Cidney the Dog Grad Night!

Yes, this should have been a Tuesdays with Dorie posting but I just didn't get around this holiday weekend to making this week's selection. Check out the TWD crew that did make Caramel Pots de Creme!

How was your holiday weekend? I worked one day, put up some mini blinds, went to the Farmer's Market, saw Kung Fu Panda 2 with my UCLA roommate and her family (such cute girls Lucia & Julia!), and Cidney graduated!! Whoo hoo!

Cidney the Dog (a girl, by the way) completed the PetSmart Beginning Education class. Six weeks of sit, loose leash walking, down, drop, leave it, shake and come. She's doing well, but needs more practice and the intermediate class. We had a good time and our trainer Blythe was awesome. As an adult, I've only had cats so this whole idea of actually training an animal is kinda cool. :)

Cidney's trainer, Blythe. Cidney always listens when Blythe is talking. Well, almost always. Unless another dog comes by. Or a kid. Or....well, it was Beginner class! (The six week class was $109 - totally worth it!)

The profile of 1 1/2 year old Cidney. She's from the shelter so we aren't sure what mix she is... but there sure is a lot of cute in there, huh?! :) (Yes, I'm a proud Auntie Mary!!!)

Also, Cidney didn't mind the hat on her head. I never thought I would become someone who dressed up pets...but just wait for Halloween and Christmas.

Joanne Chang's Flour book has homemade dog biscuits. I think I'll have to try to make some for my graduate! Congrats to the class of 2011! :)

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New monitoring system for my homebuilt coffee roaster

This system was designed by a group effort of Homeroasters. It uses a customized Arduino and a custom "Juice box"(to measure voltage off the variac).  It monitors Time, ET(environmental temperature in the roaster), BT(surface bean temperature), RoR(rate of BT rise/min.) and Juice(voltage from the variac to the main heating element). It uses the custom designed pGesha software program. Here is a link to the hardware and software, tc4
I can hook up to a computer through USB or view on the LCD display.
I'm about to mount the monitoring hardware in a project box.

This was a roast of Ethiopian with an extended
finish for espresso.

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World Barista Championship 2011

Thursday 2nd of June untill Sunday 5th Bogotá, Columbia will host the World Barista Championship 2011. We are very proud to have Anne-Stine and her team (Sara and Klaus) representing Denmark at the Championship.

Training in Bogotá

We will celebrate the event by offering You to taste Anne-Stines espresso in the Coffee Shop - just ask for her espresso (its also great in cappuccino)!

From Thursday we will live stream from the Championships at the Coffee Shop. We will live stream all the competitors within our normal working hours!

If you are not able to come to the coffee shop you can watch the live stream here

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The Spice Table, Los Angeles

The Spice Table in Downtown Los Angeles

My friend Susan and I went to The Spice Table for lunch. This Southeast Asian restaurant "celebrates the culinary heritage of Chef/owner Bryant Ng (Singapore) and his wife Kim (Vietnam)." Thus, banh mi for lunch.

Located in a former Cuba restaurant in Little Tokyo (walking distance to the awesome Japanese American National Museum), across from the Japanese Village Plaza (get the imagawayaki) and next to the Yogurtland.

Next time, I want to get the chips! They have shrimp chips ($2) and spicy sweet-potato chips ($1.75)

The restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating. The menu is different for lunch and dinner - I will definitely want to come back for dinner and try the menu. They have an interesting way of saying no substitutions; the menu reads, "Changes and modifications are politely declined."

At the Spice Table (at least for lunch), you order at the front, pay and get a number. Wait staff brings your order to your table. I got the guava juice ($2.50) and my friend Susan ordered the Vietnamese Coffee ($3.)

Curried eggplant $7 - Pickled red onions and cilantro
 Although a little messy, this was really good. I'm pretty weak with the spices (I am Japanese American) so it was spicy to me.

Chicken Sandwich $7 - Lemongrass, pickled shallots, watercress, garlic mayo, scallions, peanut sauce
My friend Susan got that and I tried a bit. I like it but would get it again without the mayo.

Slaw $3 - napa cabbage, carrots, crushed peanuts, scallions, mint, fried shallots, pepper-lime dressing 
I really liked the slaw. I'm not a fan of regular cole slaw (too much mayo), but this was only lightly dressed and those peanuts just make it delicious.

And guess what is coming directly across the street? The Flying Pig's food truck's brick and mortar restaurant. I just hope they don't do any filming there...

Restaurant:

The Spice Table

114 S. Central Avenue (between 1st and 2nd Street in Little Tokyo)
Los Angeles, CA 90012 (213) 620-1840
Lunch menu - Dinner menu

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DO AS YOU ARE TOLD

In this episode of Sunday Morning Coffee, more on the photography contest, Willy eats Crayfish with Lisa finding out about the clones. What happened to the end of the word? Was Harold Camping wrong, again? What about Dorothy Martin in 1954? Find out how to download a song me Metal Mother and much more. Well a few things more. like the Wild Women of Wongo.

Tags: sunday morning coffee, crayfish, music, comedy, funny, harold camping, dorothy martin, metal mother, wild women of wongo

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Zunda Mochi from Sendai Japan

Zunda Mochi from the Sendai region of Japan

It has been awhile since the Japanese earthquake on March 11, 2011 and the recent tragedies in the mid-west reiterate the power of natural disasters. Japan may have fallen off the front page of the newspaper, but the people in the affected areas are in need of long-term assistance. There are still thousands of people in shelters because their homes were destroyed in the tsunami. One of the hardest hit regions is Sendai, Japan.

Last month, my friend and fellow librarian Jun taught me how to make Zunda Mochi. Jun’s family is from  Sendai and she still has many relatives there. Last year, she visited Sendai and came back with a package of Zunda Mochi which she shared with me. I was immediately smitten. I love all things mochi and the combo of slightly sweetened soybeans or edamame and mochi is a winner.

After the earthquake and updates from Jun about what her family went through, I thought about Zunda Mochi. I wanted to make Zunda Mochi as a celebration of the region's perseverance. Jun said this is a home cooked comfort food; it is sad that so many people do not have homes to return to. I hope you contribute financially to the continuing relief effort in Japan and here in the states. I've listed one way to support Japan at the end of this post.

Zunda Mochi uses very few ingredients. Really, it is just mochi (rice cakes, unsweetened) with a paste of edamame that has been slightly sweetened. Remember my family's annual mochi making day for New Year's? Well, I still have some mochi in the freezer and we cut some of those pieces. You can also find mochi in the Asian grocery store....just make sure it is plain and unsweetened.

You need to defrost the edamame (just run it in a colander under water) and remove the outer skin. Yes, one by one! This doesn't take long and if you have a friend with you, it goes by in the flash. You can squeeze them with your fingers and the inner pod just zooms out. The edamame paste freezes really well so you can make a big batch and freeze it. Jun's relatives always have some in the freezer in case a visitor stops by!


Whiz the naked (skin-off) edamame with some sugar and a bit of water in a food processor. You should get a fairly fine paste...but if you like things a bit chunky, you can leave it more chunky too. You don't want hummus...there should be a little texture.

Boil the mochi (How long depends on the type of mochi you are using. Ours only too a few minutes) and then place it on a plate with a dollop of the paste.

Like all recipes, especially comfort food, there are many variations of Zunda Mochi. The ratio of edamame to mochi pieces varies, and some pastes have more liquid. And some people cook the edamame or the paste...Jun and I didn't do that. Here is I Nom Things version. Google the recipe, find one you like and sit with a friend and shell some soybeans.

My friend (and soon-to-be mom!) Jun with the dessert of her peeps.

Buy my friend Azusa's Humble Bean Cookbook and help Japan!

One way you can help Japan is by purchasing Humble Bean’s recipe booklet. Azusa, an awesome artist and cook, has created this booklet with proceeds helping the victims in Japan. Buy it here!

Recipes include this lovely Shiitake and Bacon Pasta and...

• Quick Japanese Pickles
• Milk Misoshiru with Kabocha
• Daikon and Scallop Salad
• Pan Fried Gyoza
• Chilled Tomato Somen
• Shiitake and Bacon Pasta
• Bacon and Shiso Fried Rice
• Kuwayaki Donburi
• Sukiyaki Donburi
• Tuna and Avocado Donburi
• Matcha Pancakes

Show your support and get a great cookbook to add to your collection by purchasing Humble Bean's booklet!
= = = = = =
Recipe:
Zunda Mochi
Yields: 2 cups paste

One 16 ounce bag of frozen shelled edamame
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon water or more as needed
2 pinches of kosher salt

Mochi pieces

1. Remove the skin from the defrosted edamame. You should yield 14 ounces or about 2 1/2 cups of edamame.
2. Place edamame, sugar, water and salt in a food processor. Process into a paste of desired consistency.
3. Boil mochi pieces until soft. Remove and place on dish.
4. Top mochi with edamame paste.
Note: Paste freezes well.

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Big Time !

Tomorrow we leave for the 2011 World Barista Championship in Bogotá, Colombia !

We know we haven't been blogging much about AnneStine's presentation since the Danish Championship, but rest assured that she is well prepared and ready to go.

With the great support from Edwin Martinez of Finca Vista Hermosa we managed to get some boxes of this year's fresh crop flown in to Copenhagen a few weeks ago. We have been able this year to cup 14 different microlots from Edwin, from which we've decided to buy 3. The lot AnneStine will bring to the WBC is called Cypresal, and is actually the same microlot she had picked for the Danish Championship. We've been dialing in the roast, cupping like crazy and AnneStine has made us a LOT of espressos from it. It's turned out beautiful and now we're really excited to taste it on Bogotá water at 2.600 meters!

Edwin at Finca Vista Hermosa in February

AnneStine is right now packing all her stuff and checking her lists. It's always unbelievable to see how much stuff the baristas need to bring for this competition. It's taken AnneStine's faithful coach and helper, Sara (Bar Manager at our coffee shop) a lot of time to simply organize the logistics around this whole thing. Getting a Robur 110V version to Bogota isn't so easy, when you're in Europe. But we've gotten great support from a lot of people, both here in Denmark, in the US and locally in Colombia. So now things are all good to go.

Yesterday we had the (very last) Grand Rehearsal for AnneStine and were so lucky to have some really good people to come judge. Big thanks to Björg from Café Europa, Yara from Estate Coffee and Troels from Kontra for coming in and acting judges. We can't think of a better opportunity to test AnneStine's nerves and get some final feedback on the whole presentation.

Tomorrow we leave for Bogotá. We're very excited. "We" unfortunately is not the whole collective. As much as we wish we could all go, our travel budget is spent on visiting the farmers we buy from, and someone needs to make sure there's coffee available for our customers here in Copenhagen. So besides AnneStine will be Sara and Klaus. We hope others will support them in cheering loudly.

We look forward to see everyone at the WBC and for those of you stuck at home, you will be able to watch the Live Streaming of the WBC at The Coffee Collective! More details will follow.

AnneStine is set to compete on the first day of the WBC, June 2nd at 11:06 Bogotá time - that's 18:06 Danish time. We're sure we'll be able to hear the roaring crowd across the globe!

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New Crop Kieni

The fresh crop from Kenya has arrived!

We're very excited to be able to present coffee from the Kieni wet mill again this year. It's the first time we've bought coffee from the same wet mill two years in a row in Kenya, and we're very excited about it. Our wish is to build a relationship with the farmers we buy from, and shopping around every year for a new coffee isn't going to do that. So when Casper and Klaus were in Kenya in January and cupped many different coffees, they were glad to find that Kieni this year was the best on the tables for us.



We hope you would like to go back to January on our blog and (re-)read our post from the trip:

Nyeri: http://coffeecollective.blogspot.com/2011/01/nyeri-kenya.html http://coffeecollective.blogspot.com/2011/01/nyeri-kenya.html

Kieni: http://coffeecollective.blogspot.com/2011/02/kieni-2011.html

The latter one contains a lot of information on this particular coffee for those of you that want to know more.

The taste profile of this years lot is very similar to that of last year, as we also noted when we cupped it down there. But the fresh crop of course tastes... well... fresher! Much more pronounced acidity and sweeter. We're also getting a lot more gooseberry aromas on top of the blackcurrant, and the intensity of the aromas are spectacular.

The coffee is available from today in our coffee shop and online.

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Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones - Tuesdays with Dorie

Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Patricia from Life With a Whisk chose Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones on page 30 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Hot damn. These scones are good. They're not your Starbucks super-sweet scones. They are nice, slightly sweet and have a great texture with oats and dried fruit.

Don't you just want some of these?! They come together in a jiffy. I make my scones by hand and I added currants to the scones.

Check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers and see their creations!

Recipe:
Patricia from Life With a Whisk blog,
or, Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours (page 30)

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Monkey Wrench Throwing Time

Sunday Morning Coffee presents ;Monkey Wrench Throwing Time! Terry hangs out outside

Tags: terry, roving reporter, comedy, coffee, harpo studios, photography contest, humor

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Maple Cornmeal Biscuits - Tuesdays with Dorie

Maple Cornmeal Biscuits

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, May 17, 2011 – Lindsay from A Little Something… Sweet chose Maple Cornmeal Biscuits on page 24. of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

These are sooooo good! I could eat a hundred of these light, slightly sweet biscuits. The maple syrup flavor is subtle yet delicious!

I made half the recipe and used a cookie scoop to dish out these drop biscuits. Yes, no rolling or forming...but scoop and bake. So easy! My scoop was small as I got 12 small biscuits (the full recipe yields 12 larger biscuits)

I hope you get a chance to make these soon. They are perfect with breakfast, lunch or dinner! 


Check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers and see their creations!


Recipe:
Lindsay from A Little Something… Sweet blog,
or, Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours (page 24)

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Oh No! A Clip Show

No time for a show this week, so instead we'll look back at some of the best bits from this year. I'm in it as well. Hope you'll find it a little funny. Personally, I wouldn't watch it. I had to because I edited it but if I had a choice, I would have watched a baseball game. GO BULLS!

Tags: clips, coffee. comedy, funny, video, willy, terry, fritz, talk best of

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Spinach and Ham Quiche - French Fridays with Dorie

Spinach and Ham Quiche

This week, the French Fridays with Dorie group made Spinach and Bacon Quiche from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook Around my French Table.

I did make and eat this on Friday, but ran a little late in my posting.

I'm going to tell you something. In confidence. You know, between you and me.

I stepped on the bathroom scale the other day and there was a number (in big, bright blue digital characters) that is just not right with the world. I mean, the biggest number I've ever seen. Ever.

I'm afraid the state or feds are gonna come barging through the door, while I'm standing in front of an open refrigerator, and arrest me for perjury...for the weight shown my driver's license is, um, not close to the actual number. Oy vey. I need to move a lot more and eat a lot less.

So, I tried to lighten up my little quiche. I dropped the crust and the bacon. I replaced the bacon with small pieces of ham (way less in fat). But it didn't lose any flavor.

Finally, I know this probably isn't anywhere "around my French table", but I did eat my second half with some Salsa Lizano sauce from Costa Rica. It goes perfectly with egg dishes. :)

Be sure to check out my fellow French Fridays with Dorie members and see their creations!

Please note: French Fridays with Dorie will not be posting recipes. Please support Dorie and purchase the book or find it at your library.

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BREWDOWN Thursday 19th May 19-21hs

This time we will focus entirely on brewing techniques. No milk.


Torfi Torfason (who recently won the danish Brewers Cup) will guide us through the some simple but often forgotten methods to do really good coffee.


There will also be a small competition for the brave ones. 


...and a lot of chances to mingle with your barista collegues that we hope will come from all over town- everyone is welcome ! 


BREWDOWN Thursday 19th May 19-21hs
at The Coffee Collective 
Jægersborggade 10

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LA Food Blogger Bake Sale - Saturday, May 14th

Los Angeles! Plan your weekend around this awesome bake sale!!!

What: More than 40 Food Bloggers across Los Angeles come together to bake their favorite treats from their blogs to raise money for Share Our Strength in the 2nd Annual Food Blogger Bake Sale, to help the fight against childhood hunger in America!

I'm going to bring Espresso Mini-Bundt Cakes!

When: May 14th from 11:30 – 2:00pm

Where: BLD Restaurant (7450 Beverly Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90036)

Why: Because we want to raise a TON of money for Share Our Strength and help END childhood hunger in America! Don’t you want to help?? Did you know that nearly one in four—children in America face hunger, that’s more than 17 million kids!!

Thanks to Gaby of What's Cooking Gaby for organizing all the bake sales! Check out Gaby's blog post for a list of the bakers participating in the Los Angeles bake sale... and for other locations!

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Fava Beans with Corn and Walnuts

Fava beans are in season! I've been seeing them in the Farmer's Market. When I saw the fava beans and the first-of-the-season white corn, I knew I had to make a summer side dish.

Shell the beans and then blanch or steam them for a few minutes.

After, the outer coating is removed, leaving a bright green fava bean.

I cut fresh white corn off the cob. Some olive oil is heated in a pan and the corn and fava beans are heated through. I threw in some walnuts at the last minute. Season to your liking!

Ingredients:
Fava beans
Fresh white corn
Walnuts
Olive oil, salt & pepper

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