Cold-Brewed Coffee

It has come to my attention that the next big thing in the coffee world is going to be “Cold-Brewed Coffee”. I’ve seen it pop up in the Food Blogosphere and at a few restaurants.

It’s nothing new really, the Vietnamese have done it for years, and let me tell you that cold-brewed coffee tastes much better than it’s hot brewed cousin any day. When the coffee is cold-brewed, it has a much less acidic taste, which makes for a much smoother coffee experience. To some “coffee aficionados” who like the acidicty and other common flavors that came with coffee that has been hot-brewed, cold-brewed coffee will be a different experience. You will have to try both of them to make your own decision which of you like best.

Below is a recipe that makes a larger batch than usual so I can have it around for a cup or two of iced coffee for myself and even some and for my guests if they happen to want one.

Cold-Brewed Coffee
2 cups of ground coffee (Medium-Coarse so that most grounds will be filtered out easier)
10 cups of water (room temperature)

In a large pitcher (large enough to put both ingredients into), mix the coffee and water together and leave it over night (or for at least 10 hrs). Strain using a fine-mesh strainer, or if you want to make sure all the coffee grounds are filtered out, line the strainer with some cheesecloth. Personally, I would run the liquid through twice just to be sure.

Once you have your cold-brewed coffee, you can pretty much use it for whatever your heart desires. Go ahead and have an iced coffee, or make coffee ice cream, or go crazy with some tiramisu.

Fern Ramen

This may be the name of a soap opera character, but it’s also a fast, tasty lunch.

Start by sauteeing onions and tofu with ginger.  Throw in some random chopped vegetables.  Carrots and celery are good, cabbage, anything.  When the onions have softened, toss in a handful of fern fiddles and then add a little bit of water along with the ramen.

This will get you into Vegan Academy.

Dandelion jelly

Found some dandelion flowers way back in the freezer as I was packing.  Here’s what happened:

Bring the water to a boil and add the dandelion petals.
Simmer over very gentle heat about 10 minutes, then strain.
Add more blossoms to the strained water and simmer for about 10 minutes. Continue simmering and straining until all the blossoms are used up.  Strain one last time using a coffee filter. Combine water with lemon juice, sugar and pectin. Bring to roiling boil and stir until sugar is dissolved. Boil hard for one minute. Skim. Pour into hot jars and seal.  I’ve heard of people using yellow food colouring, but ew.

zucchini and ricotta galette via smitten kitchen

I saw this and thought it would be a great addition to my workplace’s menu vegetarian lineup.
Light and summery and made with the number one garden overrun: zucchini.

zucchini and ricotta galette | smitten kitchen

zucchini and ricotta galette

Jajik

Holy crap it’s been hot.

I think everyone hates cooking when the temps are high and we all get bored with salad after salad, so try this for a change.  It’s amazing how you can add different ingredients to get a completely different taste, and you can serve it as a salad or as a cold soup.

Wash, peel, and hack a few cucumbers.  Salt these.
Cut up a bit of onion, maybe a half cup, along with some garlic.  Use anywhere from 1-6 cloves.
Chop some parsley and mint, a half cup of each, give or take.
Put everything in a large bowl, stir in plain yogurt, cover and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, you can eat it as-is for a salad, or puree it if you want soup. Either way, it goes really well with fish.

Optional ingredients are cilantro, walnuts, dill, cumin, peas.

I’m thinking about doing a lentil variety also.

Tortilla pudding

You can think of this as a MacGyver meal.

Rip up 2 tortillas per person, and throw them in a food processor with a hunk of ginger.  Process until they look like bread crumbs.
Melt some butter in a pan, pour in some coconut milk and heat through.
Add the tortilla mixture and stir for a minute or so.
Spoon into bowls and add some yogurt and honey.  Top with toasted almond slivers, if you’d like.
I’ve also  used stale pita bread with success.

Coconut teriyaki chuka soba

Heat up your mirin and soy and reduce it by about half, throw in a squeeze of lime juice and some coconut milk.

I threw in some diced fishcake, leeks, and corn, but whatever you have on hand will work.  Once this is boiling again, return the noodles to the pan and finish it off.

Recipe – Cajun Shrimp Salad with Honey Lime Vinaigrette

Inspired by the posts this week by Chris and Chuti, I decided that I might add my own recipe, given to by a friend who is one hell of a cook. It’s a perfect quick meal and super easy to make.

Image courtesy of foodnetwork.com

Cajun Shrimp Salad with Honey Lime Vinaigrette

Ingredients (serves 4)

2 lbs of spinach greens
20 shrimp
2-3 tbsp McCormick’s Cajun Seasoning
2 limes (juiced)
1/4 cup of honey
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1/4 cup of crushed honey roasted peanuts
Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Preparation

Coat the shrimp in the Cajun seasoning mix and grill. Next, prepare the dressing by combining the lime juice, honey and vegetable oil, add salt and pepper to taste and shake well. Next heat the peanuts in a pan over low heat just to warm them up, remove them from the pan and roughly crush them in a food processor.

Place about 5-6 shrimp on top of some spinach greens, drizzle with dressing and finish with some of the crushed honey roasted peanuts for crunch.

Sunday Bloody Mary Sunday—Recipe

The Bloody Mary is one of those drinks that you can really get creative with. I’ve been looking around for a perfect Sunday brunch Bloody Mary that has everything that I would want, but most of them don’t seem to have exactly what I’m looking for. So I sat down and created this recipe from my most wanted list. I really think it is a meal in itself but if you must, order an omelette with it.

When looking around for the right vodka to use in my Bloody Mary, I found Boru Vodka, an Irish (yes Irish) wheat vodka that has a slightly sweet taste. It’s also pretty darn affordable and it makes for a clever name for this amazing drink! Thanks U2!!

Photo by heidi33 from flickr. The picture isn’t the exact drink but it’s just to give you an idea of what it would look like

Sunday Bloody Mary Sunday Recipe
1 1/2 ounces (1 jigger) Boru Citrus vodka
1/2 cup tomato juice
2 tsps fresh lemon juice
Worcestershire sauce—to taste
Bacon Hot Sauce—to taste BaconHotSauce.com
1/2 tsps of grated horseradish
1 celery stick for garnish
1 lemon wedge for garnish
1 large grilled shrimp with a sprinkle of salt and pepper
1 thick slice of bacon cooked extra crispy (or substitute with pepperoni stick)
1 cornichon (gherkin pickle)
2 olives
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Rimming Salt: Mix 3 tbsp of sugar, 1 tsp of sea salt and a small pinch of Cayenne pepper powder.

How to create the drink
Mix the Boru Vodka, tomato juice, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and Bacon Hot Sauce together over ice.

Wet the rim of the glass and dip it in the rimming salt mix and then pour the drink into the glass. Garnish with bacon slice, celery, shrimp, the lemon wedge. Slide the cornichon and olives can onto a toothpick and add it to the drink.

Enjoy!

Watermelon, Toasted Jalapeno and Shrimp Pico de Gallo

From watermelon.org

Recipe of the Month: Watermelon, Toasted Jalapeno and Shrimp Pico de Gallo

Watermelon, Toasted Jalapeno and Shrimp Pico de Gallo

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced seeded jalapeno
3 tablespoons minced fresh shallot
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Juice from 3 fresh limes
2 cups minced watermelon
2 cups chopped, cooked and cooled, peeled and deveined shrimp
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup diced roasted red pepper
Ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

Heat the oil in a heavy non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Sauté the jalapeno, shallots, and garlic until golden and toasted around the edges.  Remove from heat and add soy sauce and cumin. Cool.  Scrape the cooled ingredients into a bowl and toss with lime juice, watermelon, shrimp, parsley and roasted pepper. Season with pepper to taste. Serve with chips and margaritas, fish tacos or atop grilled salmon. Serves 6 to 8.