Guess who’s back, back again!

Erin and I have a weekend morning tradition of starting off nice and slow with some sort of breakfast and a freshly pressed cup of coffee. As much as we’d like to take credit for starting this trend in our home, it really was something I “borrowed” from elsewhere.

I have a lot of family in Connecticut, and one of the places I love to visit while there is Uncle Bob and Aunt Leslie’s house near the shore. Occasionally I would stay over, and in the mornings, they would have a big pot of French press coffee off to the side in their kitchen all ready to go. I was always impressed by the flavor of the coffee, and this was just about the time that I became more interested in coffee and coffee drinks, thanks to the Starbucks near my work. It wouldn’t be long before I decided to start brewing my own.

When it came time to start really making coffee at home for Erin and myself, there was really no other choice but to get a French press.

The Press

In deciding to go the French press route, I was already partial to Bodum’s Chambord line, specifically the Chambord 8-Cup model. The 8-Cup model is 32 ounces, and makes 4 US Cups, or 2 CK and Erin “Weekend” Cups of coffee. While I haven’t tried too many other French Press variants, I am a huge fan of the glass models, as opposed to something like the all-metal variety, which I feel cools the coffee down too quickly for my tastes.

The Coffee

Once you’ve decided on a press, the next logical portion of the coffee brewing experience is, of course, the beans. Rule number one when it comes to coffee is to make sure your coffee is fresh. This can mean as little as buying freshly ground coffee beans from a shop like Starbucks or Peet’s to as much as roasting and grinding your own beans. I like to take the middle ground and buy freshly roasted beans from Peet’s (we’re currently enjoying their Anniversary Blend) and grind them up right before brewing.

The Grinder

I’ll admit I haven’t spent as much time in picking out a grinder as I probably should have - This will undoubtedly change once I start inevitably dabbling in espresso and espresso drinks. For now I am content with the Braun KSM2 grinder, which definitely gets the job done, and was even capable of doing a fine grind of espresso beans for Erin’s infamous Flourless Chocolate Cake.

The Process

After many rounds of trial and error, my basic process for making coffee in the 8-cup press is as follows:

1. Bring a kettle of cold water to a whistle, and then let it sit while preparing the rest.
2. Put 5 Bodum Scoops of coffee beans (translates roughly to 8 Tablespoons) into the grinder.
3. Grind for approximately 8 seconds, or a medium-coarse ground.
4. Take the grounds out and pour them into the press.
5. Pour the hot water from the kettle over the grounds, filling to the top (in the Chambord, you can pour to the metal ring near the top), Then stir in the grounds so they mix with the water.
6. Let sit for 4 minutes (I usually last about 2, so 2-4 minutes will definitely suffice).
7. Plunge the top in and pour into mugs.

Let us know what you think of the recipe and be sure to share your own coffee secrets!

I couldn’t help myself!  While waiting at the Whole Foods Bakery counter for my Seeduction Bread to be sliced I spyed this adorable puppy cupcake sitting on the shelf all alone among a sea of flower cupcakes.  I just coudn’t stand to see him there by himself so I brought him home with me.  I’ve decided that his name is George (named for George Michael of course).  I plan to give him to CK when he gets home from work.  It’s Corona and cupcakes for dinner tonight!

PS:  If you want to make your own edible puppy pack you should check out Francie’s step-by-step decorating tips.

CK here for a little guest post.

At one time I was living with my grandparents, and they instituted an “Everyone cooks a dinner” rule, meaning that even I, the 12 year old kid in the house, had to prepare a meal for the family by myself. Apparently being a glutton for punishment, I told them I wanted to make an Osso Buco dish. For some strange reason they accepted. The details are now a little hazy, but I remember being able to pull off said meal with great success.

Fast forward many a year and Erin demands an evening off from cooking (attempting to disguise this as a “please make me something nice because you love me” meal). You see, CK started the whole relationship on the wrong foot by cooking for her on one of the first dates they had. Since this was one of the things that stole Erin’s heart, she has a sweet spot for any concoction that Chef CK can come up with. As she’s heard (repeatedly) that one of my greatest triumphs was the aforementioned Osso Buco recipe, this was the logical choice for my annual cooking creation.

Once I decided to make Osso Buco, I had to find the right recipe. Going to the ever trusty Food Network site, I came across Tyler Florence’s Amarone Osso Buco. The recipe looked fantastic. I especially liked the idea of Cranberry Gremolata. We decided this was the one, and proceeded to assemble ingredients.

A few surprises were immediately presented. First, neither Erin nor I were aware that veal shanks were so difficult to obtain. We went to three markets before we realized we had to go to an honest-to-goodness specialty shop. We ended up going to Savenor’s Market, which had amazing cuts of meat (though the veal shanks were especially pricey, like they would be anywhere), not to mention a great selection of other Italian specialty foods, and was once considered Julia Child’s favorite market and preferred source of meats for her cooking shows.

The second surprise we ended up coming upon was the Amarone wine. Erin was tasked with getting this for the recipe, and headed over to our local wine shop. She quickly discovered that the wine indicated in the recipe was a $50 bottle of wine. This, coupled with the $50 worth of veal we had already gotten was putting this recipe in the running for the most expensive recipe ever featured on Erin Cooks. Seeing as we wouldn’t even get the opportunity to drink this wine straight up (the entire bottle goes into the recipe), Erin decided to save a little money here and opt for a less expensive wine from the same region.

The cooking of this recipe is fairly straightforward. My recommendations would be to pre-chop all your vegetables and have them ready to dump in when the time is right. This way you can focus your attention on properly searing the shanks, instead of trying to cut things up while cooking the meat. The thing that took me aback the most was the entire head of garlic going in. When it does, it really is just slicing it in half from top to bottom, and dumping both ends in. It’s more for flavoring than eating, so don’t worry about it too much.

And finally don’t forget about the Gremolata! I was so invested in the cooking of the veal and getting and assembling all the ingredients that I forgot to make the Gremolata until we were ready to serve. It really does add a little extra “oompf” to the dish, and finishes everything off nicely.

All in all, this is a great meal to have, and if there’s only two of you, we found this to be 4 complete meals. This recipe makes two servings of Osso Buco each, as well as being able to make two days worth of soup out of the leftover sauce and vegetables, thanks to the addition of extra broth, vegetables, and some pasta or potatoes.

Amarone Osso Buco (based on the recipe published by Tyler Florence)

Osso Buco:
1 cup all-purpose flour
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 pieces veal shank for osso bucco
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 lemon, zest peeled off in wide strips with a vegetable peeler
1 head garlic, cut horizontally through the middle
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 bottle Amarone wine (we used a similar, more reasonably priced wine from the same region instead)
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can low-sodium beef broth
1 (28-ounce) can whole San Marzano tomatoes, hand-crushed
Cranberry Gremolata:
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries
2 garlic cloves
1 orange, zest finely grated
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Put the flour in a large shallow platter and season it with a fair amount of salt and pepper. Get in the habit of always tasting your flour; once it coats the veal it is harder to adjust the seasoning. Dredge the veal shanks in the seasoned flour and then tap off the excess (extra flour will burn and make the dish off-tasting). Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat and hit it with a 3-count drizzle of oil. Add the butter and swirl it around the pan to melt. Sear the veal shanks, turning carefully with tongs, until all sides are a rich brown caramel color. Drizzle with a little more oil, if needed. (Do this in batches if the shanks are big and look crowded in the pot.) Remove the browned veal shanks to a side plate. There will be a lot of flavor left over in the bottom of the pot. You’re going to use that to create your sauce.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Using the same pot, saute the onion, celery, carrots, lemon zest, garlic, bay leaves, and parsley over medium heat. Cook the vegetables down until they start to get some color and develop a deep, rich aroma. Season with salt and pepper; add a little oil if needed. Nestle the veal shanks back in the pot. Pour in the wine and let it simmer down for 20 minutes, until the wine has reduced by half. Reducing is key for intense flavor. Add the beef broth and tomatoes and stir everything together. Cover the pot and put it in the oven. Braise for 1 and a 1/2 hours. Then remove the cover and continue to cook for another 30 minutes. The sauce should be thick and the veal tender and nearly falling off the bone.
Remove bay leaves.

For the gremolata:
Finely chop the pine nuts, dried cranberries and combine. Combine this with the garlic together in a mini chopper or with a mortar and pestle. Fold that into the orange zest and parsley. Scatter the gremolata over the Osso Bucco before serving.