Think you might need a cup of recession-proof coffee?

[obsessed]

I love coffee with Chicory..... It is way better. That is what is in the famous Cafe Au late at Cafe Dumot? in New Orleans. I love love love it.

 

[digitS']

I love coffee with Chicory..... It is way better. That is what is in the famous Cafe Au late at Cafe Dumot? in New Orleans. I love love love it.

Wow! That's an affirmative !

never heard of dandelions as a substitute for coffee
my mom told us about adding chicory during the ww2 and she said it made it very bitter...

do you grind it with your coffee beans??? how long do you need to toast it???

I don't find either dandelions or chicory as bitter as coffee.

I'm an expert on neither these coffee substitutes nor coffee. My daughter was a barista during her first year in college - - oh my! She sure could spoil Dad! But, those days are gone . . . :/

To do the best job with the roots, I have often thought that it should be drying them first, then grind, then roast. But, I'm impatient and would have real trouble controlling the temperature in roasting.

So, I cut fresh roots to a very small dice - is that the way a cook would say it? It is probably important that they are all the same size but - tiny. Then it is into a cast iron pan and high heat with me standing there with a wooden spoon. Most of the time, things are smoking just a little. It only takes me about 5 minutes.

I could run them thru the food processor instead of dicing but if they were fresh, I'm afraid it would like trying to fry mush. I could also grind them after toasting but daughter took our coffee mill years ago and I've never seen it since . As far as I know, she never uses it . . . I wish shed bring it back . . .

Dad, er uh . . . Steve

 

[CityChook]

Hi Dad, er, Steve - you're funny...

Can't you make wine from dandelions too?

Coffee and wine from something that likes to take over my backyard in the Spring... I may never leave the house...

 

[digitS']

Wine . . . I think it might be a real nice color but

The dandelions are just now beginning to bloom here. And, I'm just starting to get real busy. Actually, I was busy on home repair for the last few weeks. If they would bloom on the rainy days that are forecast, maybe I could put my Winter clothes back on and go out and find 'em. But, they don't and there wouldn't be very many, anyway. So, I won't . . .

What's that cute little kid showing us in the avatar. O'K ? I think those might be slices of tomatoes. I once wanted to make tomato wine but didn't get a whole lot of encouragement from those who have tried making it. Shouldn't sun-dried tomatoes make good wine?

Instead I made rice and raisin wine. Then I made buttercup squash, rice, and raisin wine - which was more like I wanted to make in the first place. Beautiful color, that wine . I could probably grow wine grapes just fine but it would be fun to have something quite different . . . but drinkable. My neighbor makes raspberry/huckleberry wine. It's berrly drinkable .

If I liked mead better, I'd have bees, if I liked bees better. Then there are those herbal meads. There's another name for them but

Better stick with my herb teas and dandelion coffee or I'll be forgetting a lot more. Then again, I seem to be heading down that road anyway . . .

Steve
It's very, very funny,
'Cos I know I had some honey:
'Cos it had a label on,
Saying HUNNY,

A goloptious full-up pot too,
And I don't know where it's got to,
No, I don't know where it's gone--
Well, it's funny.

 

[CityChook]

You make me grin. Is that Winnie the Pooh?

BTW, they're tomatoes. We were roasting a batch to freeze for winter dinners. That's my 7 year old daughter.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Awesome Steve! I have been tempted to try this many times. If I could justify the time spent learning to do it right, I'd do it in a heartbeat . . . you know I really should just break down and do it already!

 

[digitS']

. . . you know I really should just break down and do it already!

We are talking about the coffee substitute, right?

Honestly, I try to find the simplest way to do things then just take care in how I do them. I'm lazy that way .

About the hardest things in toasting the dandelion roots are scrubbing them (my thumbs got a little sore ) and not drifting away from the pan while they are cooking. Well, you really should get them clean and if you get that pan hot enuf . . .

And, I did need to pull them up at the edge of the garden, anyway .

S'

 

[DrakeMaiden]

And, I did need to pull them up at the edge of the garden, anyway .

S'

See, that is the sort of motivation I need. I actually have a few that are in my fenced in garden area (the space not yet converted to garden). I have no excuses!

I think I have always read of oven roasting the dandelion roots (I think on a really low setting and I'm not sure my oven operates that low) . . . I hadn't thought to pan roast . . . it does sound more doable that way. Thanks!

OK, so now my weekend projects are 1. dandelion coffee, and 2. nettle saag paneer (Indian cooked spinach dish)/nettle tea. Just feeling a little overwhelmed! LOL

 

[Rosalind]

Just got back from New Orleans and had the famous Cafe du Monde cafe au lait with chicory coffee.

I tried to like it. I got it three days in a row in case it's an acquired taste.

Sorry, no. Not good. If I had a choice of going uncaffeinated or drinking chicory coffee...I'd have to think real long and hard.

 

[digitS']

Of course, taste is subjective but it has to do with so many different things. I remember Dad and me struggling to come up with the perfect beer recipe. Naturally, we didn't have the same taste but we worked on a compromise. Now, we may be too old to make beer. He blames me. I tell him that he was the one who no longer was volunteering to wash bottles .

I'm not sure if any coffee substitute has caffeine. Lowering the octane is something of an added benefit, to my way of thinking. I don't feel good NOT having my morning coffee but often feel that I'm getting kind of "slammed around" by caffeine if I drink coffee thru the day.

Nettles, I first enjoyed a long time ago as a young guy. I've always liked greens with dinner and this was just another one, with a pleasant taste. This was years before I learned to appreciate herbal teas. So now, nettle tea tastes like something that should be on the plate with a pat of butter melting on top. Spinach tea . . . ?

Licorice flavored herbs probably have a great deal of appeal to me because I associate the taste with having candy as a kid - a treat! (On a side note: Reading Winnie the Pooh came later as a Dad but I did enjoy Bit-o-Honey and remember Horton the Elephant ).

S'