What’s cooking?

There is no reason why you only need to drink coffee to wake up or even to accompany your favourite piece of cake.  Why not use it in your cooking?

At this time of the year, there is nothing like a stew to warm up your body.  Why not use coffee to spice up your stew and in the process – your life! Cooking with coffee is easy and fun, especially, if you use good quality, freshly roasted coffee.  There are a number of things to keep in mind, though.

It is best to pair coffee with other strong flavours, since coffee is strong and flavourful.  The coffee will boost the flavour of most meats, red as well as white meats. Not only can coffee be paired with meat, but will add complexity to soups, stews and even tomato sauce.

View coffee as the spice to be added to whatever meal you create. It is best to use coffee in its brewed form, when added to stews and sauces.  Ground coffee will stay grainy, when added to a sauce or marinade.  For rubs, ground coffee works best.

Coffee pair well with flavours such as citrus, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, garlic and salt.  It is advisable to taste the coffee as brewed, before incorporating it into food.  This will help to determine the dominant flavour of the coffee and whether it will pair well with the specific dish.

How you use the coffee is up to you.  The important thing is to only use fresh coffee.  Why not adding it to cookies and cakes or sprinkling it on ice-cream or yoghurt? To get your creative juices (coffee?) flowing, start by experimenting with this Beef Casserole with coffee.

 

Beef Casserole with coffee

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
750g lean stew beef, cut into cubes
2 onions, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 green peppers, halved, seeded, thickly sliced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons dry white wine
5 tablespoons strongly brewed coffee
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Fresh thyme
Bay leaves

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add meat and cook, stirring often, until browned on all sides. Remove meat and keep warm.

2. Reduce heat to low and add onions, garlic and peppers and cook over low heat, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Sprinkle in flour and cook, stirring continually, for 2 to 3 minutes. Gradually stir in wine and coffee.

3. Increase heat to medium and bring to simmer, stirring constantly. Return the meat to the pan, season with salt and pepper to taste, add a few sprigs of fresh thyme, two bay leaves, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 1 hour or until meat is tender. Remove bay leaves and serve hot.