Flowering Teas and a Very Delicious Recipe for a Cold Winter's Night

Sandy's tea from China

Sandy brought back this flowering tea from China and we drank some the other day. Beautiful flavor as well. Last night, at my sister-in-law's place she served some also from Numi. It's been an excellent week for drinking pretty tea.

I also felt compelled to share this recipe for Braised Ligurian Chicken, a recipe from Jamie Oliver (loving his new campaign-click link only if you're a meat eater please) which was adapted by the NY Times and then adapted by me. It's become one of our favorites for a cold winter night.
I like this recipe better with some adjustments:
I like to add a bay leaf (if you can find someone at a farmers market who has dried fresh bay leaves-yesyesyes) and sometimes either a sprig of thyme and a few sage leaves or a pinch of Herbes de Provence. Any of those alone or in combination kind of round out the flavors. I use sea salt and organic chicken. White pepper is my new favorite ingredient in everything and also very nice for a change from black pepper. And never omit the anchovies---what's the point? They amp up the flavors by a thousand! I can't eat anything with wheat flour so instead used chickpea flour which is really nice as well. Lastly, in this batch I used big juicy Sicilian green olives instead of Calamata and grape tomatoes instead of quartered plums because they are closest in taste to real tomatoes than anything else I can get this time of year in NY.

My Braised Ligurian Chicken

BRAISED LIGURIAN CHICKEN
Adapted from Jamie Oliver
Time: 40 minutes

2 heaping tablespoons flour
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 to 5 fresh rosemary sprigs
6 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups white wine
4 anchovy fillets (optional)
1/2 cup calamata olives (with pits)
3 ripe plum tomatoes, halved, seeded and coarsely chopped.

1. In a large bowl, combine flour with salt and pepper to taste. Add chicken pieces and toss until evenly coated.

2. Place a large flameproof casserole dish over medium-high heat, and heat olive oil. Add chicken pieces, and fry until golden underneath, about 5 minutes. Turn chicken, and add rosemary and garlic. Continue to fry until garlic is softened but not colored, about 3 minutes. Add wine. When it comes to a boil, add anchovies, olives and tomatoes.

3. Partly cover pan, and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer until chicken is cooked and tender, and broth is reduced to a rich sauce, 15 to 20 minutes. To serve, discard rosemary sprigs, and season well with salt and pepper to taste. Place a piece or two of chicken on each plate, and top with a spoonful of sauce.

Yield: 4 servings.

Reprinted from the NY Times