Through the Smoke and Ashes they came!

Doesn't this look like a magazine photo?

Look at those beautiful hens!  You wouldn't believe what they went through to look so good.
Daring Cooks threw out a wonderful challenge this month by presenting us with "tea".  I did a little research and found what looked to me to be some tasty recipes.  What the heck!  I will give them a try and see how they turn out.

First, there was the Chamomile Potato Soup.  It had just a few ingredients and was really easy to make.  The final product was unbelievably light and creamy with a fantastic hint of chamomile.  I am adding this to my list of favorites.  I bet it would be a really good crock pot recipe too.

Chamomile Potato Soup

While the soup was simmering, I could work on the centerpiece of the tea meal.  I had decided to do a tea smoked Cornish hen and my lovely mother had an excellent variety of fresh loose teas that she let me use.  I had actually started by marinating the birds the day before in a scant bit of rub that obviously packed a punch.  After a good rub down the birds sat in the fridge for 24 hours.  I don't know what happened in there while the door was closed but my naked little hens came out and something was different about them.  Maybe they were hit on by the salad dressing or the tortillas offered to help them cover up and be more modest, I just can't say.  What I do know is that they were ready to get in the oven and do what they do best.  So off they went, a 4 pack of hens, into a hot oven where they lounged around and got the perfect tan.  Here they are just out of the oven.  They look pretty scrumptious huh?  Well, hold on!  They actually will look even better in about 5 minutes.

Just out of the oven and in the Super Wok steamer tray

The hens had another excursion to go on and I had been prepping while they were int he oven, I was going to smoke them in the *Super Wok that my brother gave me.  This wok held four 1.5 pound hens and had lots of room. I am telling you, this thing is gigantic!

*My youngest brother gave me the biggest steaming wok I have ever seen and I never knew what the heck to use it for.  It is really huge!!  Now, I've used it for the last two Daring Cooks Challenges and it inspires me to go big or go home.  Thank Jfreaka!

To do the smoking I used a citrus blend black tea, dry white rice and a tiny bit of sugar.  Oh yea, and I lined the Super Wok with heavy duty tin foil so that I wouldn't scorch it.  As you can see it got REALLY smokey!  I will tell you that my house smelled so good I was thinking that this would be a great air freshener.

The Super Wok in action

When the deed was done, the birds arose from the smoke like little Phoenixes.  They were dark and lovely and unbelievably tasty.

My mouth is watering just looking at them!  I am sold on the tea smoking in a major way.  So there ya go, another challenge under my belt.  Did I mention that I love doing this?  I have learned so much from each and every challenge I have done.  Oh yea, I am having lots of fun and my parents love me more every month.  That is just a side benefit to this whole thing.

As always, don't forget to go and see the other wonderful dishes that were created by the marvelous cooks at The Daring Kitchen and till next month....

Sarah from Simply Cooked was our November Daring Cooks’ hostess and she challenged us to create something truly unique in both taste and technique! We learned how to cook using tea with recipes from Tea Cookbook by Tonia George and The New Tea Book by Sara Perry.


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