This post was meant to be. Ever since I moved back with my parents into our little nothingeverhappens town, coffee workshops at one of my favorite places became one of my top enterntainments; not that the new hobby went anywhere further than trying to learn how to slurp. Then, one of the cooks at Mihiderka told me about a soup made with celeriac and white coffee foam. I've been obsessed with celeriac this autumn, so I couldn't wait to try the combination, except that lately time has been the scarcest of resources.
And then Kimberly of The Little Plantation invited me to join a virtual blog party about coffee from Malawi, tying things together. The point of the party is to acquaint readers with a rather unknown origin of coffee, one that they may not have heard of, namely Malawi. Ethopia, Guatemala, Colombia are all strong brands already, but it's worth looking beyond the known places, as buying products from very poor regions really helps to improve lives. Myself I never even heard of Malawi before, so one point for Kimberly and her idea already.
Before deciding on the recipe, I wanted to read the profile of the coffee. As the region tends to go for wet processing, the final product is on the tarter end of the scale, which might not be to everybody's liking, but as long as you don't expect for every cup of joe to taste the same, you should enjoy this coffee. My batch was very lightly roasted, fruity, reminiscent of apples and berries, and pairing it with a herby, salty dish seemed a perfect choice.
The soup was an interesting flavor, definitely an experiment rather than everyday meal, but I encourage you to try. And if cooking this is a bridge too far, at least try to source the coffee. Malawi production employs a high percentage of women, and is in majority fair trade. Thanks to Kimberly, Coffee direct is offering EU residents 20% off, given the use of tag: #loveMALAWIcoffee, from the 7th until the 31st of December. Here is the link: http://www.coffee-direct.co.uk/products/malawi-coffee. Maybe it's even a nice gift idea!
Cream of Celeriac with Coffee Drizzle
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 leek, whitest part
1 small head celeriac
1 apple, divided into two equal parts
4 bay leaves
4 juniper berries
2 cups vegetable broth
1/3 cup raw cashews
salt, apple cider vinegar and pepper to taste
1/8 cup sugar
1/4 cup strong coffee
3 tbsp intense olive oil
a pinch of salt
How to:
Peel and cube the celeriac, set aside. You can keep the peel on the apple, but core it and cube it, too. Set one half aside, the other half you can add to the celeriac. Slice the leek thinly and fry it in olive oil until soft, then add the cubed produce and spices, fry, stirring, for 2 minutes. Then cover with broth and let cook for 20 minutes.
Once all is soft, add the cashews and cook for 10 further minutes. Lastly, add the raw apples and blend immediately. Season with salt, pepper, and apple cider vinegar.
To make the drizzle, add the sugar and coffee into a small, heavy-bottomed pot, and cook without stirring for 5-7 minutes over low heat, to make caramel. Then, slowly stir in the olive oil, taking care not to burn yourself - the mixture will spatter.
To serve, pan roast a handful of cashews. Divide the soup between bowls, drizzle with the coffee syrup, and scatter the roasted cashews on top.
I actually liked the soup more once it has chilled.
Here are the other posts of the blog party:
Aimee – Twigg Studios – Winter Spices Coffee Cake
Bettina – Bettina's Kitchen – Coffee Crunch Chocolate Mousse
Kimberly – The Little Plantation – Vegan Malawi Coffee Ice Cream with Salted Caramel Swirl
Maria – Marrbell – Christmas Coffee and Vanilla Eggnog
Jenny – Jenny Mustard – Tofu Skewers with Chocolate Coffee Sauce
Carole – Mademoiselle Poirot – Coffee and Hazelnut Buns with Orange Icing
Dorota – Plants on your plate – Cream of Celeriac with Coffee Drizzle
Valeria – Life Love Food - Zabaione al Caffe
Sophie – The Green Life – Coffee blondies with homemade nutella (vegan, gf)
Joscelyn – Wife Mama Foodie – Salted Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes
Gena – The Full Helping – Coffee Brownies
Ksenia - At The Immigrant's Table - gluten-free Jewish doughnuts with cardamom coffee cream