Homemade Granola

Baked granola

Although my blog may often come across as me complaining about how nothing in Argentina is as good as it is in the States, I must clarify that this is only the case for food.  If I was not Argentina's #1 fan, then I would not have lived here for 2.5 years.  With that said, the culinary staple that I miss the most in my diet is a good granola.  Nothing makes me happier than browsing the bulk granola bins at wholefoods and mixing almond vanilla crunch with ginger snap crunch and flaxseed crunch into one amazing bag of Anna's granola crunch (then mark it at the lowest bulk price of the 3, of course).  If I've lost you, please go to your nearest wholefoods immediately or consider moving to California. 

My point is that I've now run out of my granola medley, raisin bran crunch, peanut butter puffins, and all other breakfast reinforcements I brought back with me.  To make a long story, well, long… I made my own basic granola and am calling all chefs to send me their fav recipes because I need help finding an even better recipe!


Ingredients:
500 grams not-instant oats
200 grams slivered almonds
100 grams dried fruit (I used cranberries from the states)
1/4 cup maple syrup (reserve half for after cooking)
2 large spoonfuls of peanut butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/2-1 tsp cinnamon
Any extras (chocolate, coconut, other nuts, etc)

Directions: Spread oats onto baking sheet.  Add peanut butter and 1/2 of the maple syrup to a cup and warm up until the peanut butter melts into the syrup.  Spread over oats and coat each grain.  I use my hands for this part.  If the almonds are raw, put them in before baking.  If they are already toasted, add them after.  Add cinnamon and salt.

Bake in over on low-med heat until golden brown, stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes.  Remove from over and add nuts and dried fruit.  Add the remaining syrup or honey and mix again.  Let cool.

*Do not add dried fruit until after or it will burn and become too hard.

Guest post: Colombian Specialties from my Roommate!

La linda Joanna

I'm lucky enough to live with my fantastic Colombian friend Joanna.  When she gets herself in the kitchen, she GETS in the kitchen and whips up some of the best Colombian treats ever.  This week, she's done a guest post in memory of her recent cooking adventures.  Here's what she had to say (P.S. she wrote this entirely herself in English and I didn't change a thing, which makes me feel slightly bad about her having to put up with my Spanish after all these months!)

Joanna's Culinary Adventures:

Distance makes you do things you never thought you would. I always refused to cook; if there was anything in the house I used the least, it was the kitchen. Well, now it’s not any different, but because I miss my food, my flavors, my variety, and am tired of the same Argentine food, I decided to try a little harder and make something by myself. The result: success!

So this is what I did:

For Saturday’s lunch: Ajiaco Santafereño
For Sunday night: Patacones with cheese, tomato, ham and boiled corn

Wait, what is that you ask?

Well, it’s Colombian food. Ajiaco Santafereño is a typical soup of Bogotá, Colombia. The original Ajiaco is a potato-based soup and has three varieties of potatoes: criolla, sabanera and pastusa, but it’s not easy to find all those potatoes in Buenos Aires (I'm pretty sure they don't exist in here), so with the basic potato you find in Disco is fine. The other main ingredients are: chicken, guascas, cream and capers and accompany it with rice and avocado. If guasca is not added, the flavor changes a bit. Here’s a good recipe I found in the Washington Post.

Ajiaco Santafereño

Then I found green Plátanos (plantains) at Disco and I had to buy at least one, because that doesn’t happen very often. Sundays are dedicated to studying, so Anna and I are at home studying hard (sure) and we eat a lot (true). “We need energy to do it” Anna always says.  She is the chef, she loves doing it and she makes veeeery tasty dishes. But this time I made the dinner. Nothing special, but very Colombian: Patacones, cheese, ham, tomato and boiled corn.  Plantains become sweeter and less starchy as they ripen, but they also lose their firmness, so I like them better greener.  It’s fast and easy to do, here is a good recipe and don’t forget to sprinkle with salt when they are still hot. Patacones are a good fit for almost everything; you can eat them with rice and meat; as a snack with sauce; with fish and salad, or just the patacones with cheese if you have antojos. 

Patacones