Milk Frother Broke!

My thrift store two dollar milk frother broke! I don't know exactly what happened I just came home and it was in the garbage. TEB already ordered a new one so I am excited to see its replacement. In the meantime I have been drinking green tea. I did write down the recipes that were on the outside of the old milk frother.

Hot Chocolate
In a double boiler coming 1/2 cup boiling water and 1/8 cup cocoa. Add 1/8 tsp salt and 1 tbsp sugar. Heat for 2 minutes and then add 1/8 tsp nutmeg. Heat for 30 seconds 1 and 1/2 cups milk in frother base. Put on the lid and froth. Combine 1:1 cocoa to milk. Makes 2 servings

Cafe au lait
Make one cup coffee. Heat 1 cup milk for 1 minute - froth. Combine 1:1 coffee to milk. Add 1 tsp sugar and stir.

Whipped Cream
I had no idea the milk frother could be used to make whipped cream!
Chill 1 cup heavy whipping cream in the fridge for 1 hour. Froth until stiff, add 2 tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla. I would replace the sugar with maple syrup to taste.

photo credit: spirals on blue by Idle Type

San Diego, CA: Cafe Virtuoso Coffee

At the last La Jolla Farmers' Market I picked up a French Roast bean from Cafe Virtuoso Coffee. I have been using it this week in the Italian stovetop espresso maker with variable luck. I liked the fact that Cafe Virtuoso's coffee beans are certified organic and that they employ sustainability in their business practices. The French Roast was a little too dark for my taste and had a burnt flavor every time I brewed it. This cleary could have been operator error so I am going to try another one of their many specialty coffees.

Italian Stovetop Espresso Maker

I was on my way from the farmers' market to my Sunday morning coffee place, Pannikan, when I walked by a store that was going out of business. "Big Sale" the signs read so of course I had to go in. It was a home decor store that happen to have a ton of kitchen appliances and gadgets at 75% off. TEB bought an Italian stovetop espresso maker, like the one pictured in the italian kitchen above. It sat in a cabinet for months, until I broke our normal glass, electric coffeepot.

Now that I have been using it for a few months, I love it. For the first few weeks I made more bad coffee than drinkable coffee. Despite the learning curve this beauty is a keeper.

Stovetop Espresso

1. Buy a nice Italian stovetop espresso maker. Generally, the more expensive the better. I thought ours was ~20$.
2. Buy your favorite whole bean coffee and grind on a daily basis for each pot.
3. Italian expresso makers have a top and a bottom that unscrew from each other. I have read on the internet somewhere that you should not wash your pot with soap - just rinse it out.
4. Fill the bottom vessel with water up to the steam spout. While this step may seem trivial, it is not. You must do this in order for the pot to create enough pressure and steam inside to move up through the coffee grounds that are in layer 2.
5. Now to layer 2 - the coffee. I have been told that your grinder is very important. That the finer it can grind the better your coffee is going to taste, if you have a stovetot pot that is decent. That said, I have no idea what the quality or how expensive my grinder is. I got it for free and it works so I am not complaining. Fill the cup with grounds. Be care to fill such that you leave a few millimeters of room on the top and to level the grounds but do NOT pack them down.
6. Set the cup inside the bottom vessel and screw in the top part with the handle.
7. Turn your smallest burner on high, set the coffee pot on top and wait.
8. Depending on your burner this time frame is variable. But you need to be close by to keep an eye on it when the boiling starts. Steam will come out of the pouring spout and you will hear sputtering coffee percolating to the top vessel.
9. When the sputtering stops remove the pot from the heat and carefully peak inside. You should see a full pot of coffee. If not then you made a mistake somewhere with the water in the bottom, the coffee levels or the temperature you used to boil the water.

I get all crazy about my 2 tablespoons of coffee. It is after all only a small amount of coffee and I want it to be good.

Good Luck!

photo credit: italian kitchen by cityflickr ; Bialetti Moka Express

Gadgets that Work: Milk Frother

During a random thrift store excursion I picked up a milk frother. This thing has seriously changed my mornings from ho-hum to fantastic. My 2$ find is clearly from another decade, I've decided, after I went looking for a similar item online. I got a little freaked the other day when the glass base fell into the sink with a loud clatter. My first thought was, what am I going to do. Now I know that I can buy a similar, but more streamline, Bodum Chambord Milk Frother at Crate and Barrel for a much high price of 24.95$. The frothing mechanism is exactly the same. You can heat your milk up in the microwave for 1 minute, put on the top, hand pump the plunger, and pour into your morning coffee. I will fork over the cash for the Bodum milk frother in a second if my thrift store find breaks.

photo credit: cafe au lait and a biegnet, please from micky mb