Granola a la Kona

Granola a la Kona

My vacation to Hawaii a couple of years ago, inspired me to make this granola. My husband had a granola with coconut, almonds and oats, served over yogurt in a papaya fruit, and it became one of his favourite breakfasts. So when we got home from vacation, I had to recreate the granola. I make the granola in a wok on the stove, but you can easily make it in the oven. 

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1½ tablespoon honey
• ½ cup coconut flakes
• 1½ cup quick oats
• ½ cup slivered almonds
• 1 sprinkle cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste

Directions:

Heat the oil in the wok, and add the honey. Let the honey foam for a moment, and then add the rest of the ingredients. Keep stirring and cook until the granola turns golden brown. Pour the granola into a large pan or baking sheet and spread the granola out in an even layer, and let it cool. The granola crisp up while cooling. The more you stir during the cooling period, the more separated the granola gets.

If you want to cook the granola in the oven:

Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃).

Combine oats, almonds, coconut and cinnamon in a  large bowl, and set aside. 

Melt the oil and honey in a small saucepan, remove from heat, and  add the vanilla paste. Pour over the oat mixture and mix until the oats are thoroughly coated. Spread the mixture in a thin, even layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the granola for 15 minutes, then stir and continue baking until the granola is very light golden brown, about 5 to 10 minutes more. 

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. The granola crisp up while cooling. The more you stir during the cooling period, the more separated the granola gets.

Store the granola in a large, airtight container. It will keep for up to one month.

Serve the granola on yogurt with fresh fruit, or in a papaya. 

Enjoy.

Øllebrød - Danish rye bread porridge

Øllebrød med meget flødeskum -  Danish rye bread porridge with a big scoop whipped cream.

I made øllebrød, another traditional danish dish. But when  I wanted to write this post I didn’t know how to translate "øllebrød" - So I tried Goggle Translate, which suggested "beer soup". But it didn’t sound right, especially when I don't use any beer in the recipe. So I ended up with the Danish rye bread porridge because its a porridge made from rye bread, right?

My mom loved øllebrød, she could eat it for every meal, while my dad hated it. So she had it mostly as breakfast, and as her daughter I learned to love it too.

In Denmark you give children øllebrød for breakfast when they are starting to eat solid foods. It's very filling and will keep you full for at long time, kinda like oatmeal. Øllebrød is sweet and that's why I add some lemon zest to it. But beware you can only eat a little portion, because it's so filling.

Serves 4 

Ingredients:

• 400 g seedless rye bread
• 900 g water (to get desired thickness)
• 120 g brown sugar
• 1 lemon, zest of 

Directions:

The bread can be leftover stale bread. Cut the bread into cubes, and put them into a pot. Add water just to cover. With stale bread you would let it sit overnight. With fresh bread you can start to cook it right away.

Boil the bread and water with the brown sugar, and stir occasionally. To get rid of the lumps you can either use an immersion blender or strain the porridge through a sift. 

Add more water to get the right consistency. Take the porridge of the heat and add the lemon zest.

Serve the hot Øllebrød with cold milk or whipped cream.

Waipi'o Stack Breakfast a la me

Waipi'o Stack Breakfast a la me

On my first vacation to Hawaii, I had a Waipi'o Stack Breakfast at Island Lava Java. One of the best breakfasts ever. I crave salt for breakfast, so for sure the Waipi'o Stack is right up my alley. Well, the setting didn't hurt the experience in any way. 

The Waipi'o Stack is two eggs over easy, stacked on wheat toast with applewood smoked bacon, fresh avocado, tomato, arugula and chipotle aioli.  

This is my take on it:

The view from the cafe.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 slices sour dough bread (preferably Tartine Country Bread)

• 4 eggs

• 4-6 slices applewood smoked bacon

• 1 avocado

• 1 tomato

• 1 handful arugula

• chipotle aioli

Directions:

Cook the bacon until crisp using your favorite way, in a skillet, in the oven or in the microwave. Set aside.

Rinse the arugula, and pad it dry in a kitchen towel. Wash and slice the tomato; peel and slice the avocado and toast the bread.

Crack eggs in two bowls, two eggs in each.

Heat a small non-stick skillet over low heat and add butter. As soon as the butter stops foaming, add two eggs to the pan. Cook eggs over low heat until the whites stops being translucent. Now gently flip the eggs with a spatula/turner, be careful not to break the yolks. Count to 10 and flip the eggs back or put at plate upside down on the pan, and flip the whole thing.

 Assemble the stack:

Spread chipotle aioli on bread, add arugula, then tomato slices, bacon and eggs. Place the avocado on top. Serve immediately with a cup a fresh fruit.

Enjoy! 

The Danish version:

Waipi'o Stack

Ingredients:

• 2 skiver godt brød.

• 4 æg

• 4-6 skiver god bacon

• 1 avocado

• 1 tomat

• 1 håndfuld rucola

• chipotle mayonnaise

Rist brødet og steg baconen.  Bland mayonnaise med chipotle. Spejl æggene. 
Smør brødet med mayonnaisen, læg rucolaen på, derefter tomatskiver, den stegte bacon og til sidst læg æggene på. 

Skær avocadoen i skiver og læg dem ovenpå æggene. 

Server straks.

Lemon Scones

Lemon Scone

It's really hard to find really good scones. They have to be flaky and soft. One of the only places you can get these in Copenhagen is at Reinh van Haun bakery. Well you can probably get real scones in the UK.

Recently I had a really god and flakey scone at Tartine Bakery & Cafe in San Francisco, but it's not just around the corner from here, so I won't be hanging out there a lot. But if you're ever in San Francisco stop by Tartine, even if you have to wait in line, It's worth the wait.

I got this recipe at a cooking class in Sur La Table from Chef Nikki B. Frias. I'm sad to see that she's no longer at the Los Gatos Store - I miss you Nikki! 

Makes 10-15.

Ingredients: 

• 450 g all-purpose flour
• 85 g sugar
• 30 g baking powder
• 7 g  salt
• 115 g  cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 475 ml heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest

Topping:

• heavy wipping cream
• demerara sugar (raw cane sugar)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F  (205°C) For a convection oven. Non-convection preheat oven to 425°F  (220°C) 

Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl, by hand. Add the butter. I used a pastry cutter to incorporate the butter in the flour mixture. Mix until the the butter resembles small pebbles.

Getting ready for the oven.

Add in your cream and lemon zest and mix until it just comes together and resembles biscuit dough. This step is very important because if you over mix, the dough will become dense. If you use berries in the scones, add them now

Using an ice cream scoop, take the scones dough and place the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Brush the top with heavy whipping cream and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for approximately 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown in the mottle of the oven.

Note: 

You can make the dough and set them on a baking sheet and then freeze them in advance. When you want fresh baked scones - just take the frozen scones out and brush the top with heavy whipping cream and sprinkle with sugar, and bake. No need for defrosting.

You can add fruit to the batter. Use about 115 g, but don't use strawberries, they contain to much water.