Hello folks, happy autumn. How was
your summer?
I know that ‘how was your summer’ can
be a pretty loaded question. Summer is that magical time where you are supposed
to have adventures, and yet somehow expectations and reality never seem to
match up. Well, for me at least. Maybe things are turning around though,
because this year I actually had a really brilliant summer, and seeing as I
didn’t even go on holiday, I think that is quite an achievement.
In mid-August, I went away with a
group of 18 friends to a yurt camp in an organic farm in Cirencester, and I
think it was one of the best weekends away I have ever had.
What I loved was how we all came together
to create incredible food for the whole weekend. With an epic roast chicken
Friday night dinner feast, and Becky’s incredible shakshouka with eggs from the
farm, and baba ganoush with aubergines roasted in the campfire. One of the best
experiences for me was a moment on Saturday night, where we had all forgotten
to make dinner before it got dark. Standing in the field kitchen as curry
genius Gavin’s sous-chef, stirring two giant pots with a headlamp and two boys
hanging out of a tree above my head dangling lanterns over the stove, was
definitely surreal, but absolutely brilliant – I felt like the kitchen queen.
One of my contributions to the
weekend was granola that I made for breakfast time. I had never made granola
before, although I have it for breakfast for most days. I was amazed at how
much better homemade granola is – it was a revelation. Served with almond milk
(uht and perfect for camping), it went down really well.
When we went to the yurts, I made the
granola using gluten-free large rolled oats, and it was perfect – the oats
stayed separate, perfectly crunchy and it didn’t go stale despite making it a
week before. I’m sure it would have lasted another week, had we not finished it
so quickly. When I came back, I made another batch using regular rolled oats
(Quaker brand), and it didn’t work at all – the oats lost their shape and
clumped together – it didn’t stay as crunchy and went stale very fast. I’m not
sure if it was the gluten-free-ness of the first lot of oats that made them so
perfect, or just the fact that they were better quality.
Makes a big box-full
450g large rolled oats (gluten-free
if you can get them)
1 cup blanched almonds, roughly
chopped
1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
½ cup pumpkin seeds
¾ cup apple and raspberry juice
(I
used Coppela brand)
¾ cup maple syrup
90 ml coconut oil
1 level tsp ground cinnamon
1 level tsp fine sea salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
(seriously)
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup dried cranberries
½ cup dried apricots (diced)
Preheat oven to 160C. (150 with
fan)
Combine the oats, nuts and seeds
in a big bowl (save the fruit for later).
Put the apple and raspberry juice,
maple syrup, coconut oil, cinnamon, sea salt and black pepper in a small
saucepan. Gently heat until coconut oil is liquefied, and the salt is dissolved.
Don’t let it boil.
Pour the warmed liquid ingredients
over the dry ingredients and quickly stir it all together. Spread the mixture
evenly in a flat layer over two baking sheets.
Bake for 15 minutes, take the
granola out of the oven and stir everything around. Put back in the oven and
bake for another 15 minutes, take out and stir again.
Depending on the heat of your
oven, you will need to bake the granola for another 10-15 minutes after that,
but you should be able to judge how quickly it is toasting after the second
round of 15 minutes. So in all, the granola will take 40-45 minutes until it is
golden and toasted, and all the moisture is gone.
Let the granola cool completely in
the trays before you box it. It will become crunchier as it sits. Stir in the
dried fruit when completely cool. Store in an airtight container for a few
weeks. Serve with milk or yogurt, or use to crumble over desserts.
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| Of course I have my eyes closed... |
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