Admari Tea

October 12th is National Gumbo Day!

Adrienne Etkin — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:59:35 +0000

Today’s post has nothing to do with tea but being that it is National Gumbo Day I figured I would share my very rich, delectable recipe for Chicken and Andouille Gumbo. I spent 4 glorious years living in New Orleans where I learned some great Creole/Cajun recipes and cooking techniques. I also learned that drinking many many hurricanes will ALWAYS result in a very uncomfortable next morning. A nice big bowl of gumbo helps. As does a Jerry Mary from Igor’s.

Happy cooking and laissez les bons temps rouler!

1 tablespoon plus 1 cup vegetable oil/olive oil mixture

1 pound smoked sausage, such as andouille or chorizo cut crosswise 1/2-inch thick pieces

1 large whole roast chicken or 2 small roast chickens (rotisserie chicken from supermarket works great!) – Pull the chicken meat from the bones and shred, discarding the bones and skin.

1 cup all-purpose flour

half a stick of butter

1 cups chopped onions

1 cup chopped celery

1 1/2 cup chopped bell peppers

1 small jalapeno, deseeded and chopped

1/3 cup chopped garlic

2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 teaspoon cayenne

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

1/2 cup chopped green onions

2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves

16 ounces fresh okra, sliced into rounds

3 bay leaves

9 cups chicken stock

Sriracha or tabasco to taste

In a large enameled cast iron Dutch oven or large stock pot, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil mixture over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook until well browned, about 8 minutes. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Set aside.

Combine the remaining cup of oil and the flour in the same Dutch oven over low to medium heat. Cook, stirring slowly and constantly for 20 to 25 minutes, to make a dark brown roux, the color of chocolate. The key to a perfect roux is to cook it SLOWLY!! Patience!

Add the onions, garlic, celery, jalapeno and bell peppers and cook, stirring, until wilted, 7 to 10 minutes. Add the reserved sausage, butter, salt, cayenne, paprika, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, thyme and bay leaves, stir, and cook for 4 minutes. Stirring, slowly add the chicken stock, and cook, stirring, until well combined. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.

Add the reserved chicken to the pot and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, skimming off any fat that rises to the surface.

Make rice.

White Rice:

2 cups long-grain white rice – I like Carolina.

4 cups water, chicken stock, or canned low-sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 bay leaf

In a 2-quart saucepan, combine the rice, water, butter, salt, and bay leaf and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let sit, covered and undisturbed, for 5 minutes. Uncover and fluff the rice with a fork. Discard the bay leaf.

Reduce heat on the gumbo and stir in the green onions, parsley, and okra for an additional 10-15 minutes.

Spoon rice into the bottom of deep bowls or large cups and ladle the gumbo on top. Serve, passing hot sauce on the side.

ADRIENNE’S GUMBO YAYA!!!

Rainy Day Tea

Adrienne Etkin — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 18:17:25 +0000

Waiting for the bus on a rainy day in Hangzhou, China

I wrote this post a year ago today but it is quite apropos for today’s post. I am in Ridgewood, New Jersey to do a tasting at The Cheese Shop at Super Cellars tomorrow and it is a gloomy, rainy day! We don’t have many of these in Miami so I can truly appreciate the warm feeling a nice cup of tea gives me on these rainy days. Happy Fall!!! Enjoy!

RAIN, TEA & LOVE

I watch the raindrops chase each other down the glass on this very rainy, grey day in Miami. Not the normal rain, then sun, then rain, then more sun. Just an ominous darkened sky. But I don’t mind one bit. The rain invokes a memory. A remembrance of an experience I had when I was probably about seven years old. My family and I were on vacation in Cape Cod and we had stopped in Plymouth, Massachusetts for historic sightseeing. I remember walking up a hill in drizzling rain on a very grey/green day, very much like today. We were all wearing those old rubber raincoats that get too hot; the bright yellow ones. Except mine was bright green. They couldn’t find a yellow one small enough for me. I remember pouting at being excluded from the tribe of yellow coats. I was cranky, hungry and damp to the bone. We spot an old house, a tea room. The perfect place for a dampened spirit.

We all sat around a small table by the window and I remember watching the raindrops bead and run down the glass. The sweet smell of scones and tea filled the room. We had a steaming pot of black Tea, probably a Ceylon or an English Breakfast blend – something robust and floral. Of course I took milk and sugar in mine back then. My mother put a scone on my plate and I was probably the happiest child on the planet at that moment. I took one bite into the dense, moist, flaky scone and I was in heaven. It was the scone to which all others are measured even to this day. I mean nothing can compete with a seven year old girl’s memory of pastry on a rainy day in Massachusetts. A cup of Tea and a bite of scone, something so simple, created a feeling of warmth, of love - even if I didn’t have a yellow raincoat.

This love affair with Tea started at such a young age for me and its days like this that remind me of that. I do what I do because Tea does more than taste delicious. Tea can create memories that stay with us forever. Memories filled with warmth, comfort and love. I think I will go make a pot of Tea.

The Admari Tea Evolution

Adrienne Etkin — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:58:00 +0000

July 2011 – As Admari moves into our new phase of expansion, I have experienced mixed emotions. On one hand, I am so excited to be spreading the way of tea through our blends in a more accessible and efficient form. On the other, we are evolving out of our beginnings as specialty tea merchants. It is a bittersweet feeling.

When we moved the company to Miami, I found life to be increasingly more hectic, if that was possible. I was skipping my morning tea as well as my afternoon tea more and more. I felt a difference in my daily energy levels and my general health. I began to pack my own teabags, as I do for travelling – I just didn’t have the time to prepare my beloved beverage anymore. I knew I wasn’t alone; our customers have been requesting our blends in teabags for quite a long time. It was time to evolve.

On Monday our first samples of our Admari Tea blends in biodegradable pyramid teabags arrived. It was an ecstatic moment for me. The realization of years of work was here in a convenient form. And none of the originality of our blends were compromised at all! The tea tasted the same… it had the same great aroma and rich flavor. I was over the moon. When I woke late Tuesday morning and had to run to meetings, I didn’t have to sacrifice my morning KickAssam. I flipped on the electric kettle, threw a KickAssam pouch in my travel mug, poured the water and I was off. As I got in my car, I inhaled the deep cardamom aroma and smiled – it really worked.

Nothing will change in our tea blends. The process is simple… I’m personally still blending all our tea so the tea you find in these fabulous see through pouches is exactly the same – whole leaf loose leaves… the best we can find. The tea is then run though a machine where it is weighed into the proper serving size and put into the biodegradable pyramids. Great tea made easy.

We will no longer be carrying straight loose tea; we are shifting focus entirely to our lifestyle blends – Teas that enhance the quality of your life. The transition was made so that all of our customers can enjoy Admari Tea as quickly and easily as possible.

I still use my yixing, gaiwan and Simple Steep to prepare tea – but not all the time. That ritual has been relegated to my meditative moments – the time I need to truly collect myself- as well as for students, family and friends.

I truly hope you all will embrace and try the new Admari Tea – I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be” – Lao Tzu