Cooking with Coffee...Savory Dishes
Carrie Masek
Coffee is a complex beverage, with over 1200 distinct flavor and aroma compounds. It's no wonder that it's a great addition to recipes that benefit from intense, complex flavors. Like wine, a little coffee can deepen the flavor of a sauce or mellow its spicy edge. We'll talk about how coffee smooths and intensifies sweet recipes next time. For now, let's get savory!
Coffee and breakfast, the classic combination. Whether it's oatmeal or eggs in the morning, a sandwich or salad for lunch or a quick dinner before a long night, a cup of coffee makes any meal better. As does putting the coffee directly into the food. The first recipe we discovered that used coffee in a savory dish is one we still enjoy every Easter, Roast Lamb with White Beans and Coffee*. This year, we used coffee leftover from brunch, but any good drip coffee works well with this recipe. Here it is:
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Roast Lamb with White Beans and Coffee
serves 6-8
Ingredients:
1 leg of lamb (approx 6 lbs)
1 large garlic clove, cut in small slivers
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp marjoram
salt
freshly ground pepper
1 cup brewed coffee (can be hot or cold)
2 15 oz cans cannellini (white kidney) beans
½ onion, chopped
4 or 5 mushrooms, sliced
1 stalk celery, chopped
chopped parsley
Method:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Trim the lamb of excess fat and cut away the purple-stamped skin, if any. Insert garlic slivers into the meat near the bones. Place lamb in a shallow roasting pan, squeeze over the juice of a lemon and sprinkle with marjoram, salt and pepper.
Pour the coffee into the bottom of the pan and put into the oven for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and continue to roast for 12 minutes a pound. Count the time from the moment the meat went into the preheated oven.
Fifteen minutes before the meat is done, drain the beans and mix with the onion, mushrooms and celery. Stir in parsley. Remove the lamb temporarily to a platter and spread the bean mixture over the bottom of the roasting pan. Add hot water or broth to the beans if necessary, they must have a creamy consistency.
Return the lamb to the pan and put it back in the oven to finish cooking. When done, turn off the oven, crack open the door, and let the meat rest for 10 minutes and serve.
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I posted a picture of our Easter Dinner on Facebook, if you'd like to see how the lamb and beans turned out. Or you can take my word for it, they were delicious!
We make other dishes that contain coffee, but this blog was a great excuse to surf the internet looking for new coffee infused recipes. Here are some that caught my eye:
For Breakfast
Fried Eggs with Coffee-Chipotle Mole
For Lunch and/or Dinner
Coffee Vinaigrette Salad dressing
Carrots Slow Baked on Coffee Beans
Roasted Baby Beets with Coffee Balsamic Glaze
The short ribs and pulled pork recipe sound wonderful, and I'm intrigued by the salad dressing (if a bit skeptical). I'll let you know if I like any of them. If you give one of these recipes a try, I'd love to hear how you liked it.
We're always open to new recipes that use coffee. If you have a favorite, please send it to us and we'll include it in a blog.
Next time on Coffee by the Blog...Coffee in Sweets.
~ Carrie, Paul and all of us at Coffee by the Roast
* Adapted from a recipe from More Taste Than Money, by Harriet Hands.