cold brew coffee

Summer is finally here in Chicago and I've been seeing a lot over the past few months related to cold brewing so I thought I would try it myself.  The method involved using coarsely ground coffee and letting it "steep" in cold water for 24+ hours.  The colder temperature makes for a smoother less acidic brew that tastes great over ice or with a splash of cream.  I'm a big fan of having iced coffee in the summer so I was more than happy to give it a shot.

I like to use the large 8 cup jars for this since I can store it and it lasts for about a week or so, but it doesn't usually last that long.  The ratio is use is 1 cup of coarsely ground coffee per 4 cups of cold water. In this case I did 2 cups of coffee and 8 cups of water to fill my jar.

Once you pour the water into the grounds, make sure to stir or cover and tilt the jar back and forth to ensure all the grounds are soaked so they don't just stay at the top.  This also assures you're getting the flavor of all the coffee that was added.

After 24 hours the coffee is ready to filter.  I use my jarring funnel along with an old coffee machine filter.  This does a good enough job but many people use a paper filter to assure the smoothest coffee possible. This is something i will try next, I did notice some tiny coffee particles though it was not bothersome.  The resulting brew is a bit strong but suits my taste served over a fair amount of ice though water can be added to dilute it a bit. I would say this is most similar to having espresso that you would pour over ice, dilute with water or cream, or simply just have a smaller shot or two in a glass.

Here it is, a tasty smooth and refreshing glass of iced coffee.  It is really so good and much better than other iced coffee I've had in the past.  This is definitely going to be a part of my morning routine this summer.  Give it a try and let me know what you think!



shrimp in tomatillo salsa and a simple dessert.

last night I put a quick meal together that I would like to share.  My initial idea was to use chicken for this, but I was craving shrimp and thought I'd give it a shot.  I knew I wanted to make a simple tomatillo salsa for this and allow the shrimp to simmer a bit. 

To begin I put 8 tomatillos, 5 cloves of garlic and 1 serrano chile in the oven at 400F to roast while I prepared the shrimp.

I used large shell on shrimp since i was planning to use the shells in the sauce.  The ones I picked up from the store were already deveined so it was a matter of taking off the shells. 

I fried a half a small onion and the shrimp shells in about a tablespoon of bacon fat, i figured this would add more flavor to the dish.  I kept cooking until the shells turned red and aromatic. When using shells it is always necessary to use some sort of combination of liquid and fat to draw out the flavors.  I read that alcohol does a better job of this so perhaps I will hit the shells with white wine or even tequila next time to draw out more flavor. This time I relied on the juices from the already roasted vegetables.

After the vegetables roasted for 30 minutes I added them to the pan to simmer a bit with the shells.  after about 10 minutes of simmering I removed the shells and pureed the tomatillos, serranos and garlic with the cooking liquid.

The result was a rich green tomatillo sauce with the aroma of shrimp.  I then added the shrimp to this sauce and simmered.  I unfortunately did not take a photo of the shrimp in the pan but this is the end result.

The shrimp seemed slightly overcooked due to the fact that they curled up pretty tightly though the texture was still rather plump and moist, so they were still enjoyable. To make a base to serve the shrimp I prepared brown rice with black bean puree.

This was initially going to be two components.  Simple brown rice and a think black bean puree for texture.  Unfortunately the black beans had too much liquid and were not usable.  To remedy this i mixed the black beans in with the cooked rice and it tasted quite good.  This is probably something I will do more often with some slight modifications to spices and cooking time.

I spooned the shrimp in tomatillo sauce over my rice and black bean mixture.  I topped with slices of avocado I scooped out with a spoon to finish.  The dish had a decent amount of heat and the shrimpy tomatillo sauce went down into the rice giving it additional flavor.

To finish off our meal I sliced chunks of peaces and served on top of a couple of spoonfuls of cottage cheese.  I added sliced almonds and drizzled a bit of honey on top.  This was a cool and light way to finish dinner last night.

agua de jamaica con limón y naranja

Today I made agua de jamaica which is basically a tea made from dried hibiscus flowers and served chilled.  I had some leftover limes and an orange so I decided to incorporate as much of that flavor as well.  I ultimately used 6 limes, 1 orange and 2 cups of jamaica for this recipe.

I started  by placing the jamaica in a saucepan with the zest of 1 orange and 2 limes with about a cup of sugar.  To this mixture I poured about 4 cups of boiling water and let steep for about 10 minutes.

Though not necessary, I later transferred the mixture to a large mason jar to show the color of the mixture after steeping, it becomes a very deep vibrant red color.

In a pitcher I squeezed the lime and orange juice over about 2 cups of ice.  I strained the jamaica mixture and poured over. At this point the ice will melt a bit but there should be enough to cool it down.  I added a few ice cubes to a glass and poured myself a drink.

The flavor of the drink is tart and herbal in a way, very reminiscent of a tea drink with a tart berry flavor.  Though I have never made this at home I definitely can see this as a fixture during cookouts this summer.

Agua de Jamaica con Limón y Naranja

2 cups jamaica (dried hibiscus flowers)
Zest and juice of 1 orange
Zest of 2 limes, Juice of 6 limes
2 Cups Sugar

1. Start by placing jamaica, sugar, orange and lime zest in a sauce pan.
2. To this, add 4 cups of boiling water and let steep for 10-15 min.
3. Add about 2 cups of ice to a pitcher along with orange and lime juice
4. Strain Jamaica mixture into pitcher, serve in a tall glass over ice.