First of all, my favorite egg nog hit the chilled shelves last week. I've been zapping a small slosh (2-3T or so) in a little pitcher and then adding it to my Americano in the mornings. Yum. It's like an egg nog latte minus all the fat and calories.
On the menu this week is a fall favorite: Potato & Maui Onion Soup, which I fell in love with on our honeymoon in Hawaii 17 years ago. Wild salmon is done for the season, so I'm back to buying farmed Norwegian for our main course.
Tonight we're having Italian Beef with Ciabatta from La Fournette and a Pinch House Salad on the side. I've not yet tried the ciabatta from La Fournette. I really like the beer bread and the miche. But Italian Beef demands ciabatta, plus I like having it around for the kids lunches. Tomorrow they'll take fresh mozzarella and basil on ciabatta drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinager, their favorite lunch.
We'll also have Beef Tacos with all the Fixin's, and Smoked Chicken Sandwich with frisee and an awesome Pommery mustard sauce drizzled all over.
What else? Oh, for the night we're running hither and yon, it will be Cantonese Roast Pork with Steamed Broccoli. I can marinate the pork loin overnight and grill it in about 10 minutes - a great weeknight meal on when we all tumble in the door starved.
And that's the week. Happy creeping toward winter!
Monday, November 5, 2012
On the Menu This Week
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Starbucks Headlines, Week 2
Last week it was all about the logo. The ubiquitous mermaid is getting an overhaul. They're zooming in again - something they've been doing gradually over the company's 40 years. Historically, zooming been a good thing, especially in the 1992 logo change when the close-up cropped out her mermaid parts. And I don't mean her twin tails. See the logo progression here.
This week it's about the Trenta. Yes, Starbucks has joined ranks with 7-11 and every fast food chain to bring you a (nearly) 32-ounce beverage in a Giant Plastic Cup. A shout out to the genius at HuffPo for noting that the capacity of the new 31-ounce Trenta exceeds that of an adult human stomach. Meanwhile, Colt-45 is like, "Welcome to the rodeo."
This brings me to my biggest complaint with Starbucks: recycling. I'm all for massive coffee consumption, but the volume of paper and plastic cups that they've heaped into landfills is unforgivable*. Starbucks empties are like land mines in my littered urban metropolis (disclosure: I live one block away from two different Starbucks). The paper coffee cups are lined with plastic, rendering them unrecyclable while the plastic cups for iced drinks are made from plastic #5 which cannot be recycled either. The website cites two different goals for 2015, one states a plan to serve 25% of beverages in reusable cups, the other aims for 100%.
The Trenta shouldn't be a surprise, and yet it is. Starbucks lost its cache when they automated the grinding and espresso pulling process but there remains something empirically sophisticated about espresso. There is, to be clear, nothing sophisticated about a Big Gulp. There is no such thing as Hobo Chic. What they should have done is honor their 40th anniversary with a recycling campaign where their drinks are served in recycled 40s. Then everybody wins.
* Hello Starbucks-sponsored recycling bins?
Photo courtesy of Starbucks
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
How Do You Store Your Coffee Beans?
Metropolis told me just to store them in the dark,valve bag in which I bought them. They said it shouldn't be airtight.
Peets aggreed about storing in a dark container but disagreed about air, advocating an airtight container as the best storage option. They sell two models in the North Ave shop.
Both retailers were quick to pronounce temperature extremes as a bean's sworn enemy. One particular counterperson was ready to throw down when I mentioned reading a proponent of refrigerator storage.
Starbucks founder Jerry Baldwin recommends storing beans that will be used within two weeks in the fridge, and storing in the freezer for longer periods. He doesn't like air tight containers as they trap air in. He suggests bagging beans and squeezing out as much air as possible.
Personally, I keep my beans in the bag in which I purchase them (these days from Peet's in a valveless generic bag). I buy about 3/4 of a pound every week, on Thursday afternoons when they arrive at the store freshly roasted.
More time to kill? Read Baldwin's thoughts on the subject.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Best Seasonal Addition to Coffee
Updated from the Pinch ArchivesMany a coffee purist would shudder the thought of adding eggnog to coffee, but not this one.
I've loved the eggnog latte for years, since my days frequenting Monorail Espresso in the nation's espresso capital. No Portland, not you.
The eggnog latte is probably loaded with as many calories as one of those Dunkin' Donuts muffins I've heard tale of (700-plus, if memory serves). I don't want those calories to end up on my tail, so I steer clear of Starbucks this time of year.
But this, this most wonderful lowfat eggnog from the good folks at Horizon, fills the void. The easiest way to enjoy it is to pour an inch or so into your mug and zap it up in the microwave for 10 seconds or so. Then fill your mug the rest of the way with coffee. Yum. Oh, and don't add sugar - the eggnog is pretty sweet. [2009 update: This year, thanks to Miss Sylvia, I'll be cocktailing my eggnog with an equal amount of nonfat milk (about 2 ounces each) and steaming the the elixir for a delicious double short eggnog latte. And it will be nice and good.]
Friday, September 4, 2009
One rockin' beverage
This is an iced version of the drink I've been enjoying all week: two shots of espresso, over ice, with an equal amount of milk. I call it the Don't-Put-Too-Much-Milk-in-My-Latte Latte*.
A friend I'll call Sally Ann Cavanaugh once shared her Starbucks Shakedown order. She has named it the Poor Man's Iced Latte, and you get one by ordering espresso shots over ice (and thereby paying only for the espresso) and then filling up with milk at the fixin's bar. It's genius, no? Or to quote my favorite VeggieTales song, "I like it. It's sneaky. And it just...might...work!"
What I like most about Sally Ann's scheme is that it gives you control over the amount of milk that infiltrates your espresso. Once the espresso hits ice it dilutes a lot - so adding too much milk just masks the shot. This is fine when the shot wasn't so great to begin with, but if you've got great espresso, you want to taste it.
But back to the ice. ICE! I don't know who's reading from where but people in Chicago are SURLY about the summer weather we had. I think it's because our winter was so long and so totally horrid that we felt entitled to a nice, long, hot summer. Summer was nice and long enough, but not so hot (the Lake is still chilly, I hear) as to thaw people out. Anyway, today it's hot enough for an iced latte (ok, two iced lattes and a doppio this morning - I didn't sleep enough last night!) - a lovely little summer sayonara.
* Bossy coffee orders are so, so played, that said...my all-time favorite comes from someone who might not even recognize it as her own: Don't Stir My Mocha. Sound familiar to any of you?
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Introducing Miss Sylvia
Meet our Rancilio Silvia, principesa of the kitchen. Rancilio, btw, is pronounced Ran-chilly-o. She's Italian.
It's been many years since we've had an espresso machine in the house, and so far it's remarkably similar to having a puppy or an infant. I expect to sleep little (downside of sampling too much espresso) and clean up a lot.
It's a sign of something, perhaps maturity, that we're back to espresso. Over a decade ago, in a fit of nutritional living, we cleared our counter of a sleek La Pavoni lever espresso machine to make room for a hydraulic Norwalk juicer. (I bet at the time I thought that change was a sign of maturity.) Anyway, I kept up with the juicing for several years, but the Norwalk hasn't seen a carrot in years. I was going to say that it hasn't seen the light of day in several years but I realized that's not true. In addition to grinding up fruits and veggies, the Norwalk is capable of grinding meat (tho I never used it in that capacity) and shaving ice. Since my daughters inherited my sno-cone gene intact we occasionally haul out the 60-pound machine and enjoy - with some help from Torani - some sweet, colorful, icy goodness. But I digress...
Sil arrived yesterday, we we're still getting to know her. So far I've steamed some gorgeous milk and enjoyed a few slightly bitter caffes. My last effort, about an hour ago, was my best yet - a two-shot Americano type drink (equal parts hot water and espresso) and some warmed milk. The sugar-free thing is totally new for me, but a Murano glass salesman showed me the light. His opinion - adding sugar to espresso makes it too clingy in the mouth - is right. Espresso is much more clean without sugar.
Anyone have any home brewing tips? If you have experience temperature surfing, hand tamping, or shot timing I would love some advice.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Eight Reasons Coffee Might be the Boss of You
I am a coffee drinker. I try not to go overboard, but it is a daily thing for me. Though at least once a year for anywhere between six to 12 weeks I go cold turkey, just to show myself who’s boss. The answer is me. I am the boss of the dark lord in my groovy thermal ceramic mug.
For the remaining 40-46 weeks per year, coffee is assumed. Standard. A sine qua non to the day starting on a good note. Which is why the multiple disruptions in our household coffee routine are vexing. Disruptions? Allow me to enumerate:
1. I switched from Peet’s to Metropolis. My choice, but one that required a significant commitment as Metropolis is, like, eight miles north in a neighborhood in which I have no other business. I was looking to find a local roaster and was thrilled when I did.
2. I switched to a French press. Again, I brought this on myself. I became a quick convert, bringing the thermal press on camping trips over the summer and fall.
3. My coffee grinder broke. By “my” I mean Kate’s. I don’t know why I was in possession of her coffee grinder, but I assumed squatter’s rights at least a decade ago. After the top broke, I jerry-rigged it with a toothpick for longer than I care to admit. Last month I bought a nice burr grinder and began the process of experimenting with different grinds.
4. I stopped using an airtight glass storage jar for my coffee beans, following the instructions on the Metropolis bag. The airtight contraption did seem to suffocate them a bit, and a bit of breathing improved the quality of the oldest beans (we go through a pound every ten days or so).
5. My new grinder made my favorite blend, Metropolis’ Mocha Java, taste COMPLETELY different, and not in a good way. I went back to my old standbys at Peet’s: Major Dickason’s and Arabian Mocha Java. Mmmm.
6. My husband became disenchanted with the French press (he took umbrage with the grit in his mug) and recalled the old drip machine from storage.
7. I missed Metropolis and crawled back only to discover they had discontinued Mocha Java. Gasp! Now brewing Spice Island which, I’m happy to report, I like.
8. Just when I thought I had my equipment and blends figured out, Jerry Baldwin (of Starbucks and Peet’s fame) tells me I’ve got storage all wrong.
I’ll spend the next month or so seeing if I like his suggestions. Perhaps I also need to remind myself who’s the boss.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Butter Cake + Cinnamon Sugar = Scrumptious Coffee Cake
Adding a layer of cinnamon sugar to a plain butter cake is an easy way to make eating cake in the morning slightly more acceptable (let's not even consider that doing this adds MORE sugar to the cake). I would caution you not to start many mornings this way. Instead, tuck it away in your cookbook for mornings when you find yourself entertaining. Guests tend to appreciate being greeted with a slice of freshly baked coffeecake more than, say, an egg white omelet.
Even though this cake requires an hour to bake, once baked it's ready to go. Also, it sits nicely overnight so you can always make it after dinner one evening to serve the following morning.
Easy Morning Coffeecake
Print recipe only here
Makes one 10-inch bundt cake
METHOD
Preheat oven to 350°
Grease and flour a 10-cup bundt pan.
Soften for 3-4 minutes in a mixer with paddle attachment:
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
Add slowly (about 2-4 T at a time, over about 8 minutes, scraping sides and bottom of bowl at least once between additions):
* 2 cups sugar
Add one at a time, mixing thoroughly between additions and scraping the bowl midway between additions:
* 4 eggs
Add:
* 2 t vanilla extract
Sift together and reserve:
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 t baking powder
* 1/2 t baking soda
* 1/2 t salt
Measure out and reserve:
* 1 cup buttermilk
Add the dry ingredients to the butter/eggs alternately with the liquid. (Scoop in about half the dry and mix on low speed until nearly incorporated, then pour in half the liquid, mixing in the same.) Repeat. Finish mixing by hand with a large spatula, carefully scraping up from the bottom of the mixing bowl and not over mixing.
Pour 1/4 of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle about 2T cinnamon sugar on top (see recipe below). It should look like this:
Pour half the remaining batter on top and top with another 2 T cinnamon sugar. Pour the remaining batter on top, smooth to cover all the cinnamon sugar and bake about 50 minutes or until it pulls away from the sides of the pan and passes the toothpick test.
OPTIONAL: Toward the end of baking, prepare glaze (see recipe below). When cake is done baking, let it sit for about 10 minutes in the pan. Invert it onto a plate and pierce it all over with a long skewer. Pour the hot glaze slowly over the top, allowing it to saturate the cake.
Keeps well, loosely covered at room temperature, for 3-4 days.
Cinnamon Sugar
Makes 1/4 cup
Mix well:
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 2 T cinnamon
Glaze
If you really want to go over-the-top
* 2 T butter
* 2 T heavy cream
* 2 T brown sugar
* 1/3 cup sugar
* 1/2 t vanilla extract or rum
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over low-medium heat. Swirl until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Pour over warm cake and serve.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
The Most Elegant Sugar Cube
Once, when I was a kid, my mom returned home from dinner out with my dad with an awesome treat: a wrapped white sugar cube. I don't think I'd ever seen a sugar cube before, much less one wrapped like a tiny present. I was smitten. Ever since I've been fond of the sugar cube.
While I use white granulated sugar for baking, the sugar that goes in my coffee is the raw variety. I keep two kinds - Sugar in the Raw, a granulated raw sugar for everyday use and La Perruche sugar cubes for entertaining or for mornings when having a sugar cube in my coffee is what I need to start my day off with a smile. (Shopping tip: Sugar in the Raw is priced well at Target. La Perruche is a specialty item I pick up at Treasure Island and Whole Foods.)
La Perruche cubes are rustic, elegant and great-tasting. They dissolve pretty quickly in hot coffee. Mainly, I love them for their playful sophistication. In case you're curious about the tongs pictured here, they are vintage sterling silver sugar tongs I acquired off eBay a few years ago. They're about 3-inches long and adorable.
Raw sugar is closer to the cane than white sugar, the latter having been bleached, filtered and exposed to various chemical agents to make it recognizable as we know it. Raw sugar is not the same as brown sugar which has been through all that same bleaching and refining, only to have molasses added back it at the end. I keep brown sugar in good supply but it is an abomination similar to the enriched white flour. "Enriched" is a just a nice way of saying that vitamins were added back to the flour after the refining process destroyed the grain's natural nutrients. I shouldn't shake my fist too hard at the sugar industry; until I develop cookie and toffee recipes that use unrefined product I'm going to be a part of the problem.
Anyway, back to raw sugar. Its brownish color comes from not having been bleached or stripped of every trace of molasses. On the tongue, raw sugar is more syrupy than white sugar, but it usually (depending on the degree to which its refined) doesn't have an overwhelming flavor. Both Sugar in the Raw and La Perruche are very mild flavored.
Having these sugar cubes on hand adds a very nice touch to coffee service.And when you use them you're one lump closer to the cane. It's not a man-on-the-moon step forward, but every lump counts, right??
Friday, October 31, 2008
It's Baaaaack: The best seasonal addition to coffee
Many a coffee purist would shudder the thought of adding eggnog to coffee, but not this one.
I've loved the eggnog latte for years, since my days frequenting Monorail Espresso in the nation's espresso capital. No Portland, not you. Portland doesn't wait for Halloween to dress up as Seattle.
The eggnog latte is probably loaded with as many calories as one of those Dunkin' Donuts muffins I've heard tale of (700-plus, if memory serves). I don't want those calories to end up on my tail, so I steer clear of Starbucks this time of year.
But this, this most wonderful lowfat eggnog from the good folks at Horizon, fills the void. The best way to enjoy it is to pour an inch or so into your mug and zap it up in the microwave for 10 seconds or so. Then fill your mug the rest of the way with coffee. Yum. Oh, and don't add sugar - the eggnog is pretty sweet.
Eggnog lovers, rejoyce! It's eggnog season!
Happy Halloween.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Found: Best Coffee Beans in Chicago
I was a faithful Peetnik for years. But something changed several years ago and the product, while still good, is no longer excellent. The search for a better bean ended this summer when I found a local microroaster: Metropolis Coffee Company.
I have yet to visit the actual café since Metropolis is not located in a neighborhood I frequent. The beans are available at Whole Foods, Treasure Island and the Big Apple foods grocer on Clark at Fullterton. We regularly enjoy the Spice Island (at right) a dark roast, and the Cordillera, a medium roast.
Saveur Magazine had a nice shout-out to Chitown roasters in The Breakfast Issue. In 9 Great Coffees, two of the nine mentioned were Chicago-based, Metropolis and Intelligentsia. They also liked my old standby at Peets: Major Dickason's Blend. I was disappointed Saveur had no brotherly love for Philadelphia's La Colombe Torrefaction. Their Nizza roast is fantastic.
Read here to learn how I've been brewing Metropolis at home. It's all about the French press, baby.
Every city should be so lucky as to have their own skilled microroaster. Have you found yours?
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Intelligencia to Ix-Nay the Enti-Vay
Chicago's Intelligencia Coffee made news recently when they announced plans to phase out 20-ounce coffee and espresso drinks. Quoth Intelligentsia founder Doug Zell, "Drinking our coffee is not like drinking jug wine."
My first reaction to the news was the equivalent of a high-five to Zell. I'm down with moderation. Intelligentsia wants to stay classy and leave the Biggie Coffee to Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts and McDonald’s.
I thought about Intelligentsia’s motive after reading an editorial in the Tribune which bemoaned the decision on grounds that, “You wouldn't like us when we're not caffeinated,” and called for a resurrection of the 20-ounce cup. (Note: Intelligentsia's Zell is of no relation to the Tribune's Zell.) I struggled to see how the news merited an editorial (because it doesn’t). There will always be a market for jug wine, Super Big Gulps, and super-sized, debt-riddled multimedia/entertainment corporations (maybe not the last one). With 7-Eleven and Starbucks both within shooting distance of the Tribune Tower, the editors will have no problem scoring their caffeine fix.
While I support Intelligentsia’s move isn’t Zell’s statement an admission that up until now they have been purveyors of jug wine? To distinguish themselves from their competitors they should have eschewed the venti from the start.
Monday, April 7, 2008
5 Steps to a Better Pot of Coffee
Harmless. That’s what you call a non-fat decaf latte in a London café. I wish it would catch on here; a double tall harmless latte is so much quicker on the tongue. Plus, if you feel like showboating your cockney accent you can call it an ‘armless.
I’m a bigger fan of harmful coffee. Not so harmful that it burns holes in the gut or anything. Not quite as harmful as the sludge they brew at Peets (great beans but beware the drip!), and nowhere near as harmful as the angry brown water churned out by my old drip coffeemaker.
I’ve spent some time (too much time) perfecting the pot of coffee and have boiled it down to 5 essentials:
1. Meet your maker. I really enjoy the coffee from my Bodum thermal press. It keeps coffee warm longer than the glass variety and I don’t have to worry about breaking it. I picked up mine at Bed Bath & Beyond with one of the discount coupons they’re so generous with.
2. Know your roaster. Peets has been a favorite for many years, though they’ve changed their tune about the importance of fresh –roasting and the quality has slipped. The beans were way better before the company grew larger. I’m looking for a good micro roaster in Chicago.
3. Get a grinder. The grind is critical here - it needs to be coarse. I have a basic Krups grinder that I’ve been using since college. I just pulse the beans 9-10 times (8 pulses is easier on the plunger but I like the richness of the coffee with 9-10 pulses).What I really want is one of those groovy burr grinders. Alternately, have your coffee ground for French press when you purchase it. Once ground measure out 2 tablespoons per 8 oz. (1 cup) water and add to press.
4. Call your kettle. Our tea kettle lives on the back burner of our stovetop. It never moves. To make French press you need hot – but not quite boiling – water.
5. Set your timer. Four minutes steeping time is standard. Plunge and serve.
Mmmm…I’m enjoying a cup right now. Nothing better.
Further reading:
Starbucks co-founder and former Peet's owner Jerry Baldwin on why you need a press pot
