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?