Granola Bars

This is based on a "Flapjacks" recipe from Rachel's Food for Living. I've been wanting to make these flapjacks for a while but there's something daunting about using three sticks of butter to make a pan of oat bars especially since Rachel Allen (author) claims that these treats disappear "before they had even cooled!"

Yesterday, being in the mood for indulgence, I decided to plop a heavy-bottomed pan on the stove and just go for it. The first step is to melt the butter with the sugar and syrup to make some kind of caramel. As I watched the butter melt, I chickened-out and quickly fished out one stick of butter from the hot pan. So my recipe only uses 2 sticks of butter. I also used rolled oats instead of the quick-cooking ones because that's all I have in the cupboard. Maple syrup is substituted for golden syrup (what is golden syrup?). What I ended up with are these addictive scrumptious buttery granola bars.

Next time though, I'll further reduce the amount of butter to just 1 1/2 sticks (it was still a little greasy for my taste) and dress it up a little bit with either nuts, seeds, dried fruits, peanut butter, or even chocolate chips!

Homemade Granola Bars

2 sticks of butter (8 oz)
2 T maple syrup
3/4 c brown sugar
1 t vanilla
1/3 c all purpose flour
3 1/4 c oats

Melt the butter with the maple syrup and brown sugar, continuously stirring until smooth. Add the flour and oats. Mix well. Spread mixture into a jelly-roll pan or 9x13 pan (or something around that size) lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into squares/rectangles while it is still warm.

The squares will crisp up when they cool.

Petites

Eclair, Lemon Cake, Marble Cheesecake

Chocolate Orange Trifle

chocolate truffle cake cubes with orange vanilla compote and whipped cream

Homemade Granola

Here's another "toss in a bowl and pop in the oven" recipe. It's very adaptable. Vegetable oil can be substituted for butter, maple syrup for honey and you can use whatever nuts or dried fruits you have in the pantry.

Granola

2 T butter (melted)
1/2 c honey (if you want more caramelization and clumping, double the amount)

3 c oats
1/2 c cashews
1/2 c sunflower seeds

1/2 c chopped dried mangoes
1/2 c dried strawberries


Toss all the ingredients (except the dried fruits) in a large bowl. Mix well.

Bake in a 325F oven for about 30 minutes.

Cool completely. Add the dried fruits.

Enjoy!

Scrapers

Heat resistant (up to 500F) rubber spatulas We find it easiest to use these to scrape every ounce of batter from a bowl. The heat resistant feature comes in handy when we cook scrambled eggs, crepes, sauces or pretty much anything on the stove.


Plastic bowl scraper When mixing large quantities of batter/dough (at the restaurant and bakery), it's more efficient to use these to scrape the side and bottom of the bowl and to move the mixture to a different container.


Bench scrapers These are for scraping the workbench/counter and dividing pieces of dough. I've seen them at the store labeled "food movers" because they are also used to transfer chopped vegetables, herbs, etc. from the cutting board to a bowl or pot. Because it has a slightly sharp edge, I use a bench scraper to roughly chop walnuts and pecans.

Parmesan Crisps

Sprinkle on salad or soup or eat as is!


Parmesan Crisps

a handful of grated Parmesan


On a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or Silpat, make little roundish clumps of grated Parmesan cheese about 1 inch apart.

Bake in a 400F oven for about 8 minutes or until golden brown.

Kale Crisps

I vaguely remember Michael Pollan promoting his book, In Defense of Food on some t.v. show or other when he made these kale crisps to go with baked fish wrapped in grape leaves. That was a while back because I believe he has a new book out.

Funny how a certain memory just surfaces and takes over because one afternoon, I suddenly had this overwhelming desire to crisp some kale. I sold the idea to Rosalind by telling her that they're supposed to taste like french fries. With that, my baking partner agreed to walk with me to the store to acquire a bunch of kale.

These are unbelievably addictive! Our intention was to have these as a side dish for dinner but Rosalind and I just kept munching on them so there wasn't much left by dinnertime.

Kale Crisps

1 bunch of Kale
drizzle of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Wash the kale and remove the leaves from the stem. Dry the leaves using a salad spinner (or pat them try with clean kitchen towel).



Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat evenly. Spread evenly on a baking sheet.

Bake at 325F for about 15 minutes or until desired crispness is reached. Watch out though: they taste bitter when burned.

Pancakes

As you see, these look like a cross between Mickey Mouse and Wererabbit (from Wallace and Gromit) so Rosalind calls them:


Monster Mickies

1 cup buttermilk (or milk)
1 egg
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
To make faces use: chocolate chips, blueberries, or raisins.

Measure out milk in a liquid measuring cup (4 cup capacity). Add the egg, vegetable oil, sugar, and salt.

Whisk together until combined.

Mix in the flour and baking powder.

Pour about 1/4 cup of batter on a hot (but not too hot) nonstick pan. Use medium heat.

Round it out.

Make the ears.

Make the face.

When you see bubbles all around, flip the pancake. Cook the other side for another minute.

Quiche Cups

Quiche Cups

5 crepes
1 cup grated cheese

1 cup milk
2 eggs
dash of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Carefully press down crepes in greased muffin cups. Divide the cheese between the crepe cups.

Whisk together the milk, eggs, nutmeg, salt and pepper then pour over the cheese.

Bake at 350F for about 20 to 25 minutes, until firm.

Apple Cinnamon Crepes

Apple Cinnamon Crepes

1 apple, peeled and chopped
3 T sugar
1 t cinnamon

3 nine inch crepes

In a cooking pan, combine all ingredients and cook to desired tenderness and caramelization.


Fill the crepes with the apple filling. Top with caramel sauce.

Chicken and Spinach Crepes

Chicken and Spinach Crepes

2 T butter
2 T flour
1 1/4 c milk (hot)

2 cup chopped cooked chicken
2 cups fresh spinach
salt and pepper to taste

4 nine inch crepes
a handful of grated cheese

Make a roux by cooking the butter and flour in a heavy-bottomed pan until smooth and nutty smelling (about 2 minutes). Whisk continuously while adding the hot milk to the hot roux. Simmer until the sauce thickens. Add the chicken and bring back to simmer. Stir in the spinach and cook just until wilted. Season with salt and pepper.

Fill the crepes with the chicken and spinach mixture. Top with grated cheese.

Basic Crepe Recipe

Crepe batter will keep in the refrigerator for about 24 hours. Cooked crepes can be stored (airtight and each separated with wax paper) in the fridge for 2 to 3 days and for about a month in the freezer.



Basic Crepe Batter

1 cup milk
2 eggs
a pinch of salt
1 cup flour
2 Tablespoons melted butter

Measure out milk in a liquid measuring cup (4 cups capacity). Add the eggs and salt. Whisk until combined.

Whisk in the flour and butter. Mix until smooth.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

We just use a regular 9 inch Teflon pan to cook the crepes. Heat the pan over medium-high heat. Pour about 1/4 cup batter onto the pan.

Quickly, tilt the pan to swirl the batter so that it covers the bottom.

Cook for about a minute until the bottom is slightly brown. Loosen the sides a little.

Most people use a spatula to flip the crepe over.

Cook the other side for another 20 seconds or so.


Coming soon are posts on a couple of crepe dishes but for something really quick, how about trying one of the following:

Sweet filling:

1. Sweetened whipped cream with sliced bananas, strawberries, or any berries
2. Nutella (or Nutella with a few splashes of Grand Marnier)

Savory filling:

1. Sliced turkey/chicken with cheese
2. Sauteed spinach with cottage cheese
3. Hotdog!