Vietnamese Iced Coffee

It has been unseasonably warm this week and that makes me long for Spring to arrive.  I'm already thinking about all the warm weather recipes I want to share with you.  For example, this Vietnamese Iced Coffee - it's sweet and full of warm spices like cinnamon and cardamom, but it's served over ice which makes it very refreshing.  

Here's what you'll need:  ground cinnamon, whole cloves, ground cardamom, ground coffee, sweetened condensed milk, and grated whole nutmeg (it's like a gazillion times better than ground).

I love fresh nutmeg - the flavor and aroma is so much better than any brand of pre-ground stuff you can find.... and check out what the inside of the nutmeg looks like after it has been grated on a microplane.  So cool.  

And here are the coffee and spices measured out.  Even before steeping, the room smells amazing!  

I like to mix the coffee and spices together.  You don't really need to, but it's quite satisfying - like playing with an aromatic zen sand garden.  I need a little sand rake!

Heat the water until it boils.

Turn off the heat and add the ground coffee and spices.

Stir it will until no sign of dry ingredients remain.

That looks about right.  Now allow the mixture to steep for 10 minutes.

Using a sieve, strain the large solids from the steeped coffee mixture.  I find that's enough straining, but if you want to remove the ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom, continue with the next step.

Pour the remaining coffee mixture through a coffee filter (I like to use a pour over system).  Because the ground spices are so finely milled, they will clog the coffee filter quickly so this step will take a long time.   

Oh how I wish you could smell this!

We're almost done - can't wait!!! 

Pour sweetened condensed milk (amount below) into a large glass pitcher.  I start with 10 ounces - you can always add more if you want your iced coffee to be sweeter, but you can't take it away so start with less.  

Add the strained coffee mixture and stir to combine.  

Serve over ice and enjoy! 

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• microplane https://amzn.to/43YdXTO

• pour over coffee strainer https://amzn.to/3gE34zr

• sieve https://amzn.to/3r7wlek

• pitcher https://amzn.to/337bX1z

• sweetened condensed milk https://amzn.to/3B5kGOm

• whole nutmeg https://amzn.to/3GuQFIQ

• whole cloves https://amzn.to/34LGSkx

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Vietnamese Iced Coffee

makes 8 cups

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup ground coffee

• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

• 5 whole cloves

• 8 cups water

• 10 to 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk (start with 10 and add more if you like)

• ice

Directions

1. Combine coffee, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and cloves in a bowl; set aside.

2. In a 4-quart saucepan, bring water to a boil; remove from heat.

3. Stir coffee and spice mixture into hot water and steep for 10 minutes; strain and discard the coffee grounds.

4. Stir strained coffee and sweetened condensed milk together and serve over ice (add only 10 ounces of sweetened condensed milk to begin, then add more if you like).

Broccoli Stem Soup

I don't know if you celebrated Valentine's Day this week or not, but we ate our weight in steak and seafood.  We didn't lose complete control though - we managed to abstain from sweet treats this year, but I know many of you indulged in copious amounts of cream and butter and chocolate! 

Time to lighten things up a bit - enter the humble broccoli stem.  Just curious - do you say stem or stalk?  Anyway, my grocery store had a great deal on fresh broccoli last week so I bought a small forest and, after cutting all the florets away, I was left with all these lovely green tree trunks.  If I had just one or two, I'd cut them into coins or sticks and toss them in a salad, but since I had 1 1/2 pounds worth, I decided to make a batch of broccoli stem soup.  This is how it's made. 

To start, trim the dry ends from the broccoli stems, but that's all - no need to peel them.   

Chop the broccoli into 1/4-inch dice.  Onions too. 

Heat a large heavy-bottom skillet with a good drizzle of olive oil.  (this is the skillet I used)

Add the onions, broccoli stems, salt, and pepper.

Saute over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the vegetables begin to caramelize.

You'll notice a nice brown layer of "fond" will form on the bottom of the skillet.  Mmmmm! 

Add chicken stock and scrape up the fond from the bottom of the skillet.  That's going to add wonderful flavor to the soup!  

Uh, you do make your own chicken stock, right?  No?  Try my recipe here.  It's about a gazillions times better than store bought.

Bring the chicken stock to gentle boil and throw in a whole clove of garlic.  Continue to cook for about 15 minutes.

Remove skillet from heat and puree to the thickness you desire.  I like some texture to remain, so I used an immersion blender (like this one), but you could also puree the soup in batches using a blender or food processor.  

That's all there is to it.  A healthy, frugal soup that's gluten-free, dairy-free, and practically fat-free.  Want to make it vegan too?  Just use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.  

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• Maviel Rondeau https://amzn.to/3LjrbBP

• Cuisinart immersion blender https://amzn.to/3ryVnRp

• Nakiri knife https://amzn.to/3GvrBBz

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Broccoli Stem Soup

makes 6 cups

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 1/2 pounds broccoli stems, diced

• 1 pound onions, diced

• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 4 cups chicken stock (try my homemade)

• 1 whole clove of garlic, peeled

Directions

1. In a very large skillet over medium heat, saute broccoli stems, onions, salt, and pepper in olive oil until caramelized.

2. Add chicken stock and garlic clove; bring to a gentle boil for 15 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and puree to desired thickness.

4. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if needed.