We recently had our first cookout* of the season. It was a good turnout. Lots of families and kids and friends. Many more to come!
*I was asked, by a West Coast transplant, if “cookout” was an East Coast term. I assume it is. Maybe even just a northeast term, since I think of “barbecue” as a Southern thing involving spits and whole animals. I’ve never done that before but I’d love to. Anyway our cookouts just involve a lot of outdoor grilling, summery side dishes, beer in the cooler, homemade iced tea and lemonade, lawn chairs, kids playing in the sandbox, maybe a fire as twilight approaches, some fire-eating. You know. A cookout.
Anyway. Over the course of the summer, I’ll share with you some of my favorite and most successful cookout recipes. The ones that get raved about, asked about, or at least that I like the best.
Cold-Brewed Coffee
Cold-brewed coffee is rumored to be two-thirds less acidic than hot-brewed coffee—a beautiful thing for those of us O-types with plenty of our own stomach acid.
This is a lighter-bodied coffee than what you may be used to, so you might want to add more coffee if you like a lot of coffee in your coffee.
Ingredients
- 6 cups water
- 1/2 cup coarsely-ground coffee beans
Instructions
- Stir the coffee into the water.
- Stick it in the fridge for 12-24 hours, stirring a few times.
- Strain through cheesecloth. (I use a French press but still like to strain it for those sneaky smaller bits.)
You can use this for iced coffee or heat it up for hot.
Oh, and if you haven’t tried it yet, I highly recommend putting coconut milk into your coffee as a creamer. Real coconut milk, I mean (like Thai Kitchen; good price on Amazon), not those weird coconut fake-milk substitutes.
Cold-Brewed Tea
For this recipe I use black tea, but any tea or tisane will work. The Britishism is “a tea bag for every cup and one for the pot.” The same goes for this. I usually use a strong Irish tea (Barry’s Gold Blend), so if you use something else, you might consider using more tea.
Ingredients
- 9 or 10 tea bags
- 8 cups (1/2 gallon) of water
Instructions
- Stir the tea into the water.
- Stick it in the fridge, overnight at least.
- Remove tea bags.
Enjoy!
(Shared with Party Wave Wednesdays.)
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Meg says
May 1, 2013 at 1:28 pmCould you elaborate on us O-types with plenty of our own stomach acid?
Vanessa Query says
May 1, 2013 at 1:42 pmSure. It’s from the blood type diet. I don’t necessarily subscribe to or believe it 100%, but it says some interesting things which are really spot on for me, having O blood type. Mainly the idea that my ideal diet consists primarily of meat and vegetables, that my body can’t handle grains and legumes well. So, so true.
So according to this guy’s ideas, folks with O blood type tend to have a lot of stomach acid, naturally. I happen to have the book handy, here are some relevant quotes:
“Type Os can efficiently digest and metabolize meats because they tend to have high stomach-acid content.”
“The problem that coffee poses for Type Os is in the increased levels of stomach acid it produces. Type Os have plenty of stomach acid all their own; they don’t really need help.”
Check out his book, “Eat Right 4 Your Type” – http://amzn.to/11Cz9cg
I love coffee; partly because it’s Rhode Island comfort food, and partly just because it’s lovely stuff. But it does tend to mess with my stomach. The cold-brewed coffee is much nicer to me.
Megan says
May 2, 2013 at 12:45 pmIs your coffee recipe really 1 cup of ground coffee to 3 cups water? That sounds like a lot!
vanessa says
May 2, 2013 at 12:50 pmWhoops. It’s a half-cup. Thanks for catching that typo! I need an editor.
Sheila says
May 2, 2013 at 5:42 pmI really need to try this. I am a coffee lover but the older I get the more the acid takes its toll. Oddly enough, I taste acidic/bright coffees stronger than I used to as well. I keep asking for deep, dark coffee with little acidity at the coffee shop. Crazy.
P.S. I enjoy your new logo. Nice choice.
Vanessa Query says
May 3, 2013 at 6:39 amThank you Sheila!
I hope the cold-brew works for you. I worked in a cafe years ago that started doing it and heard all sorts of life-saving stories 🙂
krystal says
May 3, 2013 at 3:55 pmDo you think you could cold brew the coffee in nut or dairy milk instead of water?
Vanessa Query says
May 4, 2013 at 7:16 amKrystal: I’m not sure. Good idea though. Nut milk would probably work because it’s water-based anyway; cow’s milk I’m not sure. It’s worth a try. If you try it, I’d love to hear how it goes. Sounds like it could be so good; cold-brewed latte!
Brittney East Smyth says
May 13, 2013 at 11:06 pmI don’t know Vanessa, we use “cookout” down int Oklahoma.
Tiff says
August 11, 2017 at 6:37 amMy day won’t start without a cup of good coffee and you should get the good coffee maker for that! One of my favortites is that OXO On Barista Brain Coffee Maker that copies the pour over method of brewing. It is programmable and easy to contol along with a freshness indicator. How cool is that? See more reviews bout it here: http://topproducts.com/reviews/best-automatic-coffee-maker.htm. It’s the best website to read unbiased reviews from.