La Granola Mania

Homer Simpson and his favorite brand: Cap' Crunch!

Many of you, who grew up here in Canada, or North America, have developed a natural craving for your morning bowl of cereal or granola. Yummy! But for me, as a child, it was a bit different. Being raised in the countryside of France in the 1970s, I didn't grow up with the same morning ritual. No cereal, but a hot chocolate, and two slices of toasted bread with butter and jam (no Nutella either, as the 4 kids in my family would just ignore the pot in the cupboard...it was too sweet for us!). Today, just the thought of the sweetness of my tartines à la confiture, dipped into my cup of slightly bitter hot chocolate, makes me shiver with pleasure...
It is only in American movies or magazines that I would see how the box of cereal was revered among both the younger and older generations. Significantly, I started eating cereal when I moved out of my parents' house to go study at University; I was 18. I had come to age and the grand entrance of the box of cereal coincided then with my newly-acquired independence,. Interesting...
It is a well-known fact nowadays that cereal has become so popular that hundreds of brands and varieties stare at us on the shelves in our supermarkets, enticing us to choose one over another . Cereal has been accused of many evils too, like stuffing a whole generation of sugar-crazed kids, but here again, the devil is a blatant excess of sugar, and processed foods, not to mention the GMOs.
I've also noticed that, sometimes, a bowl of cereal is considered as an easy comfort-food solution for hungry stomachs at any time of the day - I have not resorted to that drastic cereal solution yet, and intend to hold on firm. Wish me luck! ;-) All in all, good cereal is not bad for us, but fast and highly processed foods, plus excessive compulsive eating habits are. So let's slow down, and enjoy our good food! Basta with any multicoloured cheerio-like cereal, and Viva la granola mania!

Now, the variation to commercial cereal that I prefer is indeed the homemade granola, which is even gluten-free. To tell you how naive I was with this whole new field of cereal spreading before my eyes, it is only recently...4 years ago, that I discovered how easy granola was to bake at home. I was visiting Ontario for the first time, staying for a couple of days at a Bed & Breakfast in Parry Sound, and the landlady offered me exquisite homemade granola every morning for breakfast - I simply loved it! She gave me the recipe, which I, of course, never did when back to France, and lost since then... Shame on me! Fortunately enough, the invitation to make granola was reiterated a few months ago when Jennifer, a fellow traveller in the field of cooking, offered us a delicious present : a jar of granola!

Everything has now fallen into place, I made my first tray of granola yesterday, and intend to turn it into a habit! It is healthier, better and way cheaper.

It took me no time, plus it was a lot of fun... and it tastes sooooo toasted, soooo good, soooo non-branded, sooo homemade!

My first ever homemade granola!

Chocolate Granola (adapted from Chocolate by Trish Deseine, p86)

In the introduction to her recipe, Trish Deseine says:
"Make it in large quantities and you will never want to buy cereal from the store again. (YES, this is what happened to me!) Adapt this recipe using your favourite grains; increase the quantities and omit ingredients to suit your own tastes." YES, again! I enjoyed the random rambling in my cupboards, looking for nuts and grains that I had, to finally come up with a mine of golden treasures. I filled my tray with my good finds and baked enough granola to fit a humongous jar.

Here is the basic simple recipe for you to play with:

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 5 -7 minutes
1 baking tray
Preheat the oven to 350*F

125g of dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup rolled oats ( I used half a pack, 200g, of Bob's red Mill Organic Extra Thick Rolled Oats, so, of course, I increased and adapted all the other quantities along the way...)
1 tbspn pistachio nuts
1 tbspn flaked almonds
1 tbspn pecans ( or whole hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, or macadamia nuts)
1 tbspn grated coconut
1 tbspn pine nuts
1 tbspn honey

Pssst! As we are in Canada, I added tbspns of maple syrup to the mixture and dried cranberries (I actually used a five dried fruit medley of golden and sultana raisins, blueberries, cherries, & cranberries). Next time I think I will try it with dried orange peel...

Mix the ingredients together thoroughly. Place on a baking tray and bake for 5-7 minutes or until the mixture turns beautifully golden. Shake the tray halfway through to keep the grains from sticking to each other. Leave to cool. Serve in a bowl with milk or yogurt and fresh fruit - while you sit there snug in your slippers.

Hand-crocheted slipper socks, designed by Bonnie Boon

Do you have any other ideas, any tips to share?

I officially declare that my granola days are starting RIGHT NOW! Better late than never...

Mad about Madeleines...

Yesterday I baked some chocolate madeleines to celebrate Giancarlo's (my husband's younger brother) birthday...Madeleines...What is it that makes everybody mad about madeleines? Their sweetness, their airy and buttery softness, their plump shape or their striped-pattern bottom, all that and more perhaps, makes us recollect bits and pieces of our childhood. The sweet potion may evoke whiffs of specific fragrances, a season, a specific place, etc. These random associations are called Correspondances in literature. For the photo, I chose : Thoreau's Walden, Huysmans's A Rebours, and Balzac's La Comédie Humaine, Etudes Philosophiques, volume X).

Of course, not to forget Marcel Proust, and his remembrance of things past...
"And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste was that of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray (because on those mornings I did not go out before mass), when I went to say good morning to her in her bedroom , my aunt Léonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of tea or tisane. The sight of the little madeleine had recalled nothing to my mind before I tasted it; perhaps because I had so often seen such things in the meantime, without tasting them, on the trays in pastry-cooks' windows, that their image had dissociated itself from those Combray days to take its place among others more recent; perhaps because of those memories, so long abandoned and put out of mind, nothing now survived, everything was scattered; the shapes of things, including that of the little scallop-shell of pastry, so richly sensual under its severe, religious folds, were either obliterated or had been so long dormant as to have lost the power of expansion which would have allowed them to resume their place in my consciousness. But when from a long-distant past nothing subsists, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered, taste and smell alone, more fragile but more enduring, more unsubstantial, more persistent, more faithful, remain poised a long time, like souls, remembering, waiting, hoping, amid the ruins of all the rest; and bear unflinchingly, in the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection."

(in Remembrance of Things Past. Volume 1: Swann's Way: Within a Budding Grove. The definitive French Pléiade edition translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin.)

Honey and Chocolate Madeleines (from Chocolate by Trish Deseine, p58)

Ingredients
5 ounces (140g) best-quality dark chocolate
5 tbspn unsalted butter
5 eggs, separated
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

Makes about 40 small or 20 large cakes
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Chilling time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 8-10 minutes per tray (1 madeleines pan, nonstick if possible)

Preheat the oven to 375*F (200*C).

Melt the chocolate and butter in a microwave oven or in a bowl over hot water and allow to cool.
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until the mixture is thick and pale. Add the melted chocolate, honey, sugar, and flour, beating the mixture at high speed after each addition.
Whisk the egg whites into soft peaks and fold into the mixture.
Leave the mixture to chill in a refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
If you are using a nonstick pan, there is no need to grease it; otherwise, grease the pan thoroughly.

Use a level teaspoonful of the mixture for small cakes, a heaping teaspoonful for large cakes.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on the size of the cakes. They should have risen slightly on top. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly before turning them out.

Now is your turn to go mad! Don't be scared, you won't regret it ;)

Happy Sunday Roast to You!

Last Sunday, my husband, Marco, and I had invited his family for lunch. We set the table just formally enough to greet them with all due respect. So we placed cards with our guests' names on them, set up my Fontainebleau-pattern antique soup plates (Porcelaine de Longwy, France), and used part of our silverware to cheer the table! They loved it.
The menu consisted of:
- Impromptu Pumpkin Soup
- Pork roast (stuffed with mushrooms, goat cheese, berries and bacon) from Cumbrae's, cooked in its juice with 2 garlic heads, plum tomatoes and prunes, and served with mashed potatoes & sesame green beans.
- Tartes d'Automne (1 blueberry amandine tart and 1 pear & chocolate chips tart), served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Wine: Côtes-du Rhônes red wine, Antonin Rodet - 2008, is what we had and it worked very well with the main course.

Impromptu Pumpkin Soup: (up to 8 generous servings)

- 2-3 tbsp of safflower (or olive) oil
- 1 yellow onion
- 3 garlic cloves
-500g pumpkin (or butternut squash), peeled and sliced
-1 leek
-1 celery stick + leaves (very tasty!)
-1 carrot
-1 potato
-fine sea salt and ground pepper
-rosemary dried leaves, and three bay leaves
- a pinch of curry powder, cumin and cinnamon (or nutmeg, instead of cinnamon)
-1 tbsp of soy sauce
-1 tbsp of olive oil
-fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves for garnish

Heat the safflower or olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic cloves. After 5 min, once they have softened and toasted a bit, add all the vegetables: pumpkin, leek, carrot, potato and celery. Let the magic work for 10 min or so, all the vegetables will greet each other and fry a bit to look gently golden!
Season to your taste with: pepper and salt, the above-listed spices, rosemary and bay leaves.
Pour in enough water to cover the vegetables. If you prefer, you can replace water by 1.5L of vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer, cover, lower to medium-low, and cook for 20-30 min, until the vegetables are soft.
Let the soup cool down for a few minutes. Purée the soup using an immersion blender, until the soup is smooth with just a few remaining chunks.
Stir in the soy sauce and olive oil (I used Croatian award-winner olive oil, Izbor 2008, from the Meneghetti property, 22 euros per 0,25L bottle: very expensive, but beyond compare with its bitter-sweet flavours!), taste, and adjust the seasoning. Ladle into bowls. Serve with a nice piece of multigrain bread + butter and tapenade spread (black or green olives purée: miam-miam!).

Sorry for the poor presentation of the food on this plate...We were just about to eat, and Marco decided to shoot his plate in no time. It sure looked like a big mess on his plate, but it tasted divine.
Cumbrae's (butcher shop on 481 Church Street) meat is always a delight, you can't go wrong with their products!
Mashed potatoes: based on the recipe I learnt from my mother. You steam the potatoes, put them though a potato ricer and complete the mashing with a spoon adding butter and enough half-half cream to get a firm but unctuous purée. (for an amazing variation of mashed potatoes, see Julia Child's Garlic Mashed Potatoes, p520-521, in Mastering the Art of French Cooking).
Ok, time for desserts now!

On another note, it is in Deseine's insane book (see below), Chocolate, that I found the recipe for a killer crust. Here I give it to you, enjoy!

Chocolate Sweet Crust

To make a tart shell about 11 inches in diameter
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Chilling time: 2 hours

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup less 2 tbspn confectioner's sugar (icing sugar)
1 pinch of salt
1 tbspn cocoa powder
1 3/4 sticks of very cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces.
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten with 1 tbspn water.

Place all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, add the butter, and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. This can also be done in a fodd processor.
Make a well in the center and add the egg yolks and water. Combine using a wooden spoon, then knead by hand to form a ball of dough. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before using.

Trick or treat? TREAT yourself to a video showing Trish Deseine make Chocolate Truffles:
And now I would like to share the Blueberry Amandine Tart with you. It is a recipe taken from Chocolate&Zucchini by Clotilde Dusoulier. It is very easy, and unmissable!
Mind you, I made the mistake of using an 11-inch tart pan for an amandine mixture that fits a 9-inch pan, hence the tight aspect of the amandine mixture on my tart...You live and you learn!

Blueberry Amandine Tart

Serves 10

100g sugar
100g whole blanched almonds
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
100 g (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
400g blueberries, fresh or frozen (no need to thaw them if they are frozen)
25g sliced almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F (180*C). Grease a 9/10-inch (25cm) tart pan. Bake the tart shell (Pate Sablée or in this case the Chocolate Sweet Crust, miam-miam!) for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly golden. Remove the pan from the oven (leave the heat on) and transfer to a rack to cool for 10 minutes.
2. Prepare the almond cream: combine the sugar, almonds, and salt in a food processor and mix until finely ground. Add the butter and process until smooth. This can be made up to a day ahead: transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before using.
3. Pour the blueberries in the tart shell, cover evenly with the almond cream, and level the surface with a spatula, working gently to avoid popping the blueberries.
4. Bake for 25 minutes. Take the pan out, sprinkle with sliced almonds, and bake for 15 minutes, or until the almond cream is set and the almonds are golden. Let cool completely and serve. (The tart can be made up to 8 hours ahead, covered with foil, and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

And to conclude the menu, here is my creation, invented with the ingredients I had on the spur of the moment...

Pear, Chocolate chips and Almonds Tart

Serves 6
3 pears
2 tbspn of blackberry jam (any other berries jam can do, but organic or homemade, if possible!)
1 tbspn brown sugar
2 egg yolks
1 cup of half-half cream
20g of sliced almonds

1.Preheat the oven to 350*F (180*C). Grease an 8-inch tart pan. Bake the tart shell (Pate Sablée or in this case the Chocolate Sweet Crust) for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly golden. Remove the pan from the oven (leave the heat on) and transfer to a rack to cool for 10 minutes.
2.Prepare the mixture: Mix in a bowl the sugar, egg yolks and the half-half cream.
3.Spread the blackberry jam on the tart shell, display the slivers of pears in a flower pattern and cover evenly with the eggs, sugar+cream mixture.
4. Bake for 25 minutes. Take the pan out, sprinkle with sliced almonds, and bake for 15 minutes, or until the cream is set and the almonds are golden. Let cool completely and serve. (The tart can be made up to 8 hours ahead, covered with foil, and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

Bon appétit!

20-minute meals: A nutty salad...

Red cabbage, blue cheese and walnuts salad

Preparation time: 20 mins maximum (easy-peasy!)
Cooking time: none!
For 4-6 servings

Psst! Here's my tip: This salad is most delicious when served with veal scallopini.

Ingredients:
- 400g of red cabbage (rather finely chopped)
- 2 celery sticks + leaves
- 2 tbspns of Danish blue cheese crumbs (or Roquefort)
- 2 tbspns of Sultana raisins or mix of dried berries.
- 1 cup of walnuts
- 1 tbspn of pumpkin seeds

Also, if you have some potatoes at home, don't hesitate to throw them in; the more, the merrier! Remember it's fall, you can indulge in an extra-load of starch ;-)
My advice: Peel 3 potatoes, quarter them and steam them for 5 minutes or so, then cut them into smaller cubes before adding them to the mixture. I tried it last night, and it was a big hit!

Dressing:
- 1 tbspn of fine Dijon Mustard or seed style mustard
- 1 tbspn of Tapenade (gree or black olives purée)
- 2 tbspns of cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar
- 3 tbspns of grapeseed or safflower oil
- 2 tbspns of sesame oil
- Ground pepper and fine sea salt
- 1 pinch of Curry powder, or chili powder
- Fresh coriander leaves or flat parsley, for garnish.

Et voilà!