Tea Room Recipe #1 - The Crumpet Tea Room (Rogers, Ark.)

Each year I like to have a "tea project" to work on and share here on Saturdays. In 2009, I made a point of sipping every tea in "The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea." In 2010, I read and reviewed a book about tea each week. In 2011, I experimented with new tea sandwiches for a year, and in 2012 I hosted a giveaway each week. For 2013, I am turning to my collection of tea room cookbooks and plan to highlight one each week along with a recipe I have tried. This week, I begin with what I believe to be the first tea room cookbook I ever acquired, this one from The Crumpet Tea Room in Rogers, Ark., which I'm pleased to report is still in business! Many years ago now, I had a girlfriend whose parents lived in Arkansas, and once or twice a year I would join her for a trip there.

My friend's mother and I were great fans of this tea room, and the cookbook I got there remains a favorite. The Crumpet Tea Room was quite charming. I fell in love with the mismatched china cups and saucers, the pretty floral placemats and napkins, and I believe that my visits to this tea room kicked off my own love of vintage teawares and linens. The tea room had quite a few signature dishes, including Hot Orange Rolls, the Crumpet Baked Potato, and their Open Face Crab Sandwich, which I made for this week's post because it just seemed fitting to make crumpets from the Crumpet Tea Room!

Open Face Crab Sandwich

16 ounces softened cream cheese
4 tablespoons Miracle Whip
2 tablespoons onion powder (I grated fresh onion instead)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Dash of Tabasco sauce
2 cans white crab meat, drained well
Slices of American cheese
Slices of fresh tomato

In medium bowl, beat cream cheese until creamy. Add Miracle Whip, onion powder, lemon juice, Worcestershire and Tabasco. Add crab meat and mix well. Spoon crab mixture on top of crumpet, then add slices of cheese and tomato before serving. If desired, warm in microwave for a few seconds until cheese begins to melt. Refrigerate remaining crab mixture. (Note: I made half this recipe, and it yielded enough spread for about 8 open face sandwiches.)

Crumpets

3-1/2 cups plain flour
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons fast active yeast
1 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
1 cup melted margarine
3 eggs, beaten well

In large bowl, combine flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Mix well. Slowly add remaining ingredients and mix until smooth. Cover and let double in size. Using medium heat, fry batter in metal rings in iron skillet, browning on each side for about 2-3 minutes. (Note: This recipe is said to yield 12 crumpets, but I halved it and still got 12 crumpets, 4 inches in size. I definitely recommend halving the recipe, the only challenge being how to get 1-1/2 eggs, but I whisked mine in a measuring cup and adjusted the amount accordingly.) I'm pretty sure this recipe is one I actually ate at this tea room 20 years ago, and oh my, is it good! The Official Tea With Friends Taster (i.e., hubby) declared it "another triumph," which made me really happy. That creamy crab mixture atop a fresh, hot crumpet, with gooey cheese and tomato on top—my only improvement would be to make this again when our garden's yummy tomatoes are in season!