Granola

Wow... It's been a while since I've been over here to share the happenings of my kitchen. But, in all honesty, I haven't been making too much. I've been pretty busy working and studying... My cooking has been slacking a bit and the blogging even more so.

But since yesterday I didn't have to work and had "nothing" to do (I mean, I'm sure I could have found something that I needed to do...) it was a good day for cooking. Unfortunately, only one of my little adventures is really worth recording here: my granola. (I also tried to bake a lemon-raspberry coffee cake in tin cans... My result was mostly mush. I'll work on that again another time. And dinner was Omaha steaks and salad -- pretty straight-forward, I guess. *Note: Ken's Italian dressing makes the best steak marinade in the world.)

What You'll Need:

• Oats (I just use generic brand "Old Fashioned Oats")
• Flax seeds
• Coarsely chopped almonds
• Sunflower seeds, salted
• Honey and/or Agave Nectar
• Cinnamon
• Cloves
• Ginger
• Natural chunky peanut butter
• Dried Fruits: cranberries (Craisins, if you will...), chopped candied ginger, chopped figs

Put it All Together:

• Mix everything but the dried fruits together. If you've ever had granola before, you'll be able to eyeball the ratio of oats to seeds and nuts. The honey/nectar just depends on how sweet you want it. I used about 2 hefty tablespoons of peanut butter. (In the end, my granola filled a quart-sized container up to the brim -- you know, the ones your wonton soup come in.)
• Spread out evenly onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake at about 200... for a while. Probably about 2-3 hours. Mix it every 20 minutes or so to allow it to cook evenly. If you crank the heat up towards the end to speed up your goldening process, just be sure to check it more frequently so it won't burn.
• Mix your dried fruits in. Don't seal it into a container until it's completely cool.

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Pears & Gruyere from The Piemaker

One of my favorite shows is Pushing Daisies.
It only made it to two seasons, of course. (That always happens with favorites, right?) This show had a personal, hidden danger though: It made me want to bake. Pies. All the time. For a while I was convinced that I could even open a pie shop (like the Pie Hole, as in shut your) and bake pies and delicious treats all the time. Maybe some day...

One of my favorite pies I've baked was inspired by this show: a pear & apple pie with Gruyere baked into the crust. (Apple pie with cheddar in the crust is also great.) And yesterday that particular mood struck again, but I wasn't really into the idea of a buttery crust, so I created something new...

The Facts Were These:

• 6 Anjou Pears (peeled & thinly sliced)
• Flour (as usual, I used white whole wheat)
• cinnamon
• ginger
• cloves
• oats
• brown sugar
• chopped & toasted almonds
• butter (only about 2 tablespoons & cubed)
• applesauce (au naturale)
• salt (a pinch)
• honey
• Gruyere cheese, shredded

1. Mix the pears with flour, cinnamon, cloves & ginger and a little brown sugar. (And some chopped candied ginger if you have it!) I really didn't measure at all... I was in a creative/experimental mood and was just kind of throwing stuff in. But if you've ever made a pie before, you'll have a good feeling for typical ratios. (And if not, just look a pie recipe or two and make your best judgement.)
2. In a separate bowl, prepare the crumbly topping: flour (about 3/4 of a cup?), oats (maybe closer to 1 cup?), brown sugar*, butter, applesauce (maybe about 1/2 cup, if not more), cloves, ginger & salt. It will get a mold-able (malleable?) kind of consistency.
3. In a greased baking dish or a pie dish, spread pear mixture over bottom. Sprinkle cheese over pears and drizzle with honey. Add almonds (however much you want) and top with oat crumble. 
4. Bake at 325 for about a half hour. 

*I ended up using a lot more sugar than I initially intended. But I think in order to get the right consistency for that crumble topping it needs it. I probably ended up using at least a half a cup. I'll measure next time -- this one is definitely a recipe to come back to and work on!

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Carrot - Apple Muffins

 
As I perused various cooking sites in the world of the Internets on Tuesday I had my eye out for a healthy muffin recipe. Many called for ingredients that I didn't have... raisins, cake flour, sour cream. So I got out a notebook and a pen and wrote my own. I actually wrote down amounts and measurements, combining aspects of other recipes I liked and making substitutions for the basic components of a muffin:

1. Flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
2. Sugar (I used honey)
3. Baking powder/soda (I used both)
4. Eggs (I used... well... eggs)
5. Fat (I used applesauce -- in place of oil)
6. Milk (I used yogurt)

With my basic ingredients decided I set out to create a new muffin. To relative success, no less.

What You'll Need:

• 1 1/2 c. white whole wheat flour
• 3/4 c. oats
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1/2 c. honey
• 1 egg
• 3/4 c. yogurt (I used plain with a dash of vanilla)
• 1/3 c. applesauce 
• 1 c. shredded carrots
• 1 c. shredded apples
• flax seeds (sunflower seeds would be good too)
• chopped candied ginger

Put it All Together

• Combine flour, oats, baking soda & powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and ginger in a large bowl.
• Whisk together honey, egg, yogurt and applesauce.
• Fold in carrots, apples, ginger and flax seeds.
• Lightly stir wet mixture into dry. Don't over-stir or the muffins will come out dense. (And don't make my mistake: be sure to actually mix all the flour into the batter. I left a bunch of the flour mixture at the bottom of my bowl after I poured half the batter into the muffin pan, so half my muffins came out a bit... err... soggy.)
• Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

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