Saturday cooking and 4 a.m. thoughts

Cacio e Matteo--tasted better than it looks

No surprise that I spent much of the morning cooking, since it’s Saturday. I’ve just finished Brewed Awakening, the eighteenth in the Coffeehouse Mystery Series. I’m a big fan of cozies—really well-done ones, not the silly, cutesy ones. Cleo Coyle’s Coffeehouse series is one of my favorites, and this was no disappointment. I recommend it if you have time for a novel this time of year.

The Coffeehouse mysteries all have recipes at the end, but I have a problem with them. Kindle doesn’t let you cut and paste. So I went to the web site and found the recipes—but they are simply descriptions that link you back to the Kindle text. I thought Coffee Beef Stew sounded so good, I laboriously copied the recipe by hand and then typed it into my computer, so I’d have it.

You may think beef stew is beef stew and what can you do differently. Well, this one calls for marinating the meat in a cup and a half of black coffee and later adding a half cup to the stew. Since I don’t drink coffee, I asked Christian for two cups. He texted back, “That’s an awful lot of coffee,” and I replied that it was for the marinade. So he dutifully came out with two cups of ground coffee. I said no, I needed brewed, and he looked considerably relieved. “You were about to use my whole supply,” he said.

Other touches that distinguish this stew—2 tsp. vinegar, cooked with that half cup of coffee. And you don’t just dump everything in, the way I’ve made stew for years. You cook the meat in broth for 90 minutes, add carrots and onions and cook for 15 minutes, add potatoes and cook for 20. At the end you add a half cup of frozen corn kernels and a Tbsp. of butter. It looks and smells delicious. I’ll let it sit in the fridge and “ripen,” until Sunday supper.

The recipe calls for new potatoes. Jordan couldn’t find them. She got small Idaho potatoes, which I cut up. Not sure what difference that will make, but I’d have preferred the tiny new ones. I suspect the flavor is different and the cooking time. Saw some a week ago in the market, but none today.

Tonight I’ll make Cacio e Matteo from the same book. Cacio e Pepe is one of the simplest pasta sauces in terms of ingredients—olive oil, garlic, pasta, cheese—and one of the most difficult to get right. I’ve tried it twice—nailed it one time, failed utterly the second time. Accomplished Italian chefs will tell you it’s all in the twist of the wrist as you marry pasta and cheese. This version is supposed to be  little simpler and calls for Italian herbs, not usually used.

Last night at 3 a.m. I would have told you my cold was gone—no congestion, no coughing no sore throat. At 3:30, it was all back. I had gotten up to use the restroom; then Sophie banged her water dish on the floor, indicating an immediate need for a refill. Next I spilled my own water glass and had to mop it up. I was up long enough to lose that sleep fog, and with the return of coughing, congestion, and sore throat I was awake. But I was more sensible about it, including taking  cough drop.

Still I was awake. I remembered an article I had seen about a member of the House of Representatives calling for Moscow Mitch to recuse himself from the impeachment trial because he had said he would work closely with trump’s defense lawyers, in violation of the oath he will be required to take. The House member is female, a former sheriff, and I conjured up a wonderful vision of her storming onto the Senate floor, backed up by two marshals (if this were a novel, they’d be burly, of course) and arresting him. It was a lovely comforting vision at 4 a.m., and I went back to sleep. Maybe it will become a reality. I think the pre-judgement of senators will become a real issue between now and the trial.

Sophie and I both slept late, but when I turned over about 8:15 this morning I found her lying by my bed, patiently waiting for me to wake up so she could go outside. She’s a good dog, and I must go feed her supper.