Archive for October, 2006
Planning a trip to Poland, and wondering where you’ll satisfy your espresso craving? Or perhaps Chile? Hey, to serious coffee lovers, it can be nice to know ahead of time what you’ll be facing…and whether you need to pack along your portable espresso machine or not (just kidding). Well, the Coffee Places website seeks to create a comprehensive listing of coffee shops around the world. It’s off to a good start, and can be fun to check out. You’ll find it here.
October 29th, 2006
I normally avoid flavored coffee drinks, yet…around the holidays, it just seems right. Since Halloween kicks off the holiday season (for me, at least), I’ve started posting several coffee recipes here, and will have more in the coming months. Of course, one recipe that everyone’s looking for this time of year is one for a Pumpkin Latte! And so, without further ado, here’s one I found on about.com:
Ingredients:
1 tbs canned pumpkin
2 tbs vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon, ground
1 cup milk
1/2 cup strong coffee, or 1/4 cup espresso
Instructions:
In a saucepan, heat milk and pumpkin until steaming. Stir in vanilla and cinnamon. Put mixture in a blender, and blend for 15-20 seconds until thick and foamy. Pour into tall glass, then add coffee (or espresso). Top with a sprinkling of pumpkin pie spice or ground nutmeg.
October 28th, 2006
This is a dark marinade perfect for beef.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup strong, brewed Millstone® Coffee cooled (use 1-1/2 Tbsp. per serving)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp. dark brown sugar
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger root
Instructions:
Mix together all ingredients. Place beef in a heavy-duty plastic bag with reclosable top. Pour in marinade. Seal and chill. Marinate less-tender cuts 12 or more hours and tender cuts at least 2 hours. Broil or grill as desired.
Makes enough to marinate 2 large flank steaks
(source)
October 28th, 2006
A company in Arizona is selling acid-free coffee. That’s the plus side. The big negative is that it comes pre-ground (boo!), in those pre-measured packets designed for brewing a single pot of coffee. The sort of packets you’d find in an office lunchroom. I’m not really sure how they’re making it acid-free, other than that they say the roasting process is incredibly precise, tolerant of an error of no more than a few seconds. My guess is they’re sampling the exhaust coming out of the roast and when levels of something are detected, they stop the process. I do something similar when I roast coffee, though quite low-tech. I sniff the exhaust fumes, waiting for a hint of smoke to appear. I usually then let it go another 20-30 seconds and stop the roast. You can read more about Tyler’s Coffee here.
October 28th, 2006
Ingredients:
1 tbsp. Millstone® Caffé Midnight® coffee, brewed double-strength or 1/2 shot of home espresso
1 cup walnuts
1 cup raisins
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1-1/4 cups sifted cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
Instructions:
(Psst — the secret to these moist, wonderful delights is in the marinade!)
Marinate raisins and walnuts in the coffee overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream sugar with butter until light and fluffy. Beat eggs into this mixture one at a time. Sift flour before measuring. Sift a little over the nuts and raisins.
Resift remaining flour, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk and egg mixture. Beat after each addition until smooth. Fold in coffee, nut and raisin mixture. Bake in greased muffin pans (or use paper muffin cup liners) for 25 minutes.
Makes 28 muffins
(source)
October 27th, 2006
Hot…spicy…hint of coffee flavor.
Ingredients:
1 cup tomato ketchup
5 Tbsp. butter
1/3 cup coffee, brewed double-strength
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1-2 Tbsp. pure ground hot chile or crushed red chile
1 Tbsp. dark brown sugar, packed
Instructions:
In a 2-quart saucepan, combine ingredients and allow to simmer, uncovered, over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside or refrigerate, covered, until ready to barbecue. Great on chicken, pork, or beef ribs. Adjust the “temperature” of this sauce to your taste by using more or less chile spice.
Makes 1-1/2 cups sauce
(source)
October 26th, 2006
A South African company has developed a new type of tea, designed to be used in traditional espresso makers. It contains no caffeine, and is extremely high in anti-oxidants. The company, Red Espresso, claims their product will last for up to six months once opened, not going stale like coffee will. It’s currently only available in South Africa. (source)
October 16th, 2006
