Blends, roasts can be used in everyday cooking
Coffee is such a fundamental part of so many people’s lives and yet not many realize that it can be so much more than just a cup of java to get your day on the go.
Who knew that different coffee blends could complement different recipes and culinary styles? Well, now coffee can be used as a pantry essential in everyday cooking from a romantic breakfast in bed to a spicy rub for a sirloin steak.
Trish Magwood, dish cooking studio owner, chef, bestselling author and host of Food Network’s Party Dish, says to help celebrate Melitta’s 100th anniversary, she’s come up with ideas on how people can incorporate coffee into more than just their mug.
“Melitta has evolved over the past 100 years, so have our tastes and applications for coffee,” says Magwood. “It only makes sense with the prevalence of coffee that we pay attention to what we are eating with it. Food and wine, coffee and food — there are endless matches made in heaven.”
So how can you have fun in the kitchen by applying traditional coffee to modern-day tastes? Coffee can be used in everyday cooking, either as a garnish for desserts, in a spicy steak rub, in a sweet fruit-poaching liquid and so much more.
“I find that half the battle with cooking is the shopping, the stocking up of key ingredients. Once your pantry is stocked, we look for many ways to use that ingredient,” she says. “So like my other staples — good quality olive oil, nuts and seeds, etc., coffee can be used for more than the morning wake me up.”
Coffee in baking is her first stop — like mocha mousse and fudgy brownies. It’s a great addition to a dry rub for meats — pork, chicken, steak — alongside peppers and spices. While a fruit can be treated alongside dried spices, and when you think chili powder, think coffee.
“And of course fruit — like in a poaching liquid with pears and with other flavours like star anise and vanilla,” she says.
Coffee is so much more than a cup to get us through the day. It’s part of our everyday culture and an entire industry has grown up around pleasing coffee lovers. There’s such a range of coffee blends and products to suit a variety of taste preferences and individual palettes — ranging from the scale of boldness, to flavoured coffees, to whole beans.
For more recipes and coffee-pairing suggestions, visit melittametime.ca.
| coffee pairing suggestions |
|
• Wake up an omelette with aged cheddar, spinach and oven-roasted tomatoes served with Melitta European Deluxe coffee.
• Tasting note: Traditional medium-dark roast blend with bold European style stands up to aged cheddar and sweetness of slow-roasted tomatoes and a perfect start to the day.
• Grilled chili & Melitta Colombian coffee pressed strip loin steak with spicy brocolini and sweet potato fries.
• Tasting note: Ground peppers and a big flavoured steak needs the depth and richness of the Colombian with balance to not overpower the sweet potato fries.
• Frozen mocha mousse spiked with crushed Melitta Espresso whole beans — sip an espresso after dessert and let the flavours linger.
• Tasting note: Old world European-style espresso beans work beautifully with the richness of the cream in the mousse and the coffee flavour pairs nicely with the toasted almonds. The crushed beans add a fun and easy decorative finish to the dessert. |
