ZombieRunner Blog

I had good luck making Turkish coffee tonight in a new small Egyptian Ibrik. I used a good amount of ground cardamom and a bit more sugar than the last couple of go-rounds. And I did a little longer infusion between letting the foam rise to the top. The coffee was our Indian Mysore ground in the Rocky on its finest setting. I’m brewing it over the gas burner that I use for making Japanese nabe.

Like espresso preparation, Turkish coffee is an art. I’m not yet an artist, but I’m working on it.

We did the first roast over the weekend with our new Behmor 1600 home roaster — 8 ounces of Sumatra Mandheling. We took it just beyond second crack and it turned out nicely (said a quick test cup made in an Aeropress). Time to test it in a cappuccino…

I realized after using my Mazzer grinder that it’s impractical to switch beans when using a grinder that has a big hopper. So, I decided to get a smaller grinder for decaffeinated beans. I ordered a Rancilio Rocky, which arrived this week. I also got a set of 6 very heavy white 2 ounce espresso cups (there are 2 on top of the espresso machine in the photo). So now I’m all set.

I’ve been reading a lot about grind distribution and tamping technique. And I’ve been using my bottomless portafilter to diagnose extraction problems. Uneven tamping or grind distribution results in channeling (weak under-extracted espresso). Here’s a great piece called Perfecting the Naked Extraction.

I’m also experimenting with beans. I’ve been buying beans from a guy in Oakland who roasts and ships very the same day. And yesterday I received a bag of Black Cat Espresso from Intelligentcia in Chicago. I pulled a really good double shot this morning — nice thick crema. The viscosity of the espresso makes a big difference in pouring drinks - I managed to draw a decent rosetta in an 8 ounce cappuccino. Much better than I’d been doing lately. We’ll see - I also received 3 new bean varieties from my Oakland guy. Should be a fun espresso experimentation week.

- dc

PS. We’re giving a free to-go coffee drink with each order picked up at ZombieRunner Headquarters.

I’ve been working the last couple of weeks on my espresso and cappuccino making (just ordered a Mazzer Mini grinder to go with my Livia 90 espresso machine).

This morning I had my first hint at creating ‘latte art’ (it’s really cappuccino art) — micro-foamed milk poured into espresso to create a leaf-like pattern. Not great, but it’s a start.

A couple of months ago, a customer suggested that we check out Michael Finney’s Friday Free Stuff, a weekly TV and radio spot on KGO, our local ABC affiliate. So, we called them up and sent them samples of a couple of products, then settled on Java Juice. Yesterday at 5:25pm, Michael Finney showed the Java Juice packets and said people could get 2 free packets if they visited a page on our web site. They even showed a ZombieRunner logo - first time on TV!

In Peet’s Coffee this morning there was a very Marine-looking Marine, waiting for his drink.

I overhead him talking to the barista, commenting that he couldn’t get decent coffee in Iraq and was really happy to get his first cup of Peet’s

He said:

“Democracy my ass. I was fighting for the coffee.”

- dc

Gillian and I have been eating sushi for dinner two or three times a week recently, at our local sushi bar (about a 2-minute walk from home).

So I was listening to a Billy Collins CD this morning, and came across this most appropriate poem.

Mid-winter evening,
alone at the sushi bar—
just me and this eel

Billy Collins

Someone on the ultra list asked for a lefse recipe. Here’s the one that my brother and I use - very similar to the version that our Mom made.

(The photos are of ace lefse chef Gillian, from a lefse-making party we did at my brother’s house.)

Lefse Recipe

4 lb potatoes
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 cups flour

Peel, quarter potatoes and boil until tender. Drain and return to pan over low heat for a few minutes to dry.
Rice potatoes. Add butter, salt & sugar and mash until well mixed. Let cool and then refrigerate until cold.
Heat lefse griddle to 500°.
For each 1/4 of potato mixture, mix in 1/2 cup flour (or less) and divide into 6 balls.
Roll out on baking parchment and transfer, parchment side up, to griddle; the parchment will peel away in a minute or so.
Cook on both sides.

Margarine changed to
butter, six cups changed to four pounds.
Note: try cake flour.

Here’s a great site for lefse-making equipment

- dc

I made a couple of recipes over the weekend from Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. The first was the cinnamon roll recipe, which I’ve made once before. I started it Saturday evening, retarded it in the fridge, got up at 5 to allow it to proof in time to bake for breakfast. Used a bit of orange extract in the fondant. A terrific cinnamon roll recipe.

The second was the potato bread with rosemary. I made the biga (a pre-ferment) on Saturday, let it ferment in the fridge overnight, and made the 2 loaves (2 boules) on Sunday afternoon (to go with a southwestern corn chowder). I also added the options 1 ounce of chopped roasted garlic - a nice addition. The potatoes (1 cup, mashed) makes the dough and the bread nice a soft. I proofed one of the loaves in a french banneton and the other on a parchment-covered sheet pan. Before proofing, I misted the sheet pan loave with olive oil. It developed a darker smoother crust and rose somewhat higher in the oven. I’m thinking that the unencumbered sheet pan boule may have risen a bit more during the proofing stage.

It was a definite success. I plan to try it without the garlic and rosemary - I think it’ll make a good potato bread.My goal is to get close to Grace Baking’s potato bread.

- dc