Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Spring Forward with Coffee

I tweeted/posted this week that if a coffee company would produce an extra-caffeinated java called Spring Forward, I buy it in a heartbeat.

I don't spring forward well, even as I love the sunlit evenings available for walks with ManO. UGH, another reason to move to Hawaii where they don't have Daylight Savings Time.

Coffee helps me get through the getting used to DST part. Here's what I need, recited to the rhythm of "Here is the Church, Here is the Steeple."

Here is the coffee pot

Don't laugh at my little four cup coffee maker. It's called portion control.

Here is the coffee (from my favorite coffee roaster Muddy Dog Roasting Company)

Love the King's Daughters Inn coffee. Made for a bed and breakfast in Durham, NC.  


Remember to plug in the pot, add the water and coffee, and turn it on. (Um, I always forget to one of the four)


One of my favorite mugs from Yellowstone Park. I know Jan Drexler appreciates this one.


Then drink up a mug and see, because you can open your eyes.


Okay, that's pretty awful but hey, it's the day after Daylight Savings, a Monday as I'm typing this and I'm having to go for an extra pot. Or may I should have said it was Haiku. But then I'd have to count the syllables and there are way too many.  

But pondering my addiction to coffee did get me thinking about other ways  I could integrate coffee into my menus. There's never enough coffee.

NUMBER ONE IMPORTANT LESSON:  If you are using coffee in a recipe, it has to be STRONG. Double strength it. Make sure you can't see through it. Otherwise, that coffee flavor is just going to be week.

I could still see through this cup of coffee. NOT STRONG ENOUGH.


Entree: I found  a recipe I could adapt from Alton Brown's Molasses and Coffee Pork Chops. 
While the marinade was boiled down for the glaze, my food microbiology training reminded me that's not always the safe way to go. So I doubled the marinade/glaze part of the recipe, using one half to marinade the pork chops and throw away, the other half to boil down for the glaze. I also ditched the thyme. I oven broiled the chops because it's just not quite grilling season here yet. The flavor is more on the oriental side. I also think a lighter roasting works better as far as the coffee goes. 



Salad dressing: Yes, salad dressing. I looked at a lot of recipes using ground coffee beans but decided to use coffee as a substitute for lemon juice in an easy vinaigrette of oil and vinegar. Paired with greens and fruit, it's pretty tasty.

Dessert:  Sure there's coffee ice cream but have you ever made coffee sauce to pour over your ice cream? You make a simple syrup using 1:1 coffee and sugar, simmering it down while stirring constantly, adding one or two tablespoons butter and a teaspoon of vanilla after you take it off the stove. Cool and serve over ice cream or cake. Divine.

There you have it, an entire meal to perk you up!

So what about you, are you happy to Spring Forward? Did you need extra caffeine at the start of your week? Have you ever used coffee as an ingredient rather than a beverage?     



15 comments:

  1. Innovative coffee ideas! Wonderful! We all know I live on coffee, that I list it pretty high on my Tina-inspired list of what's important to me.... so this is a marvelous post, Julie!

    My little hand held foamer and I have become close, personal friends. Have foam, will travel, and as long as there is coffee at hand, I'm fairly reasonable to live with. Surely that's an all right addiction!

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    1. A handheld foamer? I didn't know that was a thing? And I go by the studies that say coffee is good for all sorts of reasons!

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  2. The clock change doesn't bother me. My schedule is frenetic and up and down, and it really is no biggie. I'm a morning person, so springing ahead is fine. But for the little ones, oh my stars, they feel it to their wee toes! Dragging, happy one minute, snarling and asleep the next. In about a week they'll adjust, but I'm not above giving them coffee, too. Lattes for all!!!

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    1. Oh, you make me laugh! I am a morning person too but am married to a night owl so it's interesting. And the grandkidlets, especially Miss M, are having a time!

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  3. As you know, I was recently deprived of coffee. I'm over it now--I believe. I definitely will try that coffee sauce. I love, love coffee ice cream and don't get nearly enough of it. The King's Daughter's coffee rocks! Thanks for the great post!

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    1. I was afraid I would have to wait months for my King's Daughter coffee to come back in stock. Apparently my favorite roaster has gotten very popular and they are waiting for the new coffee crop to come in in LATE Spring. BUT I walked to their shop and lo and behold they had just roasted up a batch. I bought two pounds this time.

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  4. Love these ideas! I never would have thought to put coffee in salad dressing! But I used to make a coffee sauce for my ice cream quite often. :)

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    1. I am going to make the coffee sauce for sure. For some reason I like sauces better than total coffee ice cream.

      I was kind of shocked myself about how many recipes other than dessert ones I found.

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  5. I am not a coffee lover at all so I don't even have it in my house but I used to have this amazing recipe for mocha cake which was a blend of cocoa and coffee. Mercy. It was good. Even had that blend in the frosting. Alas, we lost the recipe and have never found another one. Want to know how we lost it? No? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway.

    I was in my teens and had friends over for a bake day. We had just mixed up the batter and were getting the pans greased and floured when a naughty kitten by the name of Wuggens hurled himself up onto the counter and landed smack in the bowl (he was directionally challenged.) The batter splashed everywhere and when we started screaming at Wuggens he took off running. We gave chase -- it was easy because he left chocolate brown paw prints everywhere. Upstairs downstairs all around the house multiple times. We finally cornered him under a bed. By the time we hauled him out, bathed him (have you ever bathed a cat? It's challenging. Then we had to clean the house of paw prints so by the time we got back to the kitchen and discovered that the recipe card had been saturated in cocoa coffee goo it was too late to save it. Totally unreadable. Very sad. Now I am craving mocha cake.

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    1. Sorry for your loss but you gained a GREAT story!!!!

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    2. LOL, Kav! I can only imagine how much trouble that cat got in! :)

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  6. Like Kav, I'm not a coffee lover. I have children who drink it, and I grew up in a house full of coffee drinkers, but neither my husband or I can stand the stuff.

    I don't even like Tiramisu.

    Now that I've admitted my deep, dark secret, I hope you'll all still love me. :)

    But I can make a mean cup of tea!

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    1. LOL, Jan. We're inclusive here. :)

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    2. Yes indeed. At least Missy and I are. In the South with the weather we are having, it's time to switch to iced tea!!!! Sounds like you and your hubby are made for each other.

      And tiramisu has to be made a certain way for me to like it but I think it has more to do with the texture for me.

      Do you ever wonder what the story was behind the creation of tiramisu? Was coffee spilled on a custard? Or was someone desperate like I was for more caffeine?!!!!

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