Hosting your next book club or girl’s night out? Why not try a tea party? Less stressful than hosting a dinner, tea parties are traditionally held during the day and feature relatively simple meals. Here are six elegant recipes perfect to serve with your next tea tray.
Open-Faced Beef Sandwiches
1 cup unsalted butter
2 tsp. dried tarragon
4 large egg yolks
1 tbs. white vinegar
1 tbs. green peppercorns
1 French baguette, cut into 10 slices
20 thin slices of rare roast beef
Butter lettuce leaves for garnish
Melt the butter in a small saucepan, and add the tarragon. Place the egg yolks in a food processor and process until frothy. As the motor runs, pour in the melted butter and tarragon. Process until it’s well blended.
Add the vinegar until well blended, then turn off the processor and stir in the peppercorns by hand. Cover and refrigerate until cold.
Separate the beef slices, and top with a lettuce leaf. Then, place two slices each on top of each slice of the baguette. Spoon on the sauce, and serve at once with the extra sauce.
Avocado and Shrimp Bites
1 ripe avocado
1 lb. deveined, peeled and cooked jumbo shrimp
Lemon juice
Cut the avocado in half and remove the pit. Scoop the flesh out with a melon ball or peel the halves and cut into cubes. Slice an avocado ball and a shrimp on a skewer. Drizzle with lemon juice and serve.
Shrimp Cocktail
24 jumbo shrimp, peeled, deveined and chilled, tails on
Shrimp cocktail sauce
Fresh dill
For this recipe, use a martini glass with a short stem. You can find matching glassware for a more elegant look as well. Nestle the glass in a bowl filled with crushed ice. Place a bit of the shrimp cocktail sauce at the bottom, then place three or four shrimp inside with their tails up. Add sprigs of dill for garnish.
Celeriac Purée
2 celeriac, peeled and cubed
3 cups heavy cream
Coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Boil the celeriac cubes and the cream until the vegetable is tender, about 30 minutes. Puree in a blender or a food processor until smooth. Season and serve at once.
Fanchouettes
10 pastry cases/cups/shells
1 chicken breast, cooked
1/2 red pepper
1/2 green pepper
4 tbs. mayonnaise
1 hardboiled egg
Sprigs of Italian parsley for garnish
Blanch and finely chop the peppers. Dice the chicken and mix with the peppers. Add mayonnaise and blend. Fill pastry cases with the chicken/pepper/mayonnaise and garnish with slices of hardboiled eggs and parsley sprigs.
Uji Ice
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1 tbs. powdered green tea
8 cups shaved ice
Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat over a high heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, then simmer gently until a syrup forms. Let it cool to room temperature, then stir in the powdered tea.
Scoop the delicious shaved ice goodness into sherbet cups or dessert bowls. Shape them into pyramids and spoon the green tea syrup. Serve immediately.
These easy and quick recipes are bound to be a hit at any tea party!
