The Common Tongue

(the following post and its preceding title are meant purely in jest, we loved Carla!)

So my daughter has this rubber frog that she plays with in the tub from time to time.  The thing has these huge white eyes that stare you down while you’re in the shower doing your thing.  (Not *that* thing).  Anyway, its been in there for over a year and I was fine with it until this season’s Top Chef.  One of the contestants, (my wife’s favorite — Carla), looked familiar to me.  Now I know that I’ve never met her or had even seen her before, but still I felt as if I’d seen her somewhere before.

It wasn’t until the next morning when I hopped into the shower that I noticed it.  Carla was staring at my junk!  Not the Top Chef contestant, but this wide-eyed rubber frog with its huge friend grin.  It was rather unsettling, (though I’m sure not as unsettling as it would have been for the real Carla to be staring at me in the shower, poor thing).

Anyway, while this isn’t the best picture of Carla to compare with the frog toy, it was the best closeup I could find of those wide eyes and big welcoming grin that we Top Chef enthusiasts have come  to love this past season, but here you go anyway.

Carla is in my shower

I love my coffee.  Some would consider me a coffee snob, I don’t think that I’ve acheived that moniker yet, but I’m probably close.  Since we live on a somewhat tight budget, that means I mostly drink the cheap stuff.  (Folgers, Maxwell House, etc) and they get me my fix during the day, but there’s nothing like a good cup of Joe…good Joe.

This morning, (the past two actually) our coffee has been horrible.  Upon closer inspection of the cannister of Folgers, we realized that the grounds smelled burnt.  And sure enough, in tasting the coffee, thats exactly what we were tasting.  (Don’t get me wrong, I still downed it –  I need my coffee — but its not been very enjoyable.)

I like to kick back with a hot cup coffee on the weekends and just soak in the morning.  Many times for me, you just can’t beat a french pressed cup of the blackened goodness.  It provides a very smooth texture to the coffee and it goes down easy, even if the stuff is burnt or a bit strong, the press helps.  However, we only have a single-serving press, so its only on a rare occasion that I make it that way.  Even the cheap stuff is good that way but I’m still mastering the whole process.

Also on occasion, I’ve roasted my own beans using the hot air popcorn popper method and that works quite nicely.  I managed to burn my beans the first few times (I like a dark roast) and it wound up tasting only slightly better than the stuff I’ve choked back this weekend.  I’ve gotten better at it and am down to my last batch of   raw beans and need to buy some more.  Combine my own beans with a french press and I’m in heaven.

One thing that I’m going to try the next time we brew a batch of bad coffee is to try to make an Arabian mix out of it.  Where I used to work, we would occasionally make a pot of strong coffee Arabian style — so I’m told– in the afternoon.  It involves 1 teaspon of Black Pepper and 1 teaspoon of Cardamom right in the filter before you brew.  The problem is, I’ve already got a bad pot of coffee brewed so I need to figure out how much to add to a single cup to do single servings, (since I’m pretty sure that my wife won’t like the stuff).  The Black Pepper/Cardamom combo really comes out and I’m wondering if I won’t notice the the burnt flavor as much.  The other problem I have is our local grocer doesn’t seem to carry Cardamom.  (I’m not sure that this is “traditional Arabian coffee” — according to some of the googling I’ve done, its not — but its very good).

I need my coffee in the morning, it doesn’t have to be caffeinated (but why?!?), I just need it.  I like in the evenings as well as I’m sure many people do.  I think hot strong coffee is the perfect match for piece of pie, or other after dinner treat.  I just love coffee!

So having said all that, I’m curious to know if there are any strange recipes for coffee that you have come across.  If you’ve got a  unique coffee brewing method or recipe, etc…please let us know  in the comments.  I’m always looking something new to enjoy.

I’m off to find Cardamom…

First off I just wanna say that I was rooting for Hosea all the way.  This is the second time that I’ve picked the winner from the start.  The first time it was Harold, and if you ask me Sam was ripped off big time in Season 2 (or was it season three?).

Anyway, the Top Chef Season 5 Reunion is on tonight and I look forward to watching these almost as much as the competion itself.  I’m very curious to see for instance how Hosea’s girlfriend and Leah’s boyfriend reacted to the on screen action from earlier in the season.

I enjoyed this season for the most part and while I’m not exactly sure the overall talent can match that of some of the other seasons, Stefan, Hosea, Fabio and Jeff seemed to really do some good stuff.  Jamie and Carla had their moments as well.  (Carla didn’t start out so well in my book, but she was cruising at the end until she let someone convince her to sous-vide sirloin, even I knew that wouldn’t come out well…).

All that said, I’d love to try any of their food and admire the creativity and spontaneity required to compete in such a competition.  My hats off to all of them, and again congratulations to Hosea for getting the ultimate win in the end.  Stefan won the battles, but Hosea won the war.

A foodie wannabe blog is coming soon…check out the About Me page for more info.