Cooking With Gourmet Coffee

Ingredients

1/2 cup brewed espresso or strong, dark coffee1 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

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3 eggs
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold strong coffee
2/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
5 tbl. bourbon
4 tbl. coffee liqueur
1 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350°F. To make crust, mix the crumbs, sugar, melted butter and nutmeg, and spoon into a 9-inch pie plate. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and against the side. Bake 5 minutes. Cool thoroughly.

To make the filling, separate the eggs and set aside. Sprinkle the gelatin over the coffee in a saucepan. Add 1/3 cup of the sugar, salt and the egg yolks. Stir thoroughly. Cook over low heat only until the gelatin is dissolved. Do not boil. Remove the mixture from the heat. Add the bourbon and the liqueur.

Chill until it starts to thicken but do not let it jell. Beat egg whites until stiff, adding the remaining sugar gradually. Fold them into the gelatin mixture. Whip the cream and fold it into the mixture. Spoon this into the crust and chill for 5 hours. Garnish with more whipped cream if desired.

Smoothie recipes are quite popular these days, and for good reason: they´re simple to prepare, good for you, and delicious. A smoothie is a great breakfast on the run when you´re pressed for time. Still, there are a few little preparation quirks that distinguish a good smoothie from a great one – at least in my book. For one, I like to par-freeze the fruit I´m using – not rock solid, mind you – because it helps thicken the drink; room temperature fruit only thins it. Ditto for the liquid I use, in this case coffee – usually left over from the pot I´ve made that morning. As prepared here, this smoothie has a mild coffee flavor, but if you want a stronger coffee kick then go ahead and use some, or all, coffee yogurt instead of the French vanilla. Note that chocolate syrup may be used as well, for a mocha flavor profile – but do go easy with it, so you don´t mask the coffee flavor. Finally, never over-blend smoothies because the friction tends to thin them out.

3/4 to 1 cup fresh brewed coffee, cooled
1 medium banana, peeled
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar or honey, to taste (optional)
1 1/2 cups French vanilla yogurt (low-fat or nonfat is fine)
1 to 2 tablespoons protein powder or other nutritional powder (optional)
1 teaspoon chocolate syrup (optional)
1 drop vanilla extract

1. Twenty to thirty minutes before you plan to mix your smoothie, put the coffee in a shallow pan and place it in the freezer, stirring once or twice after 15 minutes. It should become slushy-icy. Thinly slice the banana onto a plate and put that in the freezer as well, to chill. While you´re waiting, chill the 2 or 3 glasses you plan to serve this in.

2. When you´re ready to proceed, combine the chilled coffee, banana, and sugar to taste in a blender. Blend just until smooth.

3. Add the yogurt and any of the remaining ingredients you wish to use. Blend again, briefly, just until smooth. Taste, adding a little more sugar if needed. Transfer to the chilled glasses and serve.

Makes 2 to 3 servings

A granita is, essentially, an Italian ice – coffee flavored, in this particular case. On the richness scale, it’s on the opposite end of the spectrum as ice cream since it contains no eggs or cream. A bit of sugar, yes, but in modest proportion. The method for making a granita is decidedly low tech: you simply stir the liquid periodically as it freezes, resulting in the granita’s granular texture; the word, by the way, comes from the Italian grana, meaning grainy. I like to serve this as is, in very small chilled bowls or cups, but it is frequently served with a dab of lightly sweetened whipped cream. Put a plate of biscotti on the table, fresh hot coffee too, and you have the perfect dessert for any Italian meal.

2 cups very hot strong brewed coffee
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Lightly sweetened whipped cream, for garnish (optional)
1. In a medium-size bowl, stir the hot coffee, sugar, and orange zest until the sugar dissolves. Cool. Stir in the vanilla.

2. Transfer the liquid to a shallow bottomed bowl or square metal cake pan and place in the freezer. Wait about 30 to 40 minutes, until the sides start to freeze, then stir the mixture gently with a wooden spoon, especially around the edges.

3. Put the granita back in the freezer and repeat the stirring every 20 to 30 minutes, until the mixture is grainy-frozen. Transfer to well-chilled bowls – the chilled bowls are important, especially in summer, to prevent it from melting; in fact, chill your spoons too – and serve, garnished with whipped cream if desired.

Makes 5 to 6 servings

If the world is divided between those who love cakey brownies and those who
prefer theirs fudgey, there’s widespread agreement in both camps that a
hint of coffee flavor is the best way to improve upon something that nearly
defies improvement. Notice I said hint. Our aim is to add a whisper of
coffee flavor, not shout it from on high – these are brownies, after all –
and we achieve that end with a subtle one-two coffee punch: a bit of ground
coffee, and some coffee liqueur. Warning to those of you, like me, who have
a habit of licking utensils and may wonder about this: the coffee flavor is
muted in the batter but more prominent in the baked brownies.

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, in several pieces 
8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped 
2 tablespoons finely ground, almost powder-like coffee (see note below)
2 tablespoons Kahlua or other coffee liqueur 
1 cup granulated sugar 
1 cup packed light brown sugar 
4 large eggs, at room temperature 
2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
1/2 teaspoon salt  1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1. Put the butter in the top of a double boiler and begin to melt it
over barely simmering water. As butter starts to melt, add the chocolate,
spreading it evenly rather than dumping it in one big pile. Leave the
mixture over the heat for about 5 minutes, until melted, then stir to
smooth. Transfer the top of the double boiler to a cooling rack and stir in
the ground coffee and Kahlua. Cool for 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 9- by
9-inch cake pan and dust it with flour, knocking out the excess. (Do not
use a smaller pan.) Set aside.

3. Combine the sugars in a large mixing bowl. Rub with fingers to break up
any lumps. Add the eggs. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium-high speed
for about 30 seconds, until well blended. Blend in the vanilla. Add the
melted chocolate and blend on medium speed just until evenly mixed.

4. Sift the flour and salt into a medium bowl. Stir it into the chocolate
mixture, about half at a time, until evenly mixed and no dry streaks
remain. Stir in the nuts. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and
smooth with a spoon.

5. Bake the brownies on the center oven rack for 30 to 35 minutes. When
done, the brownies will have risen somewhat and will have a thin, brittle
top crust. A toothpick, inserted at the center, should emerge with a little
batter attached. Try not to over bake.

6. Transfer the brownies to a cooling rack and cool thoroughly. To get the
cleanest cuts, cover and refrigerate for several hours before slicing.
Serve slightly cool or at room temperature.

Makes 16 brownies

Note: Whenever I need to make finely ground coffee for a recipe such as
this, I do it in either my blender or – even better – my mini-chopper style
coffee grinder. For best results I’ll usually mix in a bit of the total
amount of sugar with the coffee beans – perhaps 2 to 3 tablespoons.