Origami Coffee: Mon Café Blue Mountain Blend

We posted about Japanese disposable one-cup coffee filters last year.

Since then, we have gathered some different designs, each with its own  solutions to the same basic engineering issues.

This one is a blend of Jamaican Blue Mountain and Brazilian coffees by Mon Café.

 Mon Café has chosen a unique elongated design.

The filter is gently sealed to keep the coffee from spilling out, and can be easily pried open. Then you bend down the two ends. The curve adds a lot of spring tension which gives the filter its structure.

The coffee smelled fresh and vibrant.

Large tabs break out of the ornate design and go inside the mug lip, holding the device securely in place.

The filter bag is larger than on other designs, stretching the length of the structure. When in place, its extra material trapped the coffee in little folds and pockets. While these turned out fine, the trapped coffee is likely to end up either under- or over-extracted as the water swirls around the folds.

The simple structure was perhaps not quite as fun to assemble as the UCC Gold Premium, but the coffee tasted very good.

Duck Dinner

With Keith's father in town a few weeks ago, we decided to sautée some duck from the always-excellent Windsor Packing Co. on Main Street.

Creamy green pea soup with fried Parmesan cheese biscuit.

Whole wheat pasta with blue cheese and walnuts.

 Slow-cooked giambotta.

Breast and thick legs of duck, getting some salt and pepper before cooking.

Duck leaks so much fat that it very soon becomes like deep-frying.

Cherry clafoutis.

What did we drink? Hmm... We'll try to figure that out and add it later. But we finished with Islay whisky, of course.

Trip To New York #2: Fantastic Food

We were able to keep our heads long enough to grab some photos of our meals, but most were so delicious that they were demolished before the camera came out.

A fantastic breakfast at Bread Alone in Rhinebeck, NY. From their menu: "Country Scramble Three eggs scrambled with baked ham, Old Chatham camembert, scallions, grilled tomatoes and organic French Sourdough toast."
and
"Huevos Benedicto: two poached eggs with saffron hollandaise and merguez sausage on a corn muffin, with plantain mash."
It's hard to overstate the deliciousness of the sweet corn muffin with the spicy merguez.

Massive chicken wings with blue cheese dressing, pulled pork, and a half-rack of ribs, all cooked to perfection and drenched in barbecue sauce at Max's Memphis BBQ just north of Rhinebeck, NY.

A New York Strip steak (but in New York they just call them Strips) grilled rare with sautéed spinach, and a plate of fresh gnocchi under arugula at the beautiful Park restaurant in New York City.

These meals were shared with family from far and wide, but the warmth of the company and the wonderful conversation is best left un-blogged, we think.