Cooking With Gourmet Coffee

From Lisa & Tony Sierra,

Spanish Coffee for Breakfast

If you’d like to prepare café con leche like a Spaniard, here are suggestions for a good cup of café:

Use Good Coffee - Use freshly ground coffee beans of a strong variety, such as French Roast. This type of roast makes dark, strong coffee. Skip the coffee that comes in a can. The grind is probably too large and the quality of the coffee beans themselves is probably not the best.

Use Water that Tastes Good - If you like the taste of the water that comes out of your faucet in the kitchen, use it! But, if you do not drink your tap water because it has too many minerals in it, or it tastes of chlorine, then don’t make coffee with it! If it does not taste good enough to drink straight out from the tap, then coffee made with it won’t taste good either. In that case, use filtered or bottled water. If you have a water softener in your house, again we recommend that you use filtered or bottled water, since softened water may have sodium in it that can change the flavor of the coffee.

Make the Coffee in an Espresso Maker - This does not mean you have to purchase a fancy machine! Most Spaniards have a coffee maker similar to the one in the photo. Depending on the size you buy, a simple stove-top espresso maker costs between $10-$20.
To make the coffee, simply fill the bottom portion with cold water. Fill the metal filter area in the middle with finely ground coffee and screw the pieces together. Place the coffee pot on the stove and heat until the water boils up into the top chamber and it fills up. When you hear air spurting and the top of the pot is full of coffee, it’s ready and you can turn the burner off.

Heat the Milk – Although you can heat the milk on the stove top in a pan, it’s hard to clean that up! We have found it is easier to pour the approximate amount of milk we will use into a large cup and put it in the microwave until it is almost boiling. In Spain you’ll probably find most restaurants serving whole milk, but 2% milk makes a great café con leche in our opinion.

Mix Together - Once you’ve heated the milk and the coffee is ready, it is time to mix them. Everyone’s tastes are different and microwaves vary in how much power (watts) they use, so we can’t tell you exactly how much milk to use or how long to leave it in the microwave. We can tell you that the typical proportion is about 1/3 cup of coffee to 2/3 cup hot milk. We recommend putting 1/2 cup of hot milk in a mug first, then slowly adding the hot coffee. If it needs more of one or the other, you can add it until you get it just right!

#1 Coffee Barbecue Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

1/2 cup brewed espresso or strong, dark coffee
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped, about 1 cup
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
3 fresh hot chili peppers, such as jalapeno, or hotter if desired, seeded
2 tablespoons hot dry mustard mixed with 1 tablespoon warm water
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder

Instructions

Put all of the ingredients in a small pot, stir them together, and bring to
a simmer over medium-high heat. Lower the heat so the mixture is just
simmering and let simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the pot form the
heat, let the mixture cool, then puree it in a blender or food processor
fitted with the steel blade.

The barbecue sauce can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Use with Grilled Pork Chops.

Yield: about 3 cups
#2 Coffee Barbeque Sauce

Ingredients

¼ cup vegetable oil
½ onion, chopped
½ cup chopped garlic
½ cup chopped fresh corriander
1 serrano or small green chilli pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
zest of 1 lemon
¾ cup coffee beans
¼ cup dark-brown sugar
¾ cup red-wine vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
1 cup ketchup
2 tsp coarse salt
2 tsp finely ground pepper
2 cups tomato fondue

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add onion, garlic,
coriander, serrano, cumin, chilli powder, red pepper,
 lemon and coffee beans. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Stir brown sugar, vinegar, lemon juice and ketchup into
 the saucepan. Cook, stirring occassionally until liquid
is reduced by approximately half.

Stir salt, ground pepper and tomato fondue into the saucepan.
Cover and simmer over low heat for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Strain and adjust seasoning to taste

Makes about 1-1/2 cups marinade

1 cup strong coffee,
  preferably brewed from Java beans
1/2 medium onion, chunked
1/4 cup Chinese black vinegar
3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cloves peeled garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (the powdered kind)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or to taste

Steak:
1 (2 to 3 pound) beef “London Broil,” flank or top round steak

Combine all ingredients except beef in blender or food processor. Blend or process until onion and garlic are pureed.

Lightly score beef steak on both sides in a criss-cross pattern (this helps the marinade permeate more deeply). Marinate steak with coffee mixture at least 8 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.

Hot Days, Cold… Coffee?

On a hot day, there’s nothing better than a cold cup of … coffee? Add the words “flavored” and “iced” and the concept is much more palatable. Check out three iced coffee recipes from www.blackjava-coffee.com that will knock your flip-flops off!

Nutty Rainforest Freeze

* 1 cup (6 oz.) Fair Trade Rain Forest Nut coffee (brewed strong)
* 2 tbsp. heavy cream (or half & half, or…)
* 2 tsp. Sugar (or 2 packets Splenda)

Use basic technique: brew fresh coffee, add sweetener to hot coffee. Fill shaker with ice, add dairy over ice. Add coffee, shake, strain and serve in chilled glass. Garnish with a sweet strawberry, split and hung on the rim of the glass.

Blueberry Rhapsody
* 1 cup (6 oz.) Wild Mountain Blueberry coffee (brewed strong)
* 2 tbsp. heavy cream (or half & half, or…)
* 2 tsp. Sugar (or 2 packets Splenda)

Uses basic technique. Garnish with fresh blueberries, of course!

Pecan Praline Dream

* 1 cup (6 oz.) Southern Pecan coffee (brewed strong)
* 2 tbsp. heavy cream (or half & half, or…)
* 2 tsp. Sugar (or 2 packets Splenda)
* 1 tsp. Coffee Caramel Sauce

Use basic technique. Then swirl caramel sauce into chilled martini glass before adding strained iced coffee mix… Want a Southern Turtle? Swirl caramel and chocolate sauces in the glass!