Cup XVI: Caffeine Cuisine

Tea: Vanilla Lapsang Souchong

Music: The Rainmakers, Flirting with the Universe

Time: Late afternoon

Much more than a cup today, but only one cuppa -- if you know what I mean.

I have a huge bag of vanilla Lapsang Souchong, hand-blended by the friend who sent me nearly all of the teas in my collection. I love the stuff, but it takes up a lot of room. So, whenever possible, I cook with it.

The second half of the first steeping went to soak dried shiitakes. The other half, still way too hot to drink, went over sliced pork tenderloin to half-cook it. Then I made a second steeping, drank part of it and put the rest of it over the thirsty mushrooms.

The pork and shiitakes (the latter drained and sliced) went into Wok No. 1 (I have three), along with slices of Japanese eggplant and red bell pepper. Then, in order: sweet chile sauce, a ginormous scoop of crunchy peanut butter, and the tea in which the pork marinated. Toward the end, two and a half zots of soy sauce. The whole thing went over rice noodles.

Vanilla Lapsang has this great smoky sweetness that plays really well with shiitakes and eggplant (which in turn gets along wonderfully with pork).

So, when you're looking to get creative in the kitchen ... all I am saying is, give teas a chance.