Cooking With Gourmet Coffee

Ingredients:

Coffee Ice Cream:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup coffee beans, roasted for 10 minutes at 400 degrees F and crushed
• 8 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Espresso Brittle:
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 Tablespoons espresso beans, crushed with a rolling pin or chopped in a food processor to medium-fine crumbs
• 1 oz. (2 Tablespoons) butter
• Pinch salt

Preparation:

To Make Coffee Ice Cream:
In a medium saucepan, heat the cream, milk, and crushed coffee beans to just under a boil. Remove from the heat and let stand at least 1 hour for the beans to infuse their flavor. (You can make the espresso brittle while the beans steep.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Pour the cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking until well blended. Return this mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens slightly, enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve and chill.

Freeze in an ice cream machine following the manufacturer’s instructions. When frozen but still soft, transfer the ice cream to a stainless-steel bowl and swirl in the chopped brittle with a spatula. Cover the ice cream tightly with plastic wrap and freeze. Garnish with the remaining shards of brittle, when serving, if you like.

Yield: 1 quart

To Make Espresso Brittle:
Line a baking sheet with kitchen parchment and spray the parchment with nonstick cooking spray or grease it lightly.

In a medium heavy-based saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Heat over high heat, swirling the pot occasionally (don’t stir it) for even color, until it turns light amber. Add the crushed espresso beans (don’t worry if the sugar seems to foam), swirl them around in the caramel, and continue to cook until the caramel turns brown. Remove the pan from the heat.

Carefully whisk in the butter and salt (the butter will sputter). Immediately pour the brittle onto the prepared baking sheet, quickly tilting the baking sheet to get the brittle to flow into a thin layer (be careful — the brittle is very hot). As it cools and slows down, use a metal spatula to spread it into an even thinner layer. Let cool. Chop two-thirds of the cooled brittle into small pieces by sealing it in a plastic bag and smashing it with a mallet or rolling pin. Sift the crumbs in a strainer if you don’t want the powder. Break the remaining brittle into shards and use them to garnish bowls of the ice cream.

Yield: about 1 cup espresso brittle

6 pounds spareribs
8 tablespoons butter
4 large potatoes, peeled and diced
2 small onions, diced
1 cup coffee barbecue sauce, recipe follows
1 cup cooked corn kernels
2 tablespoons caraway seeds
1 cup chopped chives
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 bunches asparagus

Kosher salt and ground pepper. Place spareribs in a large pan, cover with salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook spareribs for 1 1/2 hours, drain, and allow spareribs to cool until they can be easily handled.
Bone spareribs and trim all visible fat. Discard bones and fat, and cut remaining meat into 1/2-inch cubes and reserve.
Heat butter in a large saute pan, preferably with a nonstick surface. Add potatoes and onions, and cook until tender.
Add meat and coffee barbecue sauce and cook until all ingredients are heated through. Stir in corn, caraway seeds, chives, and cilantro. Season and reserve.
Steam asparagus until fork tender but still vibrant green. Gently stuff asparagus in place of bones in spareribs.
To plate dish, place spareribs on plate and drizzle with a little barbecue sauce mixture.

Coffee Barbecue sauce:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped garlic
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 serrano or other small green chile
1 teaspoon cumin, ground
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 lemon, zested and juiced
3/4 cup coffee beans
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons freshly ground pepper
2 cups tomato paste

Heat oil in a saucepan. Add vegetable oil, onion, garlic, cilantro, chile, cumin, chile powder, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, and coffee beans and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the dark brown sugar, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, and ketchup to pan. Cook mixture stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced by half. Add the salt, pepper, and tomato paste to the mixture. Cover and simmer for 2 to 3 hours, occasionally stirring. Strain and adjust seasonings.