Category: Recipes (Page 7 of 55)

OK, we knew the name of this dessert alone would turn on our coffee loving fans!  Make sure to pick up or order your coffee from our wonderful sponsors at Village Coffee Roastery and don’t forget to tell them we sent you!! 

Mochaccino Cupcakes

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Cupcakes:

• 6 Tbsp Unsalted butter, softened                     
• 1  whole Egg                                       
• 1 Egg yolk                                             
• 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp All-purpose flour                          
• 1/2 cup Cocoa powder                                   
• 1/2 tsp Baking soda                                      
• 1/2 tsp Baking powder                                   
• 1/4 tsp Salt                                                     
• 1/2 cup Milk                                                  
• 1/4 cup Strong brewed coffee, cooled            
• 1 cup Granulated sugar                         
• 1 tsp Vanilla                                                
• 1/2 cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips                       

Coffee Buttercream:

• 1/3 cup Unsalted butter, softened                       
• 4 cups Powdered sugar                         
• 3 Tbsp Strong brewed coffee, cooled             
• 1 tsp Vanilla  

Creme filled rolled wafer cookies (pirouettes)–for decoration                                            

1. Line muffin cups with paper liners (brown liners are best). Preheat oven to 350 deg F.

2. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Combine milk and coffee in a small bowl.

3. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and egg yolk, mixing well. Beat in vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture and milk mixture, just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

4. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Smooth surface of cupcakes.

5. Bake about 18 minutes or until tops spring back when touched. Cool 5 minutes in pan and then remove to rack to cool completely.

6. To prepare buttercream, beat butter until fluffy. Add 1 cup powdered sugar, mixing well. Add coffee and vanilla. Gradually beat in remaining 3 cups powdered sugar. Add more coffee if necessary.

7. Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes. Decorate as desired.

I’d go with the Costa Rica blend from Village Coffee Roastery!!

Costa Rica

The flavor of Costa Rica is sweetly smooth, full bodied and pleasantly acidic. The coffee is noted for its nutty undertones, clean aftertaste and balance.

*Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens.

We served this as a brunch item when I worked as a line cook in Northern Michigan.  It’s kind of messy to prepare, but wickedly popular.  I decided to easy-it-up with canned cherry pie filling, but feel free  to create your own with fresh or frozen berries.  Happy Tuesday!

• 1 Can Cherry Pie Filling

• 1  t. Almond Extract

• 1 Loaf Brioche or Thick French Bread (Day Old Preferred)

• 6 -8 Eggs

• 1/2 Cup Whole Milk

• 2-3 T. Butter

• Fresh Nutmeg

• Powdered Sugar

Pour pie filling into a bowl and add the almond extract. Stir to incorporate and set aside.  Slice the bread into 1 inch slices.

In a large glass bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk and grate a little fresh nutmeg into it. Set a large, non-stick pan over medium heat and melt the butter, a little bit at time for each batch. Dip 4 pieces of bread in the egg mixture, turning it over and coating it well. Place bread in the pan and let cook for about 1 minute.   Spoon some of the cherry filling onto the tops of the bread and top with other piece of bread, cooked side up.

The other way to do this is to make a sandwich with the cherry filling and dip the entire thing in the egg mixture, then cook in the butter over medium high heat until golden brown. Place on a sheet pan and put into a 325 degree oven to firm up.

It’s way messy, but turns out beautifully! Cut in half on the bias, sprinkle with a little powdered sugar, add a bowl of fruit and a steaming cup of coffee ~ breakfast is served.

Continuing with our Asian Acccents, this week we present Coconut Rice.  It ain’t as easy as throwing some white rice into a steamer and pushing a button; however, it’s well worth the extra efforts in order to capture the bursts of flavor which blow out your buds, tingle your toes and captivate your cranium.  Yes, it’s that good!!!

Ingredients

• 2 Cups basmati rice, rinsed 3 times
• 5 T. Clarified butter
• 1 medium coconut, peeled and cubed into 1 inch (reserve liquid)
• 15 cashews, roughly chopped
• 1 medium onion, brunoise (very small dice)
• 3 1/2 Cups water
• 1 cinnamon stick (1 inch)
• 1 cardamom pod, crushed
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 pinch turmeric
• Salt to taste

Directions

Wash basmatic rice, drain and keep aside.  Meanwhile remove meat from the coconut (come on, haul yourself down to your local asian market – you can do it) and cut into 1 inch cubes.  Add 3 cups water to it and grind it thoroughly.  (You can do this in a food processor or blender).

In a deep skillet, heat butter on low.  Then add cardamom, cinnamon, turmeric, cloves, and cashew nuts.  Fry until cashews are pale brown.

Add finely chopped onion and the rice after onions have browned slightly.  Stir for 5 minutes.  Add salt and coconut milk which was extracted above, and raise the heat to high.

When the liquid starts boiling, lower heat, cover with a lid and simmer.  Sitr accasionally and simmer until all liquid is absorbed.  Serve with just about anything.  Goes well with light curries, chicken and fish….and pork and beef.   Yea, you get it!

Yea, I know we’ve been layin’ it on pretty thick with the chocolate and the pork butt; however, I just had to share this one with you.  Confession:  I’ve NEVER made my own BBQ sauce.  There are just so many good ones on the market to satisfy my diners, and to be quite truthful, I’ve never been much of a fan….until now!

Anyhoo, I had about 2 pounds of pork butt left over from a crock pot dish I made last week and was planning to make a chili with a nice cup of coffee in it for this series.  Then, out of the blue my husband says, “Hey, how about a pulled pork sandwich instead with coleslaw and everything?”  Um, yuk!!  Well, he is pretty cute and he did change all the HVAC filters and lift a few heavy things this weekend, so well, why the hell not?  BUTT: I’m not going to the grocery store again so we’ll make due with what we’ve got.  This is improvisational cuisine.

If you know me at all, you’ll understand that by the time I dug through my pantry looking for potential partyers to throw into the pool….I needed a few glasses of wine.   By the time I got creative and brave enough to attempt this feat of sauce, I, ahem, forgot to write down the ingredient quantities.  At least I left all of the dry ingredients on the counter top ~ here’s how it came together with guestimates. 

Crock Pot Pork Butt with Carolina BBQ Sauce

2 Pounds Cooked Pork Butt (Obviously, traditional Carolina is smoked…but this is my world and you’re playing in it!)  This Pork was slow cooked with mire poix, 4 garlic cloves, 1 cinnamon stick, 8 whole cloves, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper.

For the Sauce: (remember – quantities are estimated)

1 1/2 Cups Ketchup

1 Cup Brown Sugar

2 t. Garlic powder

2 T. Dried, Minced Onions

1 t. Crushed Red pepper

2 t. Chile powder

1 t. White pepper

1 t. Celery seed

1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

1/4 Cup Orange juice

1 Cup Fresh Brewed Coffee – Village Coffee Roastery Harrar Blend

In a large sauce pan over medium heat, add the ketchup and all other dry ingredients.  Whisk together and let come to a strong simmer.  Add the vinegar, juice and coffee and bring to a boil.  Let cook a few minutes and reduce heat so the sauce is bubbling just a little (low simmer).  Cook until thickened – back to that consistency of ketchup. 

PUll the pork apart and add to the sauce.  Stir until incorporated and you’re ready to serve.  Oh, by the time I was ready to make the coleslaw, the wine kicked in, so I served this dish over a baked potato – how much fun is that??

Harrar

The depth of flavor that comes with this blend lends well to the sweet and tangy side of the sauce. 

This coffee is noted for its resemblance to a dry red wine and full bodied presence. The flavor is amazingly layered with subtle hints of berry and mocha with an earthy backdrop.

My friend, and Chef, Jill Smith gave me this recipe and a whole bunch more to share with you for our Meatless Monday sessions.  We’re going to head to Asia for the next few weeks.  One of the keys to preparing Asian Cuisine is to have all of your ingredients prepped before you start cooking ~ you’ll thank me for that tip:)

• 4 T. Vegetable Oil

• 2 t. Mustard Seeds

• 2 Onions, minced

• 12 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 t. Ground Cumin

• 2 t. Ground Black Pepper

• 2 t. Ground Coriander

• 1 t. Ground Tumeric

• 20 Roma Tomatoes, Large Dice

• 2 Cups Frozen Green Peas

• 1 oz. ginger, peeled and minced

• 2 Jalapenos, seeded and minced

• 1/4 Bunch Cilantro

• Salt and Pepper to Taste

Heat oil in a saute pan and add mustard seeds.  When they start to pop, add the onion and cook for 2 minutes.

Stir in the cumin, black pepper, coriander and tumeric.  Saute for 1 minute.

Add the tomatoes and cook covered for 10 minutes under low heat.

Add the peas and cook for 3 minutes.

Add the ginger, jalapeno and cilantro. Cook for 3 minutes, season to taste.  Enjoy with Basmati rice or Naan.