Chickpea Pan Bagnat

Apparently, flattening your sandwich down enough so it will fit in your mouth is not an exclusively American thing.

Verdict: I liked all of the flavors together (the vinegar and oil soaked bread was really nice actually) and how filling it was, but it was kind of hard to eat and didn't stay together very well. Preparing all the separate pieces took kind of a long time too. Not sure I'd go out of my way to make it exactly like this again, but a simplified version might be nice.

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RECIPE: Chickpea Pan Bagnat (Smitten Kitchen)

Eggplant Parmesan Melts

Our neighbors invited us to come pick their vegetables while they were away last week, and the eggplants were in full swing. I am still learning how to cook eggplant in ways that I like it, and I thought this would be a sure bet. I cooked it exactly as written.

Verdict: Breading and frying things is a lot of work, but 100% worth how it tastes. Absolutely delicious. Would definitely make it again if I felt up to the task.

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RECIPE: Eggplant Parmesan Melts (Smitten Kitchen)

Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

In preparing for International Lolita Day this summer I decided I wanted to make something traditionally served at high tea for an online meetup. For my last in-person tea party I made a Korean inspired sandwich with cucumber in it but today I was more interested in the traditional kind. However, because they're so simple and delicately flavored, it's easy to make them really boring or unappealing. I wanted, in the words of my friend, "a cucumber sandwich that doesn't suck."

I happened upon a missive by Felicity Cloake on the subject, and it was an interesting read, not having grown up around tea culture of any kind. If you'd like to read it, feel free to check out this link. But I'm just here to tell you how to make the version she settled on.

Notes:

• Admittedly I made my sandwich with brown bread because it was all I had. I liked it, though I think a white bread (but not Wonder Bread style white bread) is really what you want here.
• I tried cutting my sandwich into 6 pieces and it started falling apart. I'd stick with dividing the sandwich into 4 pieces max. I think a bread knife or a sharp chef's knife works best.

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RECIPE:

Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

from Felicity Cloake

Serves 3-4

1/2 large cucumber, peeled (seeds removed if there are large seeds)

1/8-1/4 tsp salt

6 slices of good, fresh white bread

4-5 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature

Ground white pepper

Slice cucumber very thinly. Place in a sieve over the sink. Salt the slices lightly and toss to coat. Let stand for 20 minutes. Taste one, and if it is very salty, you can rinse the cucumbers to remove some of the salt. Place cucumber slices in a single layer on paper towels and pat dry with more paper towels to remove excess moisture.

Butter each slice of bread generously on one side. Arrange cucumber slices to cover 3 of the slices of bread, overlapping the slices as needed, then sprinkle white pepper on top. Top with the remaining bread slices.

Using gentle but firm pressure, place your hand on top of each sandwich and cut off the crusts with a sharp knife, then cut into 3 equal fingers, 4 squares, or 4 triangles. Serve immediately, preferably alongside a cup of good tea.

Tea Parties Vol. 4: The Prosecco Party

It had been nearly 2 years since my last tea party and I sorely needed to change that. For this party I went for an English high tea structure to the meal but with some fancy twists. Cucumber sandwiches, but Korean inspired. Chickpea salad instead of chicken or egg (bonus: vegetarians can eat it). Smoked salmon with lots of fresh vegetables. Plain scones, something of a rarity in America. Tiny desserts that taste as great as they look.

This was my first time having the party on Saturday instead of Sunday, and I normally work weekdays, so that meant preparing most of the food Friday evening after a full day of work plus Saturday morning. I am hashtag blessed to have awesome friends who came to help at both times. I significantly underestimated the amount of work this would involve, and I could not have gotten all this food made in time alone. Previously I asked people to arrive at noon but I quickly discovered I'm never actually ready to start then. Starting the party an hour later made a LOT of difference.

The schedule stars finally aligned for my sister to make it to one of these parties, and she let me dress her up! I have the same dress in two different colors and I put together matching outfits for us that didn't require a ton of hair/makeup preparation. It made me extra happy and I think she had fun.

We had 9 people this time, our largest group ever. Despite my best intentions, no actual tea was served (!) We started with sparkling wine and just never switched. Therefore, it was a prosecco party and not a tea party. We went through wayyy more than I thought we would but all the people I asked to bring sparkling wine did, and even some that I didn't ask! ha.

My husband threw on a city pop livestream neither of us had heard before, and it ended up being an incredible gem! It's good background music for frantic cooking working and we decided to just keep it on for the party too. Have a listen if you're into jazz, funk, disco, pop, and reggae from the 70s and 80s! He also took some fun photos to remember the afternoon.

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RECIPES

• SAVORIES
• Focaccia Sandwiches for a Crowd (Smitten Kitchen) -- I used this as the bread for all the sandwiches because I really, really wanted to try it ever since I found it several months ago. It was pretty easy to make and tasted quite good too! I did the quickest rising option, and it took a little more than 25 minutes to bake in my oven. I'd definitely consider making it again if I need to make a large amount of sandwiches where I also want to make my own bread and have enough advance time to make it.
• Korean Style Cucumber Sandwiches with Gochujang Mayo (Gather and Dine) -- we made a chicken version and vegetarian version with dry fried tofu (marinated after dry frying), and I think I like the tofu one a little better since it stayed together better and was a little more salty. The gochujang mayo was really tasty but some found it a little too spicy, so maybe I will dial it back next time. They fall apart easily so maybe keeping the chicken in larger pieces would work better if I made them again.
• Smoked Salmon Sandwiches -- Sarah made these completely differently from how I would have but they did taste pretty good. She blended the cream cheese and salmon and dill with some lemon juice, spread it on a big piece of the focaccia, cut it into squares and then we garnished each with a slice of radish and cucumber.
• Curried Chickpea Salad (She Likes Food) -- Paula made this so I don't have any notes other than that I might have chopped the celery and apple a little smaller than she did, but it significantly exceeded my expectations and I am looking forward to making it again! It's a good balance of curry flavor, creaminess, and sweetness, and it stays together nicely if you mash some of the beans really thoroughly but keep others in large pieces. A keeper for sure.
• Smoky Eggy Deviled Eggs -- for something without bread. This is my personal recipe, so of course I love it. Andrea and Paula prepared the eggs and filling the night before. Caroline stuffed the eggs in the morning and arranged them beautifully with some butter lettuce and sweet peppers from my work colleague's farm share.
• SCONES
• English Style Scones -- Sarah made these the morning of the tea party while I was asleep. She was not impressed with the recipe, and she makes a lot of scones, but I personally liked them. I served them with clotted cream (the Whole Foods in my city sells it), homemade strawberry freezer jam (pick yourself some strawberries and follow the recipe in the Sure-Jell Reduced Sugar Pectin box), and homemade lemon curd (from a frozen batch I made a couple of years ago so I don't remember which recipe I used). Oddly I feel like they tasted better (less bitter) the next day. I'd love to try making them myself.
• SWEETS
• Persian Love Cake (Broma Bakery) -- HOLY CRAP this was delicious. I have a separate entry on it since I did 95% of the preparation and have a lot of (happy) thoughts on it. I absolutely want to make this again.
• Chocolate Ganache Mini Tarts (Bon Appetit) -- I decorated them with edible gold glitter and fresh raspberries instead of the halvah and sesame salt. I will look for a different ganache recipe next time. My ganache did not fully set even after being refrigerated for many hours. The tart shells rolled out and baked nicely but tasted kind of bitter, though they did taste better the next day. I think if they were a little sweeter they'd have been perfect. It made 21 tart shells.
• Lavender Shortbread Sandwich Cookies -- a favorite of mine but with a new challenge: we rolled out the dough and cut them into large (2.5-3 inch) hearts, and were sparing with the filling so they wouldn't slide apart. It made about 4.5 dozen (54) hearts, enough for 27 sandwiches, with extra filling left over. I put about 1 cup more powdered sugar in the filling than the recipe called for and I think between that and the small amount of filling inside the cookies it actually set somewhat after being chilled in the refrigerator. I like these better as small, thick cookies with more filling. If I do make them heart shaped again, I will get a smaller cutter. I also think a firmer filling is the way to go and will continue to work on adjusting the recipe so it is firm but still has enough bright, fresh lemon flavor.

Other things we served that were not made from scratch:

• Sparkling wine (mostly prosecco, some rose)

THE TEA PARTIES

• Vol. 3: An End of Summer Feast
• Vol. 2: Spring Up Speed Up
• Vol. 1: A Birthday Party, and Being Unapologetically Yourself