Salted Caramel Granola

 

Ok...there isn't really caramel in the recipe, it's actually honey, but "Salted Honey" just isn't as popular, and besides, the honey does caramelize a bit, and it ends up being caramel colored.

I have really, really been enjoying my Green Smoothies for breakfast, but sometimes I'd like something a bit crunchier for breakfast. Also, I love granola as a snack during long days: the salt, the sweet, the cold milk, all combine for a great snack on a hot day, or for a quick lunch when I don't feel like cooking.





I was a little nervous to make the granola, because every time previously I had tried to make granola, I always burned it. But, I learned my lesson and here's the secret: when you are baking the granola stir it every 10 minutes. Simple enough, it just means you'll be in and out of the kitchen for half an hour or so. Or, you can do like I do, and get a good book and sit by the oven.

The measurements below are estimates, and really you could use more or less of any ingredient, as preferred, though if you add or subtract a lot of any dry ingredients, measure out the wet ingredients accordingly.

Salted Caramel Granola
3 1/2 C Old fashioned oats
1/2 C Flax seed
1/2 C shredded coconut
1/2 C Slivered almonds
1/2 C Sunflower seeds
2 Hearty dashes cinnamon (or to taste)
1/2 C Honey (actually, just a bit more than 1/2 C)
1/2 C Olive Oil (slightly less, certainly no more than, 1/2 C)
2 tsp vanilla
Pinch of table salt
1/2 C Raisins
1 Tbs (or to taste) coarse sea salt or kosher salt

Preheat oven to 325.

1. Mix oats, flax, coconut, almonds, seeds, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.

2. In a small bowl, mix olive oil, honey, vanilla, and table salt.

3. Thoroughly mix the wet ingredients with the dry, making sure that the oats, etc, are entirely coated.

4. Spread the mixture in a shallow baking pan lined with parchment paper.

5. Bake the granola for 30-40 min, until the whole thing is a caramelly golden brown. Stir every 10 minutes! Stirring is very important to make sure that the granola is cooked evenly and not burned.

6. As soon as you have taken the granola out of the oven, sprinkle the sea salt evenly over whole thing. This does make it pretty salty, so if you don't like salty sweet things, you can leave this out entirely. Mix in the salt.

7. Sprinkle the raisins over the granola and stir them in, then let the granola cool.





If you'd like to see more pictures of the granola check out the other blog

Super Simple Vegetarian Navajo Tacos

Navajo Tacos are essentially Indian Fry Bread with taco filling on top. Indian Fry Bread is essentially just fried bread dough, so you can use any fried dough for the scone. (This is not technically true, Fry Bread does have a particular flavor and feel, but regular bread dough will work. I recommend using Andrew's Honey Whole Wheat bread dough for this. When you make the bread, keep some extra dough on hand for such things.)

To make the fry bread, follow the scone recipe from a few days ago, except use a slightly larger amount of dough and stretch it out as far as you can.

To make the beans:

Drain and rinse a can of black beans.

In a sauce pan, mix the black beans with a third cup of any pureed or especially liquidy salsa (if you like a lot of sauce on your taco, add more). Add a dash of cumin, a clove or two of minced garlic, some chopped cilantro if you have any on hand, and a few dashes of Tabasco or red pepper flakes if you like heat. A bit of oregano and/or thyme can also add a nice flavor reminiscent of chili. Simmer everything together for a few minutes, until it is thoroughly heated through; the longer it simmers the longer the beans will have to soak in the flavor, but also the more likely that the salsa with evaporate, so if it gets dry add a bit more salsa.

Serve the beans on top of a scone, and top that with a dollop of sour cream and some grated cheese. Fresh tomatoes, chopped olives, or anything else you like in tacos will also be good. Serve with some dark leafy greens such as spinach or romaine for a more well-rounded color palate and varied textures.

Honey Whole Wheat Scones

If you enjoyed Andrew's Honey Whole Wheat bread, then you will love making scones with the dough! (If you didn't enjoy Andrew's Honey Whole Wheat bread, then you haven't tried making it yet. Get on that, because this post will be useless without it. Unless of course, like me, you can be satisfied with just looking at and drooling over food pictures. If that is the case, then you should check out FoodPornDaily, which, despite its naught name, is guilt-free gluttony.)

Anyhow. Here in Utah when we say "scone" we mean fried and sugary. (I didn't realize that this was just a Western US thing, but Wikipedia backs me up here). And, though I do love a good English scone every now and then, this is what I want when I say "scone."

The key to a good scone is a good dough. Sure, you can make these with the store-bought frozen dough, but I think that the homemade dough has a flavor that can't be beat.

TO make the scones:

Fill a skillet or frying pan about half an inch with vegetable oil. Pre-heat on Medium-High.

Start with a small ball of bread dough. Any yeasty dough will work, but as I said earlier, my favorite is the Honey Whole Wheat dough.

Roll a small piece of dough into a ball, then flatten it out, stretching it as far as you can. If you like doughy scones (I do), don't stretch the dough out as much, but let it remain more of a ball. If you are adventurous, you can make a filled scone! After you've stretched the dough out, place a small amount of something in the middle; banana, peanut butter, cheese, or jam have all worked well for me. Only use a small dab of the filling, then fold the dough over and pinch it closed, making sure that it is well sealed, as holes in the seal will make the filling leak out into the oil.

By now, the oil in the pan should be hot. Test the oil by dropping a small crumb of dough into the oil. If it sizzles right away then it is hot enough for the scones. Using tongs, place the scones into the oil and cook until the one side is light brown, then flip, and cook the remainder until it is also light brown. Place the cooked scones on a plate with a paper towel to soak up the excess oil.

Serve hot. I prefer mine with honey, but they are also good sprinkled with powdered sugar. I have eaten them with natural maple sugar or jam as well, and that works equally as well.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread, From a Whole Wheat Poolish

Honey Whole Wheat Bread, From a Whole Wheat Poolish

There are actually four saucy siblings (as part of this blog anyway, if all our siblings were involved it would be eight), so I decided that I had better post.  My specialty tends to be breads, pastries, and desserts, though I can also make lots of other stuff.  As such, my meals tend less toward the healthy and more towards the sinfully good.  However since Skoticus likes Honey Whole Wheat Bread quite a bit, I tend to make this version which combines the best of both whole wheat and normal bread flour for a whole wheat taste (and honey, mmmm... honey), without the texture problems that can come from using whole wheat flour.

The dough for this recipe also makes very good scones.

Makes 2 one-pound loaves

For the Poolish:

1 cup whole wheat bread
1+1/2 cups bread flour
~1+1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast (use a little more if you are using active dry, as it is less powerful)

For the Remainder:

2 Tbs softened butter
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp yeast (see note above)
2 tsp salt
~1+1/2 cups water
3 cups bread flour

Combine the poolish ingredients in a large bowl until all the flour is wet.  You want the dough to be soft and sticky, almost like really think pancake dough.  If the poolish is too dry add more water (this will depend upon the humidity of your location, I live Provo which has a very low humidity so I always have to add more water).  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.  You may use the poolish after about 3 to 4 hours or when it has become bubbly and foamy.  If you are not going to use it immediately or just want a more flavorful bread, you can refrigerate the dough overnight. If you decide to refrigerate the dough, be sure to take it out 1 to 2 hours before use so that it can come up to room temperature.

Once your poolish is ready, add the butter, honey, yeast, and salt.  Stir lightly.  Add the water and 2 cups of the flour.  Stir with a strong spoon, or get your hands dirty.  Knead the dough, adding flour until the dough is smooth, elastic, and very lightly sticky.

Cover your dough with either flour and a cloth, or with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with oil.  Let your dough sit until doubled.  Separate into two pieces.  Now you have a lot of options.  You can forms balls (also known as boules), or into the longer, torpedo shape, that I made as well as many many other options.  If you have a couche it is wonderful to raise the dough on that, if not I recommend that you raise it on what it will be baked on.

When your dough has almost doubled preheat the oven to 350 F, and prepare about 1 to 1+1/2 cups of boiling water. (Or other methods see below)

Once the oven is ready, pour the water into the oven. (CAUTION) Be very careful doing this, firstly so that you don't break the glass in your oven door due to thermal shock. Secondly, this should probably not be done in any oven that has vents in the bottom of the oven, like many gas ovens.  As an alternative, you can preheat the oven with a warp-proof pan on the lower rack and pour the steam into that.  Warp-proof pans tend to be solid steel or iron, most aluminum pans will warp from the shock.  Also, don't use anything with a teflon coating.  One additional option is to spray a large amount of water into the oven using a spray bottle.  If you are doing that, be careful not to hit the light or oven door.  (CAUTION)

Bake for about 20 minutes.  Look in the oven, and rotate the pans if the bread is cooking unevenly.  Bake for another 15-25 minutes or until the bread is golden brown.

Enjoy!