Oatmeal

OATMEAL

An unctuous, warm, stick to your ribs breakfast cereal, made from an easy recipe that can be thrown together in a matter of minutes and eaten with a vartiety of spices, fruits, nuts or just brown sugar.

With all this going for it, why did I avoid oatmeal like the plague when I was little…  I mean to the point that you couldn’t force the spoon down my throat! I think it came down to the texture, which with years and maturity…. I have come to like.

A few TIPS for making oatmeal :

• add the  salt at the end for a creamy texture
• the finer the oats the faster they cook
• heat your bowls
• serve with warm milk
• Scottish superstition - stir clockwise with your right hand to avoid evil

OATMEAL RECIPE : ERIKA ALLISTON, Sweet Pea Blog

For two servings:

• 250mL milk
• 250mL water
• 75g (2.5oz) rolled oats
• pinch of salt
• extra warm milk for serving
• brown sugar for serving

1. Put bowls in the oven
2. Bring milk and water to a boil in sauce pan
3. Add oats, bring to boil, then reduce to simmer
4. Simmer for 10-15 minutes
5. Serve in warm bowls, topped with warm milk and brown sugar

Russian crêpes – I used to think that a crêpe was a crêpes was a crêpe. That was until Katya made me her Russian recipe. While the basic ingredients are the same – flour, eggs, milk and butter, the taste and texture are soooo much better! I am convinced that the secret lies in warming the milk and melting the butter, to which the dry ingredients are then added. The result is an unctuous wonderful batter that makes perfect crêpes.

The second key factors is to be one with your crêpe – out with the spatula and in with your fingers, just be careful not to burn them while slowly peeling back the crêpe to flip it onto the other side. This adds a whole new meaning to hands on cooking!

RECIPE - SWEET PEA Blog

Crêpe Batter Recipe:

• 125 grams white flour
• pinch of salt
• 250 ml milk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 large eggs

1. Combine the flour and salt and set aside.
2. Heat the milk, remove from the stove and add the butter. Let it melt.
3. Beat in the eggs
4. Add the flour/salt mixture.
5. Ideally leave batter to rest overnight.

Crêpe Making

1. Heat a non-stick skillet/frying pan on medium heat
2. When hot, using a piece of paper towel run a little butter around the pan
3. Immediately, holding the pan in the hand you write with, pour some batter (approx 1 small ladle) into the center of the pan  and roll it around until it thinly covers the surface. This can take a little practice!
4. Let the crêpe cook until the upper surface become dry, and the lower surface against the pan becomes golden
5. Using your fingers  (or a spatula if you prefer) flip the crêpe, let it cook
6. Place on a plate and spread a little butter on the surface.

NOTE: the first crêpe normally does not turn out well, it is the crêpe that is used to season & prepare the pan.

Almond Butter

ALMOND BUTTER : Every once and a while I get a hankering for peanut butter. But I normally put it aside when faced with the astronomical price of Sfr 5 (~$5) for a small 250g jar. In Switzerland peanut butter does not rank amongst the basic, inexpensive food staples  -  it is an imported oddity, that many Swiss people, like my husband, have never tried. The whole idea of peanut butter & jam sandwiches, not to mention banana left him cold. That was of course until he tried it and like the rest of us, fell hopelessly in love with this sticky nutty spread. It makes me think of the film Meet Jo Black when the butler asks him what he would like, ‘just the butter & a spoon?’.

There is another perversity in this whole peanut butter loving situation and that is that it normally gives me a stomach ache. I think it has something to do with the oils they use to make it. Which got me to thinking about making nut butters in general and people with peanut allergies. It must be especially hard on children not being able to eat certain foods and helpful for mothers to have tasty alternatives. Coincidence would have it that I had two packages of whole almonds and a little free time, so I set about making my own almond butter.

Rave reviews is all I have to say. Absolutely delicious! The only issue I ran into was the desire to further reduce the amount of oil used, however the choice was between that and ruining my new blender, so I decided not to risk it. However if you do try this recipe with less oil please let me know how it turns out. I also recommend substituting a little almond oil instead of sunflower, it adds to the almond butter taste, which has a slight sweetness with a hint of sea salt to compliment.

RECIPE : SWEET PEA Blog

• 250gr whole almonds
• 1/2 cup sunflower oil (you can substitute a few tablespoons of almond oil)
• 1 tablespoon fine white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1. First put the oil into the blender.
2. Add half the almonds & blend
3. Gradually add the rest of the almonds
4. Finally add the sugar & salt

Brioche Bread

BRIOCHE BREAD RECIPE : My mother-in-law has a black-belt in bread making, especially when it comes to her famous Swiss tresse (braided pain brioché). But I am getting ahead of myself and if I am going to tell a story it’s best told from the beginning.

Before I met Olivier’s family, breakfast for me was a non event. It was generally eaten quickly, on the run, out the door to work. So it will come as no surprise to you that a quick fruit, piece of toast or cereal, was all that was on the menu.

My sad petit déjeuner habits were interrupted one Sunday, when I was invited to Olivier’s parents for breakfast. Sweet idea I thought – though someone really should have warned me not to eat for several days before, entering what I can only describe as, a Roman feast…..

There were four of us for breakfast and surly enough food for at least twice that. The table was laden with fruit salad, muesli, cereal, a platter of cheese, croissants, boiled eggs,  luncheon meats, whole wheat toast with butter (salted & unsalted) and at least 5 types of homemade jam. Of this delicious banquet, what really caught my eye and later taste-buds was the golden braided bread in the corner. This was Josiane’s famous tresse - a braided brioche bread made with egg and butter, giving  it a smooth golden crust and rich, tender crumb.

After only one slice I was hooked – it was like a Ratatouille portal back to my childhood, of my mother’s baking & comforts of home. I quickly understood how breakfast could turn into a religion, that pleasantly lasted most of the morning, over several coups of tea and good conversation.

Josiane kindly gave me her family recipe, that has become a breakfast staple in our house. I make it with or without an egg-wash, saffron milk, dried fruits, bits of chocolate, cinnamon & sugar, or plain as nature intended. She traditionally splits her dough into 3 long lines and braids them. However, I have come up with this easier method using a loaf tin!

RECIPE : SWEET PEA Blog

• 500 gr white all-purpose flour
• 250 mL milk
• 1/2 cube fresh yeast  (12g)
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 100 grams unsalted butter
• 1 egg
• extra egg for egg wash

1. Cut the butter into small cubes and let come to room temperature.
2. Take 2 tablespoons of the cold milk and mix with the fresh yeast until completely dissolved. Set aside.
3. Heat the remaining milk until just warm to the touch (not hot!). Remove from the heat & add the sugar, salt & yeast mix.
4. In a mixer with the bread paddle, add the flour & butter. Start mixing & slowly add the milk mixture.
5. Finally add the egg & continue kneading the dough for 5 minutes until a nice dough forms.
6. Place a damp cloth over the bowl and let rise in a warm area of 1 hour
7. Line a loaf tin with baking paper
8. Split the dough into 4 even pieces. One by one form into an oval ball and place in the lined loaf tin
9. Place in the uncooked loaf in the fridge for 15 minutes
10. Optional : using a pair of scissors, horizontally cut the top of each of the 4 oval balls
11. Beat the extra egg well & using a pastry brush (or your fingers) evenly paint the top of the bread
12. Place the uncooked loaf in a COLD oven. Put the oven at 200°C / 400°F and time the bread for 45 mintues.
13. Remove & let cool before eating.

GRANOLA: To be or not to be a breakfast person, that is the question …

I for one used to fall into the latter category… a category reserved for those of us who don’t do mornings… rush out the door like mad women (as if there was time for toast let alone breakfast) and find themselves sitting at their desk before the sun has even risen, sipping on a cup of coffee. Healthy you say…. I think not!!!

It took moving to Geneva and living with my other half – a breakfast fiend, tartine nut, jam addict and general muesli fan… to make me turn over a new leaf or should I say grain.

With breakfast becoming an increasingly important meal of my day, I started paying more attention to the ingredients I was eating…. and was shocked to discover the amount of salt, white sugar & hydrogenated oils that most granola brands add. Something had to be done! So I set to work on making my own healthy recipe.

The great thing about this recipe is that you can personalise it… I use the rolled oats as a base and then add and subtract the nuts, seeds & dried fruits I feel like.

GRANOLA RECIPE - ERIKA ALLISTON – Sweet Pea Blog

• 200 grams rolled oats (approx. 2 cups)
• 2 or 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (or nutmeg as you like)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 180 grams of a mixture of seeds, nuts, & dried fruit ie raisins that you like (for this post I combined sunflower, pumpkin & linseeds, with whole almonds & pecans)
• 2 tablespoon sunflower oil
• 1 egg

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C (320°F).
2. Cover a large baking sheet with baking paper.
3. In a large bowl, combine the rolled oats, borwn sugar, cinnamon, salt & seed/nut mix.
4. Beat the egg & oil, add to the dry mixture
5. Next, evenly spread the granola on the baking sheet, and bake at 150°C for 30 mins. Then REDUCE the heat and cook for 1 hour at 120°C.
6. Turn off  the oven and let the granola cool COMPLETELY inside before storing in a dry sealed container.

NOTE: technically MUESLI and GRANOLA are different. While they are both rolled oat breakfast cereals, muesli is the Swiss / German version normally served uncooked or soaked in water, while granola is the US /UK version, which is baked and crunchy. As the names have become interchanged I have used both in the title of this post. I also plan on trying a maple syrop & pecan version.