REAL FOOD in AMHERST: A Real Good Cup of Joe

June 7, 2012

Remember the taste of a good, old-fashioned cup of coffee?  It’s not too late to return to that smooth, percolated cup-of-joe.  In the era of drive-thru styrofoamed- encased double lattes, you might want to treat yourself, at least on the weekends, to a plain old-fashioned cup of coffee.

Step one:  Buy a percolator. 

A WHAT?  A percolator - the kind that goes on the stove.  Yes, you can still buy them and they are making a comeback in popularity.  In fact, I see Target now sells two styles of percolators, each for around $20.  A nice investment.  If you’ve never used one, don’t be intimidated.  Just fill the pot up to the bottom of the pour spout with cold water.  Set the metal basket in there and add about ½ cup of your favorite brand of ground coffee into the basket.  Put the metal basket cover on, and the percolator cover and set it on your stove.  Heat over medium heat until it starts to perk.  That’s when you see the water bubbling up into the see-through bubble on the lid.  Once it starts to perk, lower the heat as low as you can and let it perk for 7 - 8 minutes.  Ahh, the smell of percolating coffee is worth it all.  After 8 minutes, turn off the heat and now your coffee is ready.  Pour and enjoy.  But for really great coffee, keep reading….

One of the tricks known by our great-great grandparents was that eggshells smooth out your coffee.  What they may not have known is that crushed eggshells not only take the bitterness from the coffee, they add calcium to it too! 

So, save your egg shells, rinse them and crush one right on top of the coffee grounds before percolating.  You will be amazed at what that does for your coffee.  You’ll never have coffee without eggshells once you’ve tried it.  Worried about putting eggshells in your coffee grounds due to the threat of salmonella?  Well remember, that coffee is percolating (boiling) for 8 minutes - a pretty sterilizing process.

When I have a bunch of eggshells left from family breakfast, I rinse them, set them on a papertowel and microwave them for a minute.  This dries them out and kills any bacteria that may be on them.  Then I crush them all into a Ziploc bag and keep them right in my coffee canister.  Each time I make coffee, I’ve got eggshells ready to go. 

If you are really adventurous, you can add the entire egg.  This makes Swedish style coffee.  To be honest, I did try it once, and it was delicious, but not enough to make up for the mess and trouble of cleaning cooked egg out of the basket.  For me, the eggshells make it smooth enough, and no extra clean up.  Enjoy!  

Feel free to post questions or contact me through our family website:  NHHoney.com

Kathie Nunley is an Amherst resident who feeds her family on their 2 acres