Pairing Tea With Food Tips

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Are there any tea serving tips for parties?

Tea Serving Tips for Parties

When you're having a party, serving good tea can be a challenge. However, being able to provide some delicious, healthy refreshment makes the challenge worthwhile. To be able to provide perfectly brewed tea to your guests, try some of these tea serving tips:

  • Consider preparing several types of tea well ahead of time and serving them chilled. Iced tea requires very little work after it is prepared and is a great way for a busy host or hostess to be able to introduce several of the less common teas to the party guests.
  • Offer tea as part of another drink. Tea martinis or tea smoothies can be mixed on the spot without worries about overbrewing if you prepare the tea you're going to use in the drinks ahead of time and place it in the fridge until the guests arrive.
  • Serve different hot teas at specific intervals through the evening and have a few family members or guests pitch in to help get the tea served quickly. If you are brewing tea one pot at a time, it is easier to avoid ruining a pot because of distractions and only providing hot tea at certain times frees you up so that you can perform your other hosting duties.

   
Is there any healthy food to serve with tea for a party?

Food to Serve With Tea at a Party

You'd like to have a tea party, but you don't want to serve platters of sugary foods to your guests. It isn't a healthy way to eat and you'd like to avoid tempting guests that are on specific diets for their health to break their dietary rules. However, now you aren't sure about the menu. Is there a guide for food to serve with tea?

While many tea party pictures show people indulging in cookies, pie tarts and other sugary confections, there are actually quite a few options for less sugary dishes that you can serve at the event. Try some of these traditional treats for a healthier party menu:

  • Savory tarts are great with most black teas and allow you to use the adorable tart crusts that were on those little pies you were admiring. Simply choose fillings that are healthy.
  • Mix up your favorite healthy muffin recipes and bake them in mini muffin pans. Mini muffins look just as charming as cupcakes when you arrange them on a three tiered stand.
  • Make miniature sandwiches with a variety of fillings. Substitute whole grain bread for the traditional white bread to make these sandwiches a healthy choice.

   
Are there any tips for fillings for tea sandwiches?

Fillings for Tea Sandwiches

You've got a ton of things to do to get ready for your tea party and the last thing you want to worry about is baking a few dozen delicate little tarts. You've decided to serve tea sandwiches instead, but now you need to find some delicious filling recipes. What do people typically serve on tea sandwiches?

Cream cheese is a common ingredient in many tea sandwich recipes. It helps keep the sandwiches in one piece and isn't so strong that it overpowers the teas being served. While cream cheese cucumber sandwiches are a very easy, traditional filling, you can shake things up a bit and still have a quick and easy filling. Try adding dried cranberries or pecans to the cream cheese in place of the cucumbers.

Salad type sandwiches are also very popular. Reinvent the egg salad sandwich by adding some Marrakesh mint green tea to the salad. Tuna, chicken and seafood salad sandwiches are also all common choices, although tuna salad can be a bit overpowering for most teas and should be a last resort for most menu planners. If you'd like to have a fish sandwich on the menu, a salmon spread is probably a better choice.

   
Can I use loose leaf tea in recipes?

Loose Leaf Tea Food Recipes

You love tea tins and have gathered quite a collection of tins filled with loose leaf tea. However, when you want a refreshing cup of tea, you reach for your tea pockets instead of getting out a tea tin. You simply prefer the convenience of the pockets over loose tea, but you do feel a bit guilty when you see all those tins of tea going to waste. What you need is a way to use up loose leaf tea without having to brew up a pot of tea.

Why not try adding the tea to food recipes? Loose leaf tea is a delicious way to enhance the flavor of many dishes, from salads to main courses. Try one of these recipes for simple ways to add loose leaf tea to food:

  • Meatballs are one family favorite that taste delicious with a bit of black tea. Simply combine ground turkey, a tablespoonful of grated Parmesan cheese, a teaspoonful of your favorite black tea blend, an egg and a dash of pepper. Form meatballs with the mixture and brown them for a few minutes in a frying pan coated with olive oil. Drain the oil and add and heat your favorite pasta sauce.
  • Oven baked chicken is a healthy alternative to deep fried chicken that is even healthier when you add a teaspoonful of your favorite green tea blend to the recipe. Simply mix up your favorite breading recipe and add the green tea. Then bread and cook the chicken in the usual manner.

   
Can I use loose leaf herbal teas in recipes?

Loose Leaf Herbal Teas and Food

You know that there are foods that use green or black teas right in the recipe, but you'd like to try to use some of your favorite loose leaf herbal teas. However, you don't want to create unappetizing meals, either. You need some ideas for ways to use herbal tea in your menus.

Herbal teas are just as easy to add to recipes as green or black teas are. Simply think about the flavor of the tea you'd like to use and how it complements the foods you usually drink it with. For example, a delicious lavender tea usually goes well with a variety of desserts. Try substituting a bit of lavender tea for water in your lemon sponge cake or your famous vanilla cupcakes. Chamomile tea leaves can be a great way to enhance your favorite shortbread recipe.

Mint has been paired with lamb for centuries, but it also is delicious with pork. Try substituting a cup of brewed mint tea for some of the liquid in a dish or adding a teaspoon of dried mint tea to a pork rub. Mint tea leaves can also be surprisingly delicious in salsa or some salad dressings.

Don't forget soups. Lemon balm and mint are both commonly used in many soup recipes.

   
How do I choose the best tea to serve with food?

Choosing the Best Tea to Serve With Food

You know that certain teas enhance certain foods more than other teas, but you aren't sure if your taste buds are up to the challenge of making the selection. Since you wanted to set up a tea tasting event for your friends and family, you need to be sure you get the pairings right. Is there a simple way to figure out which teas are best with which foods? Actually, while some teas definitely taste better with specific foods, you can generally get things right by following a few basic guidelines.

To choose the best tea to serve with food for your tea tasting menu, you should:

  • Think about whether you'll be serving black, green, red, white, or herbal teas. If you are only brewing one type of tea, you'll be able to more easily create a tasting menu that works for the entire meal. If you are serving several types of teas, consider serving dinner foods with one type and then setting up another tasting round for desserts and another type of tea.
  • Consider the strength of the tea. A green tea would go well with a chicken dish, while most black teas can stand up to beef or pork dishes.

   
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