Chai Cowboy Coffee
Temple Chai’s initial breakfast project
at the Ronald McDonald House was to be an easy morning. Ten
volunteers should have been ample people power for the task at
hand. Scrambling three dozen eggs, cutting a dozen navel oranges,
pigs in blankets by the scores, piles of muffins, no problem.
Brewing twelve cups of coffee would seem like an easy task.
However, coffee production proved to be the demon of the morning’s
Mitzvah Project.
One pot
malfunctioned, a second pot dripped as slow as molasses, and the
third worse than the previous attempts. What kind of Texas
breakfast would be complete without strong, black and caffeinated
coffee? Three pot failures, three strikes against the dauntless
volunteers. Temple Chai’s Outreach breakfast project at the Ronald
McDonald House faced a problem that needed a creative solution.
“We’ve
got to brew cowboy coffee,” a lone voice sounded.
“Let’s
go to Starbucks and buy a gallon,” another solution was offered.
“Cowboy
coffee.”
“Stop n
Go sells coffee.” A third suggestion pronounced.
Nobody
moved to purchase icehouse coffee or attempted a Starbucks rescue.
“Cowboy
coffee, it’s easy. I’ll show you how.” Stan stood up to the coffee
dilemma.
“Get a
colander, where are the filter papers? Boil a pot of water.” Stan
gave distinct and specific instructions to the Cantor and the
others.
Stan
lined the colander with paper filters that were to be used with the
now defunct coffee pots. He heaped fresh coffee on top of the
paper. Under the colander a carafe was strategically situated.
With a steady hand the Cantor poured boiling water slowly into the
colander, Stan held the jury-rigged arrangement over the carafe.
The rest of the mighty Chai volunteers watched in amazement as fresh
brewed coffee slowly flowed from the bottom of the colander into the
carafe. The dynamic duo made three pots.
“Cowboy
coffee,” Stan beamed proudly at his culinary triumph.
“Not
bad,” the Cantor proclaimed, not a resounding approval but it was
coffee.
One,
then a second volunteer tasted the coffee. Not bad, in fact quite
good. Cowboy coffee provided the finishing touches to a wonderful
breakfast for the guests at the Ronald McDonald House.
Stan's Recipe for "Real Cowboy
Coffee"
4 qt. water
1 1/2 cups freshly ground coffee (coarse grind - same as French
Press)
1 egg shell
1/2 cup cold water
Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan or coffee pot. Add coffee
grounds
and egg shell to boiling water. Return to a boil, remove from heat
and let
stand for 2 minutes. Slowly add cold water to settle grounds to the
bottom.
Let stand for 1 minute to allow grounds to settle. Use any remaining
coffee
to extinguish camp fire.
Now don t be surprised if, in a wave of nostalgia for the days of
the
pioneer, you attempt to brew your own Cowboy Coffee and find it less
than
palatable. Our suggestion is that you add some sugar to this potent
brew,
or take your chances. We suspect that is what made Arbuckles* coffee
so
popular: their egg and sugar glaze probably added just enough
sweetness to
satisfy the palate without offending the big tough ranchers taste
for
adventure . Also, unless you normally go through a gallon of coffee,
you
might want to scale the recipe down a bit. Yippie Oh Kiay, podnuh!
*Arbuckles Grocery,
Pittsburg, 1865 receipe and blend that became the cowboy's favorite.
Copyright 2005 ©
This page was last modified on
February 17, 2008
