Spring, the color yellow and coffee

Thoughts on spring and some brew tips from our favorite food truck owner - Chef Cher & The Cowbell Kitchen!

Ok really……snow? All I can think of is spring! I don’t want to wish days away but I am obsessed with the thoughts of spring. Monday morning I was snooping around the gardens looking for tiny buds,
signs of new growth, checking to see if life was starting to pop up from the earth, then I had the thought of the impending winter storm brewing, stay asleep my lovelies.

Patience, I must take a deep breath and wait. Wait I will, all the while going over in my busy head planning what I will dig up and move, what new vines, I’m vine crazed, to plant,  how I will ask so nicely for Ken to build me another raised bed promising it will be the last…..haha!  When Mother Nature brings us piles of snow this week I will only think of the happy color yellow……I'm envisioning me watering my flower garden this way...

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COFFEE TALK: How do you perk?

No fail, I start each day with coffee. The art of brewing a fine cup of joe is a beautiful thing. Let me count the ways how to achieve the perfect cup. My favorite and the purest form is called the pour over. I use a small Bee House Dripper for my ultimate cup and I need Trickling Springs half & half to finish it off with, heavenly, good morning day!


Bee House Design
The Bee House Dripper employs a wedge design with two bottom drain holes. The dripper also features slightly raised edges along each side of the wedge. In order to help avoid overflowing the cup or decanter being brewed into, Bee House has provided two openings on either side of the base to allow the person brewing to see the brewed coffee level. The two drip holes means the coffee is extracted neither too fast nor slow.

Technique & Brewing Parameters
Pour just enough water to wet the coffee grounds and let it sit for 30-45 seconds or until the coffee bloom deflates. At this point begin pouring slowly in concentric circles until the water volume is near the top, slow the pour rate and keep the dripper full until the desired water volume has been poured. For beginning brewing parameters we recommend 36-42 grams of coffee (medium grind), 600-700 mL of water, 200-205° F water , and a 3:00-3:30 total brew time.

The design of the Bee House dripper is quite forgiving and allows for a tasty, properly-extracted cup without an exceedingly refined pouring technique. Give it a whirl!

Try This!
From my current revolving cookbook reading stack,  Homemade by Yvette Van Boven 

Also read about the coffee I use for the Cowbell,  www.counterculture.com. Super cool company very innovative and forward thinking. I receive tons of complements about the coffee. When you need a break in the shopping action come try a cup and tell me what you think!

This weekend's soups are:
-   onion wild rice topped with garlicky croutons
-   lentil local sausage and chard

Spring is around the corner!
See ya this weekend,
Cher

Check out these great pictures of Cher and her food truck, courtesy of professional photographer Michelle VanTine!

Posted in: What We're Eating