Afternoon Tea Delights and Kansas City Steak Filets Mignon

Saturday we celebrated Sally's Mum's 80^th birthday with an afternoon tea. We invited a number of her old work chums, plus friends and family, and had a great time. Naturally, I did a lot of the food, although we did have some 'boughten' elements.

Strawberry Scones

Makes 8 wedges or more than a dozen 3” rounds

2-1/2 cups AP Flour

3 Tbsp Sugar

1 Tbsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) Butter, cut into chunks

1-1/2 cups chopped fresh Strawberries

2 Eggs, beaten

1/2 cup Half-and-Half (make that a "scant" half cup, so the dough isn't too moist)

Best done the day before: take 1/2 cup of chopped strawberry and mash them in a bowl. Add the sugar and a splash of water, and stir to combine. Let the mix set overnight in the fridge to make a strawberry syrup.

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut-in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gently toss in the strawberries. Make a well in center of the mixture; set aside.

In another bowl stir together the eggs, half-and-half, and the strawberry syrup, and beat until well combined. Add the egg mixture to flour mixture a bit at a time, stirring with a spatula until the flour mix is just moistened. If too wet, add a bit more flour.

Turn dough out onto a generously floured surface. Knead the dough 5 or 6 times by folding and pressing. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Pat or lightly roll the dough into a 3/4-inch-thick disk. Slice disk into wedges and pull apart slightly. Or cut into rounds, reforming the dough as needed.

Brush with additional half-and-half and sprinkle with extra sugar. Bake about 30 minutes or until golden.

Crumpets

Crumpets are sorta like English muffins. But that's like saying a Mazeratti is sorta like an Oldsmobile. This recipe makes about a dozen, and takes nearly 4 hours to complete. You're going to need crumpet rings or egg rings for this recipe.

1 lb AP flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 pkt fast-rising active dry yeast

1/2 pint warm milk

1/2 pint warm water

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Put the flour and salt into a large bowl and stir in the sugar and yeast. Make a well in the center. Pour in the warm milk and water, and mix to create a thick batter. Beat well until completely combined and then cover with a towel or cling film.

Leave the batter in a warm place to rise for an hour until it's a light, spongy texture. I like to use the microwave, it cuts down on drafts as well as keeps things at a decent temp.

After the hour of rise, stir the batter well to knock out any air. Yep, sounds crazy, but it works. Now add the baking soda, stir again, and allow to rise for another hour.

Heat a non-stick frying pan, or griddle, over a very low heat (325F) with a wipe of oil or butter. Wipe with a paper towel to remove excess oil/butter. Sit greased crumpet rings in the pan, and leave them to heat up for a couple of minutes. My electric skillet only holds 5 egg rings.

Pour in enough mixture to fill the rings almost to the top of the rings. It took a bit less than 1/4 cup of batter per egg ring.

The batter will rise a bit during cooking, and you want the crumpets to finish about 3/4" thick. Let them cook until lots of small holes appear on the surface, and the batter has just dried out (like a pancake). This takes 10-15 minutes. Don't hurry...

While a batch is cooking, cover the batter and return it to the microwave. That way you'll get a bit more rise.

Remove the rings and turn. the crumpets over to cook for an additional 10-15 minutes on the other side.

You want the crumpets lightly browned. To serve, slice in half, and slather with butter while still hot. Or slice in half and toast slightly before applying butter, preserves, or curd.

Tea Sandwiches

I made three kinds: Chicken Salad, Egg Salad, and Vegetable Paté. All sandwiches are made without crusts on plain white bread, and quartered. Let the bread “air” for an hour or so, so it becomes a bit stiff. This makes it easier to cut off the crusts and spread with the fillings.

Chicken Salad

Take 1/2 lb deli chicken breast sliced 1/8” thin, then cross-grain cut into a fine mince. Add mayonnaise, minced celery and green onion, salt, white pepper and paparika to taste and texture.

Deviled Egg Salad

Hardboil six eggs, peel and chop fine. Add mayonnaise, minced green onion and celery, salt, white pepper, and Cajun spice to taste and texture.

Vegetable Paté

In a food processor, combine a cup of cooked lentils, half a cup of cooked Pinto beans, a Tablespoon or more of Arhar Dal, Indian spice blend, and 1/4 cup EVOO. Take it for a spin until you've got a smooth consistency. Add a bit more EVOO if necessary. Turn out into a container and fold in 1/4 cup diced onion and the same amount of diced red bell pepper.

Kansas City Steaks – Filets Mignon

Back in November, when I competed in the World Food Championships Food Blogger competition, our sponsor Kansas City Steaks promised to send us each some additional beef. One thing led to another, and eventually were got our beef. I chose four filets mignon, the same cut I'd used to take second place in the cook-off.

Since Holly (the beef-a-holic) made a flying visit for her Grandma's birthday I figured that would be the perfect time to make this perfect cut of beef. So for Sunday brunch, the day after the party, I reprised my award winning filet recipe.

Marinate the steaks for an hour in a zip-top bag filled with Mojo Criollo sauce. 

Preheat the oven to 275F. Cook the steaks 15-20 minutes to an internal temperature of 95F. Remove the steaks from the oven and sear 2-3 minutes per side for a perfect medium-rare steak. I served them with steamed green beans and mashed potatoes assembled by Sally.