One of my favorite things to do is to cook. I cook when I’m happy. I cook when I’m mad. I cook when I want to celebrate. I cook when I’m bored… The list could go on forever. As a college dorm student, my hobby has seen a few setbacks due to the lack of a kitchen and a limited supply for funds. However, I’ve always found a way to get around this and Argentina is no exception.
For our trip to Patagonia, Tina and I decided to buy supplies in the caf to take with us. Fortunately, they have a lot of raw items in bulk and coming up with different ways to combine them wasn’t very hard for us. Yesterday, I set out to make granola bars with a few of the extra ingredients and stumbled upon a new favorite original recipe: ginger apricot granola.
I had collected oatmeal, walnuts, and apricots from the caf with the intent of incorporating them but not sure of how to do so. The dried fruit got me thinking about black cake, a Carribean specialty in which the main ingredient is fruit soaked in rum, and from there the idea took off.
I rarely measure or follow a recipe so I apologize in advance for the problem this may create for some of you.
Ginger Apricot Granola
My creation all set and ready to go. This will be one of my breakfast and snack options for the next few days in Patagonia.
dried apricots, diced
fresh ginger to taste, diced
cinnamon to taste
vanilla to taste
cloves to taste
orange zest to taste
honey to taste
flax seed to your preference
enough juice to cover the apricots – orange, peach, and apple compliment apricots really well (my juice cocktail was 2 parts orange/peach, 2 parts peach, and 1 part apple)
oatmeal
flour
egg
Method:
1. Place juice, ginger, and honey in a large pot on low heat and bring to a boil. Lower heat and let the mixture simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. The juice should start to begin to thicken into a syrupy consistency and your kitchen should smell amazing.
2. Add vanilla, cloves, and cinnamon to the mixutre. Season the juice mixture to perfection. It will carry the flavor of the granola so make sure it is well done. Don’t be shy with the spices – feel free to add others.
3. Last but not least, add the apricots and allow to simmer until the apricots begin to soften and absorb the flavor, stirring occasionally. Reward yourself with periodic tastes.
4. While the apricots are bathing in their spice bath, prepare to mix up your granola by placing the oatmeal and flax seed in a large bowl. (I added a little bit of flour to my oats simply because I’ve been experimenting with it lately. I was thinking it would help the granola stick together, but I honestly can’t tell you if that’s true or not. You experiment and tell me what works best for you.)
5. Heat the oven. I was using a gas stove that didn’t have much of an indicator as to what temp it was on. I imagine it was in between 350 and 375.
6. When your apricots are done, add them to the oats and mix thoroughly.
7. In order to get my granola to stick together, I whisked and added eggs to the mix until it started to clump a bit. I prefer to have larger clumps of granola because they can always be broken apart later if need be. This is my first time making granola and because of lack of supplies, I didn’t look into any other method. I’m sure that this recipe has the ability to be 100% vegan though so feel free to try something else out.
8. Oil the bottom of a pan and distribute the granola evenly without layering.
9. Place the granola in the oven and check periodically, about every 7 minutes. You should begin to see the top of the granola start to brown. When it’s browned to your liking, take it out and let cool before stirring the mixture. If you have multiple pans of granola, don’t forget to put them in as the other granola is cooling. Stir and bake the granola until it is browned to your liking.
10. You’re all done! You can eat it hot or cold, but just make sure you take the time to appreciate your own homemade granola properly.
If you try out my recipe, please let me know! I would love to find out how it turned out for you. Comments and suggestions are always appreciated.
veranosyviajes 