Coffee In Food – how about that?

Coffee is not only for drinking, it can be used also in a food in many different ways. OK, now you might be thinking that I’m going to talk about some whipped cream with drop of coffee in it. No, no, no, even though coffee is used in many sweets and desserts, it can be also used in barbecue sauces and glazes for meat, chili and even pot roasts benefit from a dash of the ground bean.

As with most recipes, freshness is very important, so you either have to buy freshly ground or grind your own and use right away. And if the recipe calls for brewed coffee, make it just before preparing the dish with good filtered water. And remember, many recipes call for coffee two or three times as strong as you’d want to drink.

So, let’s take a look at some of the possibilities for what you can do with coffee…

Coffee Meatloaf Sauce:

Australian Meatloaf is becoming increasingly popular outside the land down under.

For the sauce add a tablespoon of instant coffee to a quarter cup of water and half-cup of ketchup with a quarter cup of a favorite dry red and equal amount of Worcestershire sauce. Two tablespoons of vinegar, an ounce of margarine and two tablespoons of lemon juice with some brown sugar complete the mixture.

After the meat has cooked for 30 minutes, add the sauce and bake 45 minutes more at 375F (190C).

Espresso Brownies:

To make espresso brownies you need to heat a cup of sugar, a quarter teaspoon of salt, and a stick and a half of butter in a sauce pan. Add a teaspoon of vanilla and four ounces of chopped, semi-sweet chocolate and stir until well melted. Now add a tablespoon of your favorite finely ground dark-roast. For an interesting variation substitute with two teaspoons of espresso granules.

Stir until everything is well mixed, then transfer to a mixing bowl and let cool for a few minutes.

While still warm, fold in three eggs, a cup of flour and pour the result into a baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes and set out to cool.

Black Russian Cake:

Select your favorite dark chocolate cake mix and add a cup of vegetable oil, a package of instant chocolate pudding, four eggs, and a half cup of creme de cacao. Now add a cup of your favorite Russian coffee. (1 oz vodka, 1/2 oz Kahlua, 5 oz hot black coffee.)

Beat until smooth and pour into a tube pan, then bake 45 minutes at 350F (177C). There you go!

There’s no end to the possibilities here. Muffins, cookies, breads and all manner of candy – not to mention those well known ice creams – can be enhanced by the addition of coffee.

Cocktails as well get a boost from the ancient bean. In addition to famous Kahlua there are a wide variety of liqueurs that can be used to enhance a pie.

There’s even a recipe for coffee syrup. No this is not the syrup that you add into coffee, it’s the other one. Mix a cup of sugar with a cup of double strength Colombian. Boil in a saucepan, stirring constantly to keep the sugar dissolved. Lower the heat and simmer for three minutes, stirring often. Then cool. Try it!

These were only some of recipes with coffee to get you started. There are probably thousands of more of them. I’m pretty sure that if you wanted you could build a whole menu of restaurant on coffee. The possibilities are endless.