Cooking With Gourmet Coffee

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

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

Recipe Source: Cooking New American by Fine Cooking Magazine (Taunton Press)
Reprinted with permission.

This richly decadent cake from Emeril Lagasse has it all, including Grand Marnier, rum, chocolate, espresso, ricotta cheese, pistachios, and dried fruits.

This is the ultimate fruitcake.

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

* 1/4 cup of milk
* 2 Tablespoons, plus 2 teaspoons butter
* 8 eggs
* 2 cups, plus 2 Tablespoons sugar
* 1 cup flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 2 cups fresh ricotta cheese
* 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
* 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
* 3 Tablespoons rum
* 3 Tablespoons candied lemon peels, finely chopped
* 3 Tablespoons candied orange peels, finely chopped
* 4 Tablespoons chopped pistachio nuts
* 1/4 cup heavy cream, whipped until stiff
* 1/4 cup Grand Marnier or Cointreau, or other orange liqueur
* 1-1/2 cups sweetened whipped cream
* 3 cups semisweet chocolate, cut into pieces
* 1/2 cup cold espresso coffee
* 1/2 pound cold butter, cut into cubes

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small saucepan, heat the milk and 2 tablespoons of butter together. Using an electric mixer fitted with a wire whip, combine the eggs and sugar together.

Beat on medium-high speed for about 8 minutes, or until the mixture is pale yellow, thick and has tripled in volume.

With the machine running, slowly add the heated milk and butter.

In a mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture and mix thoroughly, so that there are no lumps and the mixture is smooth. Fold in the vanilla.

Grease a half sheet pan (13-by-18-by-1-inch pan) with 2 teaspoons of butter. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of sugar. Pour the cake batter into the pan and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when touched. Cool for about 2 minutes.

Using a thin knife, loosen the edges of the cake and flip onto a wire rack.

In a mixing bowl, whisk the ricotta cheese, sugar, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons rum. Mix well.

Add 2 tablespoons each of the candied citrus and 2 tablespoons of the pistachio nuts. Mix well. Fold the whipped cream into the mixture. Mix well.

Cut the cake lengthwise into 4 equal pieces. Trim the edges of the cake to fit a 10-inch loaf pan.

Brush the tops of each cake with the orange liqueur. Line the bottom of the loaf pan with parchment paper. Place one piece of the cake on the bottom of the pan.

Spread 1/3 of the cheese filling evenly over the piece of cake. Repeat the layering with the remaining cake and cheese filling. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Remove from the refrigerator and unmold the cake. Place the cake on a wire rack with a sheet pan underneath. Spread the top and sides of the cake with the sweetened whipped cream. Place the cake in the refrigerator and chill for 1 hour.

In a saucepan, over medium heat, add the chocolate and coffee. Stir until the chocolate is melted. Stir in the half pound of butter and remaining tablespoon of rum. Mix well. Cool the mixture until it is spreadable.

Pour the chocolate frosting over the entire cake. Place the cake back in the refrigerator and chill for 2 hours, until the cake sets.

Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Using a long spatula, carefully lift the cake from the rack and place on a serving plate.

Garnish with a sprinkle of the remaining nuts and candied citrus. Slice and serve.

Yield: 10 servings

Per serving: 1,002 calories; 58 g fat (34 g saturated fat; 52 percent calories from fat); 108 g carbohydrates; 287 mg cholesterol; 487 mg sodium; 16 g protein; 4 g fiber.

Recipe Source: Emeril Lagasse (HarperCollins)
Reprinted with permission.

Not only does this recipe have rum, it also tastes like almonds.

This coffee recipe has a single espresso

1  1/2 teaspoons amaretto

1  1/2 teaspoons rum

1  1/2 teaspoons creme de cacao

3 ounces milk steamed

1/4 cup heavy cream

sliced almonds

Mix your espresso, amaretto, rum and de cacao in the glass. Add 1 1/2 ounce steamed milk and 1 1/2 ounces milk foam. Top with whipped cream and almonds.

There’s much more to coffee than the all too familiar morning cup. From delicate, crystalline Granitas that cleanse the palate to devilishly dark chocolate truffles that melt in the mouth, coffee’s rich, smoky flavours can enhance all types of dishes.

In cooking, coffee should be treated as a spice. Lighter roasts are more delicate but also more acidic, while darker ones are robust, toasty and strong. It’s these that work best in cooked dishes where the coffee must hold its own against other powerful flavours.

Ground coffee is better, especially if you’re creating something, such as a sauce, in which the coffee flavour, in all its complexity, should dominate. For the finest flavour, grind the beans just before you want to use them. Whereas wine contains in the region of 150 different flavour compounds, coffee has around 900.

Coffee can also be used to add a nutty, burnt-sugar tone to all kinds of dishes. The fact that it’s roasted is the key thing to remember. It works with other toasty flavours, from chocolate to caramel and nuts.

A simpler idea is to get your coffee kick with syrup – perfect for drizzling over creamy mousses, hazelnut meringues or warm-from-the-oven chocolate brownies. But the quickest way to add a coffee boost is just to pour it on, as in the straightforward but delicious Italian Afogato: a shot of Espresso poured over a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Use the very best coffee and the very best ice cream and you have the ultimate coffee dessert: sweet, yet sophisticated, simple, but utterly scrumptious.

Submitted by Brenda Campbell

http://cre8tivekitchen.blogspot.com/

I love BBQ rubs on meats! They make the meat taste so yummy and really tenderizes some cuts. If you let the rub sit on the meat overnight, it turns into something really special because it oozes yumminess! With coffee in the rub, it turns it to Mocha-zazz and gives a rich nutty flavor to the meat. The pilot run of the Mocha-zazz rub was on pork loin roast. I baked it in the oven since the BBQ has since run out of propane (Richard needs to get some more) and it was wonderful so here is what I did:

1/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup Kosher salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp granulated garlic
2 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp fine ground coffee (right from the can, not instant)
1 Tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp season salt
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp onion salt
1/4 tsp cocoa powder (you do not need much, since it is a strong flavor but meshes well with the coffee and other seasonings)
dash nutmeg

Mix together and put into ziplock bag and label. Keep in dry cool place.

Use your favorite meat (I used pork loin roast) and rub liberally all over all of the meat. Refrigerate overnight for best flavor.

When I did the pork roast, I preheated the oven to 325 degrees. I baked the pork for 2 hours. Let it stand for 20 minutes. Slice and enjoy!