There was a technique for infusing butter with tea on the website portion of Fabian's Dulcypas book. Realizing all of the potential uses of such a base element led me to try it.
We vacuum sealed 2 each 1#/453g blocks of butter with 90g of black tea. It was brewed at 56º for 12 hours, then strained.
An easy application was created by whisking the liquid butter into a cream reduction. In retrospect, a bit of citrus added to the sauce would have cut the fattiness but the flavor was good (this dish was arguably too rich).
The onions were poached in garlic oil and aromatics at 65º for 4 hours. They mellowed nicely while still retaining a pleasant 'crunch.'
fried softshell blue, tea butter scampi, pearl onion confit, carrot noodle, dried persimmon
It's kind of simultaneously sad and cute when softshell crabs try to pinch you to no effect.
