Friday 8 August 2014

The best breakfast

I finally found a granola recipe that is quick and easy to make - no tedious removing from the oven to stir every five minutes - and which doesn't require me to hand over my entire month's food budget to Holland and Barrett in order to buy ingredients: this recipe - from the brilliant Jack Monroe.  
  • The recipe uses ingredients that I always have in the house: oats, peanut butter, honey and a little pat of butter.  That's it.
  • It took me about 2 minutes to mix and then just 15 minutes to cook.
  • It made the whole house smell amazing while it baked.
  • Cam did a quality control test once it was cooled, and I had to physically remove the spoon from his hand in order to stop him from eating the WHOLE BATCH.

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Granola jars
 
I had some for breakfast this morning with yogurt, banana and fridge jam.  It was one of the nicest breakfasts I've had in months.

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A very fine breakfast

The fridge jam is a cross between a sauce and a jam.  It needs to be kept in the fridge, and is a lovely thing to have on hand as the basis for a fruity breakfast, a smoothie or a pudding.  This one is made from half a punnet of blackcurrants - left over from an enthusiastic session at the PYO farm last week - a few shakes of caster sugar, and two tablespoons of water.  I put everything in a pan, brought it to the boil, and left it to bubble for a few minutes before cooling and putting it in a clean jar. 

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Blackcurrant fridge jam


It is nice and sharp, and a wonderful colour.  You can make this from any fruit, but berries and stone fruits work particularly well.  The key to making fridge jam is just to use a very small spoonful or two of water in your mixture.  Proper jam uses much more sugar and no water; stewed fruit (or fruit compote) uses less sugar but more water - fridge jam falls somewhere in the middle.  

I love blackcurrants so much - such an interesting, feisty fruit.  This jar of them tastes  like distilled summer.      

12 comments:

  1. Yummy! Going to make some of that granola... Now!

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  2. That sounds delicious and so easy. It's the first granola recipe I've seen that I'm tempted to try. In fact I think I have all the ingredients required so will definitely have a go, perhaps even today. My breakfasts have become very monotonous - mostly toast and butter as I don't like soggy things first thing in the morning for some reason. Thank you for sharing.

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  3. Hurray for Fridays and the chance for yummy breakfasts in the sunshine..

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  4. Ah, simple granola, at last. I love the idea of fridge jam, I've got lots of blackcurrants that need using.

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  5. Your granola and fridge jam sound lovely. My breakfasts are rather uninspired these days, which is a shame. My mum makes fridge jams which she stores in the freezer. I assume it is the surplus rather than the jar in use.... must ask.

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  6. Fridge jam, now there is a good idea. I know what I will be doing with the enormous amounts of fruit I have :). Love your little screw top jars where did you buy them?

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  7. Oh the granola sounds perfect--definitely going to give it a go! And was very moved by your post about your oncology placement--I'm still so in awe of everything you have done and continue to do as Nurse Nancy! xx

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  8. The granola sounds and looks delicious, but the fridge jam is a revelation to me, but what chance that I will remember and actually make some!! xx

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  9. Ooooh, peanuts and oats, what's not to love? Always find making granola really faffy, and it is so blimmin expensive normally.i am going to make some of this at work tomorrow. The Madeira cake is being eaten as I type. Yum.x

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  10. That sounds so good, and a perfect way to do something a bit different with the never ending supply of oats I seem to have in the cupboard!

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  11. I'm finding breakfast hard work at the moment but this looks delicious. I love blackcurrants too!

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  12. This sounds like such a delicious summery breakfast and has all the right ingredients to keep you from feeling hungry and snacking all morning - I'll try it! xCathy

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