Golden Granola
Treat yourself over Christmas to a delicious crunchy start to your day with this scrumptious golden baked granola. Thankfully most of my kids don’t eat it & I’ll have a jar of it to sprinkle over yoghurt etc. during the holidays. Makes for a beautiful gift if you get hold of a nice jar.
Food photography Marta Miklinska, Food Styling by Jette Virdi (from cookbook Enjoy!)
You will need:
150g porridge oats
150g combination of mixed dried fruit, nuts and seeds (you choose)
50g desiccated coconut (leave it out if you’re not a fan)
4 tbsp golden syrup or runny honey
3 tbsp rapeseed oil Method:
Preheat a fan oven to 160°C.
Mix the oats, mixed fruit, nuts and seeds and the desiccated coconut on a baking tray.
Drizzle the golden syrup or honey and the oil over them and mix thoroughly with a fork so that nothing is left completely dry.
Toast the granola mixture in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, tossing it with a fork at 5- or 10-minute intervals as it cooks to ensure even toasting. Leave to cool on the baking tray, then store in an airtight container.
To serve for breakfast, layer up the granola with some natural yoghurt and fruit.
Enjoy! ’til next time, Sheila.
Cinnamon, orange and cranberries all singing of Christmas come together in this delicious crunchy granola recipe from Glenisk. I made a big tray of it today and sprinkled over yoghurt it makes for a very tasty and satisfying breakfast or snack.
Even if you’ve no intentions of making this granola I recommend you take a look at this ‘forkful’ produced video on youtube for Glenisk which shows the ‘Orange & Cardamom’ granola magically coming together.
Enjoy,
‘Til next time, Sheila.
I suspect that I am not the only Irish person who thinks that September is a summer month, not to mind August, which if I cast my mind back long enough is surely a month for the beach. And why is that? I think it has a lot to do with the school holidays. At primary school summer holidays were July & August, in secondary June, July & August and in college June through September, these were our summer holidays and Autumn surely didn’t sniff about until the first leaves began to turn in early October. It’s taken me a lot of years to realise that A)I’m not at school anymore and B) I should be forgoing my teeshirts and slip on shoes a lot earlier than October. I do predict however that when September rolls around next year that there I’ll be in the teeshirt, bracing against the rain and waiting for the Indian Summer yet again. Eternally Irish Optimistic Pessimist.
But as for Autumn – Ode to Autumn – she doesn’t disappoint and I write today under a crisp blue sky with the ground below sprinkled with leaves of burnt umber, sienna and all sorts of other arty palette worthy hues.
Once adjusted to long sleeves and winter boots I begin to long for the nights to draw in even more, hailing evenings of cosy fires and squishy couches. Then there’s the flutter of excitement as you get the odd sighting of a glistening bauble or the hint of a cinnamon candle somewhere as Christmas is surely beginning to be whispered.
These goodies that I am sharing with you today are an embodiment of Christmas, they are wholesome, delicious, comforting and indulgent all at the same time.
First up the Inchydoney Walnut Bread.
Now if you’ve been lucky enough to stay at Inchydoney Island Lodge & Spa you will be aware of the welcoming fire in the reception and the wonderful staff who know the secrets of a happy guest. One of these is to send them home again with homemade Inchydoney Walnut Bread which you can purchase on your departure. Of all the amazing food raved about it is one of the things that really stick out because it is not the type of bread that you are going to pick up in your local supermarket or even bakery.
In fact it’s more of a cake than a bread and when I inserted the wet, sloppy mix into the oven it was with a wing and a prayer of ‘that’s way too wet, please Lord let it work.’ And Hallelujah it does!
Follow this link for the recipe that has been very kindly shared : Incyhdoney’s Famous Walnut Bread.
Next up is the ‘Very Berry Granola’ sent to me by ‘The Foods of Athenry‘ and the little song that I silently sing when I’m eating it “It’s beginning to taste a lot like Christmas in every single bite…” well, because it is.
With ingredients that include apple juice infused Montmorency Cherries, Cranberries & Blueberries, rye, oats, barley, honey, seeds, flaked almonds and cinnamon they do sing of Christmas baking and I think they’d make the most amazing flapjack bar too.
If you’d like to try your hand at making your own granola I experimented with this recipe a little while back but I have to say the Very Berry Granola is a more than adequate substitute. I like to serve it layered with natural yoghurt as there’s plenty of sweetness to balance.
I have to give Glenisk a little mention here too (as you can see I’ve paired it with the Very Berry Granola above) and say thank you for including me in their Blogalicious! Favourite Foodie Blogs post.
On a final Christmassy footnote you could put a free copy of my book in someone’s stocking if you enter this competition being run by Avonmore on their CookwithAvonmore website. Best of Luck!
Til next time, Sheila.
In discussion with a fellow food blogger recently we contemplated the latest faddy diet, this one billed as the ‘OMG be skinnier than everyone in the universe’ or something equally laughable and it advocates the skipping of breakfast. Simply stupid.
Dietary fads come and go and most sensible people I know agree to three meals a day, eaten in moderation and to quote my food blogging friend ‘enjoy your food.’
So let’s have a look at breakfast. Porridge, I would argue, is for the depths of the winter, delicious sweetened with honey and a good helping of stewed apples, it will fortify you and see you through the cold mornings. A boiled or poached egg with brown bread is perfect all year round if you’ve left yourself enough time to watch over them. For a hurried summery morning granola is the answer.
As you watch TV of an evening slip into the kitchen during the ads and assemble a tray with oats and whatever you fancy and leave it to toast a while and then cool for the next morning’s breakfast.
The quantities given here would stretch to a week of usage anyway but that will depend on how many and how indulgent the portions. Granola You will need:
150g porridge oats
150g combination of mixed dried fruit, nuts & seeds (I used SuperValu pack)
50g desiccated coconut (find it in the baking section)
4 tbsp golden syrup (or honey)
3 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil Method:
Preheat a fan oven to 160C / Gas Mark 4.
Mix the oats, mixed fruit, nuts and seeds and the desiccated coconut on a baking tray.
Drizzle over the golden syrup and the oil and mix through thoroughly with a fork so that nothing is left completely dry.
Toast the granola mixture in the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes, opening and tossing through as it cooks at 5 to 10 minute intervals to ensure even toasting. Leave to cool on the baking tray and store in an airtight container.
To serve layer up with some natural yoghurt and fruit.
Enjoy.
Til next time, Sheila.
