Easy Homemade Granola

 

Easy Homemade Granola

adapted from “Baked: New Frontiers in Baking” by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil (I used grapeseed)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole almonds (I used chopped almonds)
1/3 cup of chopped dates
1/3 cup dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (I ran out of parchment and used aluminium foil instead, that might explain why my granola got a little burnt)

In a large bowl, toss the oats with the cinnamon and salt.

In a medium bowl, stir together the oil, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk until completely combined.

Pour the honey mixture over the oats mixture and use your hands to combine them: Gather up some of the mixture in each hand and make a fist. Repeat until all of the oats are coated with the honey mixture. ( I did not do that…hehe)

Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Spread it out evenly, but leave a few clumps here and there for texture.

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and use a metal spatula to lift and flip the granola. Sprinkle the almonds over the granola and return the baking sheet to the oven.

Bake for 5 minutes, then remove from the oven. Let cool completely. Sprinkle the dates and cranberries over the granola.

Let it cool completely before transferring into an air-tight container. Or before the husbands starts eating it.

J has been raving about Cafe Fixe’s homemade granola for ages and has suggested buying boring supermarket granola to quell his craving. However, being rather the expert on granola, I know that the supermarket brands will never satiate his craving. One visit to Cafe Fixe revealed that a pound of that granola costs $18 and we were not about to spend that money. I reasoned that if it’s homemade, I can do it. So I did it.

Granola making took about 30 minutes. With the base of oats and cinnamon, salt and honey mixture, one can basically add any kind of nuts, grains and dried fruits as one liked. I bought the rolled oats (because we eat steel-cut oats at home) and basically threw together the granola with whatever I had at home. Now we have a really pleased husband who, for the first time, gave my cooking a 10/10. And this is slightly burnt granola.

Granddad Ken’s (not my granddad) crispy grilled trout with parsley and lemon

From Cook with Jamie
Serves 2

ingredients

2 x 300g/10½oz whole trout, scaled, cleaned and gutted
olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a large bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped
2 lemons, 1 zested and sliced, 1 halved
a few knobs of butter

Preheat your grill to full whack. Slash each trout with a knife, about ten times on each side. Each slash should be about 0.5cm/¼ inch deep. Rub the trout with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavities with plenty of chopped parsley and the lemon slices. Place the fish side by side on a baking rack over a roasting tray.

Put the lemon zest on top of the fish and place the lemon halves on the tray too. Dot the trout with the butter and place it 15cm/6 inches from the grill. Cook for around 6 minutes on each side until crispy and golden.

Squeeze the roasted lemon over the top of the fish and serve with a simple crunchy side salad.

Something simple and healthy for Sunday lunch. As you can see from the picture, I did not use parsley for the fish. Instead, I used up the leftover dill and rosemary in my fridge. Be careful with the lemon, if you are not into sour foods, might be a good idea to show some restraint in the squeezing of the roasted lemon.