Wed, 07 Sep 2011

Beet Salad

Inspired by the same dish at Syrian Bakery:

Put a steamer basket in a big pot with some water, start that up. Trim the leaves from the beets, cut off any little dangly bits, lightly score each one with an X on the bottom, put in the steamer. Cut the onions into quarter rings, peel the garlic but leave whole, drop both of those in with the beets. Steam.

When the beets are done (no resistance when poked with a sharp knive), pull them out of the steamer and put them aside to cool. Pluck the garlic cloves out, mash them in a bowl and juice the lemon over it. Peel the beets ( trim off the ends and just rub in a towel you don't care about, the skin will slide right off ), and slice — I usually cut each beet in half and then make half-moon slices, larger beets get quartered. Let these cool completely

Put the beets in a bowl, add the onions and parsley. Chunk up the feta, add that. Pour over the lemon juice/garlic mix, drizzle on some olive oil, add pepper to taste. Combine well. Let sit in the fridge for a while.

Posted at: 23:31 | category: /food/2011 | Link

Wed, 31 Aug 2011

Capresish Salad

Inspired by something I had over the weekend at Lou and Julie's house, made for our weekly dinner night:

Mix well in a big bowl, let it sit a bit in the fridge. Enjoy.

Posted at: 22:44 | category: /food/2011 | Link

Sat, 26 Mar 2011

Coffee Gravy

A while ago I came up with the idea of making a coffee gravy — not like red-eye gravy, which is basically ham drippings and coffee, but actual gravy. Basically, using a roux to thicken coffee to a gravy-like consistancy.

Today I had a fortunate coincidence of events: I was at the Ugly Mug, needed to buy some beans for work, had some time to waste this afternoon and had my backup crappy bean grinder at home. Time to make some coffee gravy.

The roux side is fairly simple, four tablespoons of butter, four tablespoons of flour, cooked into a smooth paste for five minutes or so, just long enough to get the cereal taste out of the flour.

The coffee side was four scoops of the Mug's Cameroon Peaberry, roasted two days ago, made with a course grind in a French press. 205 deg. F water, steep for four or so minutes. Then, you simply have to bring the two together. I did add about a teaspoon of kosher salt, it made the coffee flavor pop more, I would say.


The final product, showing how thick it got.

Tested at the Mug, three of the baristas who were on duty then, Ethan, Eric and Birdman liked it. My friend Mike, who was just heading out when I brought it in, did not like it, but said it was because he does not like the taste of meat, and it reminded him too much of it.

More photos can be found here.

Posted at: 16:19 | category: /food/2011 | Link