certainly a little canape of sprouts, mascarpone cheese, pickled onions, smoked sesame seeds and Jacobsen's Pinot Noir salt. Don't you love it when your hunch for pluck, rich, tart, crunch and smoke hits the mark? Bulls eye. I'd serve these little beauties to guests in a heart beat. However a plate of the canapes for just me made a rather fancy and colorful lunch, simple and surprising.

And the sprouts, I grew them! My black thumb was dusted off as another friend of mine gifted me a sprout-growing kit (a mason jar with a special lid is all it is) and armed me with some easy instructions for care. I am so pleased with the results, the sprouts have much more spicy, sproutey, flavor than any I've bought in those sad plastic containers. After about a week of rinsing my sprout seeds (an assortment of dill, clover, onion and mustard) and shaking them dry, I have a full quart of healthy, happy sprouts to sprinkle on all my meals. I highly recommend trying this sprouting adventure out -- it's easy even for the gardening-challenged such as I.

Mascarpone Sprout Canapes with Pickled Onion, Smoked Sesame Seeds & Wine Salt
serves 1 as a light lunch

10 crackers (I used these Edward & Sons baked Brown Rice snaps I like)
1 dollop of mascarpone cheese
sprinkle of sprouts
sprinkle of smoked sesame seeds and Jacobsen Pinot Noir Salt
pickled onions

to make quick pickled onions:

slice or dice 1/2 of a red onion
cover in red wine vinegar, a sprinkle of sugar and pinch of salt for at least 30 minute
keep covered in the fridge for up to a week -put on everything!

to assemble:

spread each cracker with a smidge of mascarpone - the cheese is rich, so a little goes a long way
top with sprouts and finish with a few pickled onions, sesame seeds and salt
the canapes don't keep very well, so just make as many as you'd like to eat, right then and there!

*Coconut Pouchong Tea can be purchased here.

A CUPPA WITH KIMBERLY HASSELBRINK

Kimberly Hasselbrink is a friend, fellow photographer, recipe developer, lover of the freshest produce, biggest mountains and creator of a beautiful blog, The Year in Food. I forget how we first met, but I'm so glad we did. Every time I find myself in San Francisco, we make time for a great meal and a flood of conversation (I think we talked about life, picture making, food and the rest of it for 8 hours straight during one particluar visit!). Kimberly makes an annual road trip to Montana and stops by in Portland for a little reprieve, berry picking and laughter. My friend also has a cookbook on deck with Ten Speed Publishing and I couldn't be more excited for what this lady brings forth into the printed world-- her passion for color, simplicity and relentless elegance in every recipe she cooks and shoots is undeniably inspiring.

What is your favorite type of tea and how do you take it? Right now I really love Tazo's Awake Tea ... it's a bracing black tea and perfect first thing in the morning. I put a little honey or sugar and some almond milk in it.

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