quietness
Just now I went out into the garden, it was so quiet and still out there, except for a single bird, melodious and sweet.
tara o’brady’s fig and ginger cluster granola
Preparation – 1 hour
Makes approximately 8 cups.
The recipe is taken from Taro O’brady’s Seven Spoons Cookbook, with a few small changes.
Tara goes on to say ‘This recipe is my standard and is intended only as a starting point. By all means, add, substitute, or subtract ingredients (add ground nutmeg or ginger, cardamom; or take away the seeds and go heavy on the nuts; swap pistachios for pecans, or dried apricots and dried cherries for the figs) as long as the general guidelines are loosely followed.”
wet ingredients
¼ cup/60g ghee/coconut oil
3 Tbsp/30g olive oil
3 Tbsp/55g maple syrup
½ cup/100g packed brown sugar or 100g rice syrup
½ cup/105g hot water
1 tsp fine rock salt – divided
1 tsp vanilla extract
dry ingredients
5 cups/455g old-fashioned rolled or quick-cooking oats
1½ – 2 cups/180g slivered almonds (chop whole almonds into thin slivers)
¾ cup/65g flaked coconut
¼ cup/35g sunflower seeds
¼ cup/35g sesame seeds
2 heaped tsp cinnamon powder
½ cup/70g candied ginger, finely chopped
1 cup/150g dried figs and sultanas, chopped
prepare the wet ingredients
1. Preheat oven to 325F/160C.
2. In a saucepan set over medium heat, melt the ghee into the olive oil and maple syrup, turn off the heat, add the brown sugar, hot water, and ½ tsp salt. Cook, stirring often until the sugar dissolves.
3. Remove the saucepan from the heat, stir in the vanilla extract, and set aside to cool.
prepare the dry ingredients
4. In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, grind 2 cups/180g of the oats into flour. Transfer to a large bowl.
5. Stir in the remaining 3 cups/275g whole oats, the remaining ½ tsp salt, nuts, coconut, seeds and cinnamon powder.
6. Pour the wet mixture over everything and stir to coat. Let stand for 10 minutes, to give the oats the opportunity to lap up the sugar syrup.
7. Cover 1 large tray with baking paper. Using your hands, drop the oat mixture in clumps onto the pans, then bake in the preheated oven until dry, lightly golden, and evenly toasted 45 – 50 minutes, gently stirring and turning the granola with a large spatula every 10-15 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and leave the granola in the pans. The granola will continue to crisp as it stands. After 5 minutes, stir in the candied ginger. Once the granola has cooled completely, stir in the figs.
9. Transfer the granola to an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Goodness shared from Stacey
