Monday, August 13, 2012

Vietnamese Iced Coffee & Iced Coffee Cubes

This recipe comes from the Tasting Table Test Kitchen.  I made my own sweetened condensed milk last week when I made a Condensed Milk Pound Cake from the 17 and Baking blog.  All I had in my pantry was evaporated milk.  The recipe for the substitute sweetened condensed milk was so simple.  It just took a can of evaporated milk and some sugar.  I had leftover condensed milk that I wanted to use.  This coffee sounded different and delicious. I had to try it.  I love iced coffee, so this was a no brainer.  I've never tried cold brewed coffee before.  Have you?

Vietnamese Iced Coffee & Iced Coffee Cubes
Yield: 4 Iced Coffees

Ingredients:

2-1/2 cups fresh, coursely ground dark roast coffee
8 cups cold water
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

1.  In a large container, combine the coffee with the water.   Stir, cover and set aside at room temperature for 8 hours or overnight.

2.  Set a cheesecloth-lined fine mesh sieve over a large bowl.  Pour the coffee through the sieve (discard the grounds).  Pour half of the coffee into an airtight container, cover and refrigerate.  Whisk the remaining coffee with the condensed milk and pour into 2 ice cube trays.  Freeze until rock hard, 8 hours or overnight.

3.  To make the iced coffee, place the ice cubes into 4 chilled glasses.  Divide the refrigerated coffee among the glasses and serve.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Strawberry Jam




My sister gave me two pounds of hulled strawberries.  What was I going to do with them?  I thought the best idea was to make some strawberry jam.  It came out delicious. After reading the reviews online, some said it was too sweet.  I didn't agree.  Jam is supposed to be sweet.  I will definitely make it again, maybe with other kind of fruit.  The best thing about it is that there is no pectin in it.



Strawberry Jam

Ingredients:

2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled
¼ cup lemon juice
4 cups white sugar

Directions:

1.   In a wide bowl, crush strawberries in batches until you have 4 cups of mashed berries.
2.   In a heavy bottomed saucepan or stock pot, mix together the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice.
3.   Stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved.
4.   Increase the heat to high and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil.  Boil, stirring often, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees F (105 degrees C).  At least ten minutes at a full, rolling boil.
5.   Transfer to hot, sterile jars, leaving ¼ to ½ inch headspace, and seal.  Process in a water bath (put jars into boiling water for 10 to 15 minutes.
6.   If the jam is going to be eaten right away, don’t bother with processing, and just refrigerate.
7.   To test for Jelling: Place 3 plats in a freezer, after about 10 minutes of boiling, place a teaspoon of the liquid of the jam onto a cold plate.  Return to freezer for a minute.  Run your finger through the jam on the pate.  If it does not run back together (if you can make a line through it with your finger) it’s ready to be canned.
8.   If not, then continue boiling for another 5 minutes and try the test again.
9.   After putting the jam mixture into the sanitized jars, put the lids on right away and then turn the jars upside down for 10 minutes and then turn them back over.  This will create a seal on the jar.
10. The jam will not look like jam/jelly but more like thick syrup at first.  It will need to set for about 48 hours before you will know that you have done this process correctly.



Enjoy!

The Creative Cook