Gravy from soy sauce & coffee - attn mimivan!!!

↑ mimivan

Tue, Jun 10 2008, 1:39 pm

Okay...
Now, I was clueless about cooking meat until I made my first pot roast. I learned to cook it on a low fire for a long, long time so the meat will be soft. So I thought of adapting what I learned about making pot roast to cholent.

there is a famous chef named Rozanne Gold who is author of a cookbook called something like Simple as 1,2,3 (recipes using only three ingredients) I don't own the book, but I saw her recipe for pot roast. Basically, she kind of burned the outside and cooked it in coffee! Apparently the caffeine makes the meat softer (I found that Mah Pitom and I both were making cholent with soy sauce and coffee).

So I had the idea to carmelize some onions..practically burn then and add some water (just a couple spoonfulls) so they are brown. Halfway through the onion cooking, I add the cholent meat and brown the outside as much as possible. Then I add (sorry no amounts...depends on how much I'm making and the mood). Soy sauce, a cup of strong black (of course) coffee (or instant coffee powder) tumeric, black pepper, salt. Then I add chick peas and wheat kernels that have been soaked, white and red potatoes, Water and I cook over a very low fire for at least two hours (Mah Pitom uses a crock pot)

I basically do the same thing for pot roast, but without using so much water. I add two cups of coffee and sometimes some wine.

That's the way I do it...Makes a very rich brown gravy...

↑ Ima'la

Wed, Jun 11 2008, 1:22 am

Hmmm...I'll have to think about how to adapt that into my cholent. Interesting what you said about the caffeine b/c I make my roast with sweet red wine and cola! But I thought it was the carbonation. For Shavuos I had an open 7UP in the house for something else and we don't drink soda, so I decided to try that in the roast instead of the cola and it came out great. (Not long ago I tried it with just wine and it was definitely not as soft. And I always buy the same brand.) Thanks for the idea!

PinkandYellow

Thu, Jun 12 2008, 10:56 am

I also put about a tablespoon of coffee into cholent. but maybe now I'll make a cup of coffee and then add it. also I put soda, and I thought that makes the meat soft cuz e/o knows that if you put a tooth in a cup of soda for two days it'll disintegrate, so I thought that applies to the meat and helps make it softer if you marinate and cook it in soda.
but I'll start adding soy sc as well, why not?! LOL