Lately a few things have happened to spark my interest (even more so) about food and in particular meat. I just recently released the latest TGITC conversation with my friend Junya Yamasaki - an extremely talented, humble and inspiring Japanese chef. Watching it made me think about how we eat, how we cook and how we live. Coupled with a new organic farmers' market thats popped up on Roman Rd Markets on Saturdays near my house (Marsh Produce Farms), a newly gifted BBQ, and planting my first "proper" garden, I'm taking Junya's "nose to tail" inspiration to many levels... I've gone a bit crazy on trying new things with food (more on that another time).

I've been interested in cooking with coffee for a while now but I've been reluctant to do it, as I guess coffee-wise I can be a bit of a snob, being bought up somewhat a purist from my first coffee-mentors back in the day where "Coffee is for drinking, and nothing should really be added to it". But what if I added coffee to something else? Coffee as the "secondary" factor was the mental hurdle to overcome...I'm joking, sort of.

I came across some recipes with coffee so I decided to try it out myself and change a few things to suit own tastes, just cause I like to do that.

I marinated some organic smoked bacon with ground coffee. It was delicious. Coffee is sometimes used to bring out the flavours in slow cooked foods like homemade Baked Beans or a stew for example. I thought that the coffee would make an unpleasant gritty texture when cooked but it dissolved and gave the bacon a really interesting richness. I experienced different stages of flavours happening as each bite progressed... Try it for yourself, its fun!

Its also a great way to use up slightly ageing coffee that you don't want to waste and throw away, but don't necessarily want to drink either. Perfect; chuck it in your food and eat it.

RECIPE

2 T Finely ground coffee (espresso or filter is fine, just make sure its quality i.e: from a good roaster)

3 chopped up dried chili (or ½ teaspoon of chili seeds)

Drizzle of good quality thick balsamic vinegar

Drizzle of hot water to make into a paste

1 T soft brown sugar

2 T Golden syrup or molasses

Method

Marinate before you go to bed. In the morning grill the bacon in the oven until brown and crispy. It'll burn quickly with all the fat and sugars so watch it. My smoke alarm woke the household.