Gastrobook: Coca-cola - The cookbook

First time I saw the book I didn’t know whether I was excited or sick. You know, it is not usual to use a sweet, bubbly drink for meals. Even if it happens, writing a whole cookbook is definitely unusual; this is why I had to take a look at it.

The book includes 128 pages all together but recipes themselves start on page 70. The book starts with the history of coke: the idea, the glass, the coke itself. Beside the text numerous pictures and advertisements can be found, which guide us through the success of coke.

Recipes can be found in four categories, although not equally. You can find meals that are prepared with coke, such as soups, main courses, desserts and drinks.

The book has a great advantage: you can find a table under each recipe that lists the calories, sugars, fat, saturated fat and salt that can be found in each food.

If you ask me, in some meals coke could work, such as in “french onion soup” or “thick barbecue sauce” might be more delicious with coke too, I wouldn’t think it makes the meals worse. However, I don’t know how 250 ml of coke works in the “Italian minestrone soup”.

I’ve got the same problem with the “mixed bean chili”: I don’t know whether the sweet taste of coke could make it any better.

The cookbook includes quite a lot of meals that contain meat and coke together, not just different types of sauces, but “Coca-cola marinated steak” and “salmon with noodles”.

An interesting point is that the book does not use regular coke only, but light and zero coke as well. I wonder if it really matters what type of coke you use or all three types are advised to not to make the meals monotonic.

I don’t think that coke is the product of the devil himself and I am crazy enough to give a try for some of the recipes found in the book, but it is not the peak of gastronomy to use coke as an ingredient. Or maybe I’m wrong? Let’s try and see!

Apple soup with lavender

Ingredients:
- 6 red apples
- 300 ml single cream
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla flavour
- 500 ml apple juice
- 2 tablespoons of honey
- a dash of ground cinnamon
- 5 blades of dried lavender
- 30 gramms butter
- few drops of lemon juice

How to prepare:
Wash the apples, peel them, cut them in half and get rid of the cores and cut the fruit to small pieces. Put the pot onto the heat, add the 30 gramms of butter and the 2 tablespoons of honey and melt them. If they are molten keep a fistful of apples and add the rest of the fruit to the pot and stir them on the heat for 3-5 minutes. Meanwhile cover the apples that you've put away and drop some lemon juice to prevent them from getting brown. 
After 3-5 minutes pour the apple juice and the cream into the pot and also add 3 blades of lavender. Cover it and cook on low heat for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes get the lavenders off and make the soup creamy with a hand blender. Pour it through a colander  to make sure the soup is really creamy. Flavour it with the cinnamon and the vanilla, put it back to the heat and add the rest of the apples and cook for about another 5 minutes.
When it is served decorate it with the other two blades of lavender. Serve it either hot or cold.

Tip:
You can use 3 red and 3 green apples instead of 6 red ones as green apples have a bit of sour flavour which could make your soup better.


Difficulty: easy
Time: 40 minutes
Portion: 4 plates
Washing-up: little

Biscuits with sundried tomatoes

Ingredients:
- 150 gramms flour
- 75 gramms butter 
- half a teaspoon salt
- 1 branch of rosemary
- 8 pieces of sundried tomatoes (from oil)

How to prepare:
Drizzle the flour and the salt into a bowl than add the butter in small pieces. Chop the rosemary leaves and the tomatoes and add them to the flour and butter. Knead the dough, make sure the butter disappears.
Shape the dough into a roll and pack it into a cling film.

Put the roll into the fridge for 1-2 hours.
Turn the oven to 180 Celsius. While the oven is getting hot unpack the dough and cut to 5-6 mm wide slices.
Cut some baking paper on a wide baking pan and lay the slices on the paper.

Push the baking pan to the middle level of the oven and bake the biscuits for 10 minutes.

Tip:
You can also add some ground pepper to make your biscuits more spicy.


Difficulty: easy
Time: 25 minutes
Portion: 22-24 biscuits
Washing-up: little

Apple salad with eggs and cheese

Ingredients:
- 3 eggs
- 2 apples
- 100 ml sour cream
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 15 gramms of fresh chives
- grated smoked cheese (as you like it)
- salt

How to prepare:
Cook the eggs for 10 minutes in boiling water. While they are being cooked mix the sour cream with the mayonnaise and add the finely chopped chives.
Wash the apples, peel them and cut them into tiny pieces then add to the salad. Peel the eggs, cut to tiny bits and add them to the salad too.
Mix all the ingredients of the salad then grate some smoked cheese on the top. Add some salt if it's needed.

Tip:
You can use spring onion instead of chives, but in this case it is advised to keep the salad in the fridge for a few hours to let the onion have some rest.


Difficulty: easy
Time: 15 minutes
Portion: 1 
Washing-up: little