Cook with Us #24 - @docsmith Handcrafted Knife Contest Round Two

The Boston Tea Party was nothing like the name suggests - no tea party was had on 16 December 1773 in Boston; instead 342 boxes of tea were dumped in the harbour as an act of protest against the British Government for the Tea Act.

The British however simply tightened the tax laws which made the people of the Massachusetts colony even more determined to end the unfair taxation laws in which they had absolutely no say as they had no representatives in the British Government.

Boston harbour was closed until the colonists had paid for all the tea that was lost.

As such, the simple brew that originated in China as a medicinal drink played a big role in starting the American Revolutionary War, the end of British control and the start of American independence!

Tea has always been my drink of choice when having a break during the day - and I'm sure many have been offered a cup of tea during times of distress by a good friend or relative.

I'm super excited to be through to Cook with Us #24 - @docsmith Handcrafted Knife Contest Round Two, as we're all vying for a knife.
I posed the question to the talented @docsmith - is it a beauty or is it a beast? - and his resolute answer was - a beast of a knife it will be!

Thank you to the CWU team of @chefsteve, @offoodandart and @pandamama for this opportunity!

So for this week's challenge, we've been given a Mystery Basket of four ingredients -

Chicken or Tofu
Tomatoes
Tea
Strawberries

Being a traditional home cook, I've only ever used tea in drinking or making Fruit Cake, but having to use it with those other three ingredients really posed a problem, especially with Chicken!

How wrong was I!

I went to granny Google for advice and learnt that tea makes a good marinade for Chicken.
Still doubtful, but looking at various recipes I started forming my own ideas of a tea marinade.
Definitely Lemon tea plus grated Lemon Zest, my favourite herbs for Chicken namely fresh Rosemary & Thyme - plus a touch of spice in Star Anise - and a Rustic Garlic & Herb seasoning.
I had thought of making a tea rub for the chicken & grilling it, so added the same herbs, plus Lemon Zest and Garlic & Herb dry seasoning.

Strawberry Tomato Salsa would be perfect to serve with smoky Tea-rubbed Chicken which I served cold.

Shall I say it again - I was very wrong - there was no need to doubt the wisdom of the CWU team putting all those items into one mystery basket - the chicken was absolutely delicious - tender and so tasty with the smoky tea rub - plus serving it with the Strawberry Tomato Salsa for sure is going to become a new firm favourite!

TEA-RUBBED CHICKEN
serves 4-5 as a starter or 2 as a main

4 deboned Chicken Breasts

Lemon Tea Marinade:

1 cup Tea made with 3 Ceylon Tea Bags
Juice of 1 Lemon
Star Anise
Fresh Rosemary
Fresh Thyme
Rustic Garlic & Herb Seasoning

Tea Rub:

Tea leaves from 3 Tea Bags
1 tablespoon grated Lemon Zest
2 tablespoons fresh Rosemary & Thyme - finely chopped
Rustic Garlic & Herb Seasoning

To flatten Chicken breast fillets without messing - place in between plastic food wrap before pounding with a mallet or rolling pin.
Hubby confessed that my pallet was in his fishing box so out came the rolling pin - worked like a charm!

Mix marinade ingredients together & marinade chicken minimum 3 hours (or overnight), remove from marinade & pat dry with paper towels.

Mix rub ingredients together & rub on both sides of chicken.

Sprinkle Olive Oil on top & pat to cover entire breast.