Showing posts with label Cherries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cherries. Show all posts

Friday, November 4, 2011

Granola à la Curtis Stone

This morning I stumbled across a YouTube video of Curtis Stone making Granola and decided to give it a go before I polished off all the almonds and dried apricots in the pantry. My kitchen smells divine right now!

Here is my version using a few different ingredients as I didn't have any pumpkin or sunflower seeds..



Makes about 6 cups

1/2 tsp plus 50g butter
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup (packed) golden-brown sugar
2 cups rolled oats (not instant)
1 1/2 Tbs sesame seeds
1/2 cup whole almonds
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 c dried apricots, chopped
1/2 c sultanas

Accompaniments: plain yogurt or milk, fresh fruit such as peaches, apples or berries

Preheat oven to 170°C / 350°F. Not fan forced..

Lightly coat a large, heavy baking sheet with 1/2 tsp butter.

Combine remaining cup of butter, honey, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a small, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir for 5 minutes or until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a simmer. Set aside.

Combine the oats, sesame seeds and almonds in a large bowl.

Drizzle the warm syrup over the oat mixture. Toss to coat well.

Transfer oat mixture to the prepared baking sheet, forming an even layer.

Bake for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the mixture is dry.

Stir in the apricots and sultanas, and continue baking for 10 minutes, or until the granola darkens slightly.

At this point the granola will be soft, but as it cools it will become crunchy.

Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let granola cool completely, I managed to wait about 20 mins before I just had to taste it... It will set into chunks; simply break it up into smaller pieces.

Enjoy with fresh fruit and yogurt or with cold milk.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

Variations:
Use coconut oil or grapeseed oil instead of butter
Other sweeteners like pure maple syrup can be used instead of honey
Substitute or add pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds
Substitute or add raw walnuts, cashews, pecans or flax seeds
Substitute or add dried cherries and golden raisins
Try other dried fruit like cranberries, goji berries, chopped peaches or apricots

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Karen Martini's Cherry and ricotta strudel

Another Panko option, I'm sure this fabulous dish from Karen Martini is the perfect way to finish off a meal.

500g ricotta
150g caster sugar
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
3 large egg yolks
375g packet filo pastry
250g unsalted butter, melted
650g jar sour cherries, drained, syrup reserved
1 cup frozen raspberries, thawed
5 Tbsp Japanese breadcrumbs (panko)
Extra 1 tablespoon caster sugar
100g raspberry jam
Double cream, to serve (optional)

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Line a large oven tray with baking paper. In a medium mixing bowl, combine ricotta, sugar, lemon zest and juice, vanilla, egg and egg yolks.

Lay a filo sheet on a clean surface and brush with butter. Lay another sheet, overlapping slightly to 1 side, so you have a rectangle about 45cm wide. Keep repeating layers, alternating from one side of rectangle to the other, brushing with butter, until all filo sheets have been used. Spread ricotta mixture on filo rectangle, leaving a 5cm border. Top with cherries and raspberries. Sprinkle over breadcrumbs.

Roll up strudel from one short end to the other, tucking in filo edges as you go. Transfer roll to prepared tray and score top. Brush roll with remaining butter and sprinkle over extra sugar. Bake for 55 minutes. Remove strudel from oven and stand for 20 minutes, before serving.

To make sauce, put reserved cherry syrup and jam in a small pan. Bring to the boil and reduce liquid by two-thirds. Remove from heat and cool. Serve strudel with cooled sauce and a dollop of double cream, if desired.