June 15, 2020
With summer weather among us and Ohio businesses up and running again, Kevin and I have started our slow transition back into society. We started the day off with a light brunch starring spicy tomatoes and eggs cooked and served in a skillet loosely inspired by Shakshuka. I love to whip up a spicy tomatoes, peppers, and onions-based sauce whenever I have leftover peppers and onions in the fridge and want to start the day off with something light. My version of spicy tomatoes and eggs cooked and served in a skillet is my favorite light summer brunch dish to throw together whenever I know I will have a heavier meal later in the day. All I do to whip together the dish is cook garlic, red pepper, green pepper, and red onion in olive oil. Once aromatic, I sprinkle in some kosher salt, sugar, black pepper, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin, and pour in a can of whole tomatoes. I let everything cook for about 15 minutes before adding in the eggs and letting the eggs simmer for another 10-15 minutes. The end result is the perfect light summer brunch dish.
Shortly after brunch, I started prepping some summer produce for a refreshing salad to bring to a small birthday gathering for Tony at Tommy and Court’s home. Tommy and Court prepared a smoked brisket and mac and cheese. Clay helped prepare a confetti cake. Kevin helped carry my refreshing salad and chocolate confetti balls. We enjoyed the fruits of our labor as we chatted over a bonfire late into the evening.
The next day, as a way to balance out the meal we enjoyed the evening before, I prepared a light breakfast composed of homemade yogurt, jam, and granola. For my simple blackberry jam, I combined a pint of blackberries with juice and zest of a whole lemon, and a quarter cup of sugar in a small saucepan. I let everything cook for 15-20 minutes until the jam began to thicken up. I then poured the jam into a small glass jar and set it aside to cool.
With the jam cooling, I prepared my favorite homemade granola using some pantry ingredients. Granola is one of my favorite morning snacks to nosh on either at home or when traveling. My favorite version by far was the one I had at Eleven Madison Park (EMP) almost two years ago. Everything about EMP exemplified hospitality from the host, to the atmosphere, to the food. Kevin’s stepmom had treated us to dinner as a post-wedding celebration gift. We enjoyed some of the best dishes featuring seasonal produce. My favorite parts of the meal were at the beginning of the meal and the end of the meal. The moment we sat down, we were welcomed with a box of the most splendid savory black and white cookies paired with cheddar and apple. Towards the end of the meal, we enjoyed some chocolate covered pretzels, and departed with a jar of granola. The granola had notes of coconut, an array of nuts and seeds, and plenty of dried fruits. Ever since I ate the granola at EMP, I’ve been in the kitchen playing around with making my own granola featuring some of the elements I loved in the granola from EMP. After many variations of granola, I finally decided to share my fragrant, nutty, and just slightly sweet version of granola. I paired the granola with homemade yogurt and jam. The trio of granola, yogurt, and jam formed my morning yogurt parfait and made for a great way to start off a new week.
For my homemade granola:
· 2 cups rolled oats
· ¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
· 1 ounce raisins
· 1 ounce golden raisins
· 2 tablespoons brown sugar
· 1-2 ounces lightly toasted whole almonds
· 2 tablespoons refined coconut oil
· ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
· 2 tablespoons maple syrup
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 300°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
2) In a bowl, toss together the rolled oats, unsweetened coconut flakes, raisins, golden raisins, brown sugar, toasted almonds, refined coconut oil, ground cinnamon, maple syrup, and kosher salt. Pour onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Loosely pack the granola and leave about an inch space around all sides of the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.
3) When time is up, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Let the granola cool for about 10 minutes before serving.
Takeaways: I love to serve my granola as is for a crunchy snack or layered in a yogurt parfait. Granola is a great way to use up bits and pieces of remaining dried fruits and nuts from your pantry. Other ingredients I like to add include dried cranberries and dried cherries. If I had sunflower seeds on hand, I would also add it to my granola (just like the granola at EMP). Feel free to swap in raw almonds in the recipe if you prefer just lightly toasted almonds in your granola.