We started out this day in class with a discussion about granola. How do you eat granola? Granola cereal, granola on top of yogurt, granola on top of pie, maybe even straight? I've only recently taken a liking to granola if I'm being honest here. Chef talked about how granolas you purchase at the grocery store often come with a lot of sugar, because of course that's what makes everything taste delicious right? Well he proceeded to show us how to make a homemade granola using all-natural and healthy ingredients (shown above). Here's the recipe!
Crunchy Jack Granola
-Makes 4 pounds
Ingredients
4 oz. Bran Flakes
1 lb. Rolled Oats
4 oz. Sesame Seeds
8 oz. Sliced Almonds
8 oz. Pecans
4 oz. Wheat Germ
4 oz. Coconut
4 oz. Sunflower Seeds
1 tsp. Salt
1 tbsp. Cinnamon
4 oz. Brown Sugar
12 oz. Butter, melted
2 tsp. Vanilla
3 oz. Agave syrup
4 oz. Honey
Method
1. Combine all ingredients in large bowl and mix until all ingredients are well combined.
2. Place on parchment lined sheet pans and bake at 275°F for 1 hour mixing ingredients every 20 minutes.
3. When cool, add 6 oz. each: golden and dark raisins.
Chef Mark explained all the different dry ingredients and the purposes they served in the granola, flavor profiles and all that goodness. A few people in my class tried cinnamon, because everyone automatically assumes cinnamon is going to be sweet and if you have ever tried to eat straight cinnamon, you know that it isn't really. Shown here is the begins of our granola:
Crunchy Jack Granola
-Makes 4 pounds
Ingredients
4 oz. Bran Flakes
1 lb. Rolled Oats
4 oz. Sesame Seeds
8 oz. Sliced Almonds
8 oz. Pecans
4 oz. Wheat Germ
4 oz. Coconut
4 oz. Sunflower Seeds
1 tsp. Salt
1 tbsp. Cinnamon
4 oz. Brown Sugar
12 oz. Butter, melted
2 tsp. Vanilla
3 oz. Agave syrup
4 oz. Honey
Method
1. Combine all ingredients in large bowl and mix until all ingredients are well combined.
2. Place on parchment lined sheet pans and bake at 275°F for 1 hour mixing ingredients every 20 minutes.
3. When cool, add 6 oz. each: golden and dark raisins.
Chef Mark explained all the different dry ingredients and the purposes they served in the granola, flavor profiles and all that goodness. A few people in my class tried cinnamon, because everyone automatically assumes cinnamon is going to be sweet and if you have ever tried to eat straight cinnamon, you know that it isn't really. Shown here is the begins of our granola:
Next, as per the recipe, Chef Mark added the Agave Syrup and Honey mixture as well as the butter. This is what will hold the granola together:
After mixing all the goodness together, the granola was laid out on a sheet pan to be baked. Chef Mark spread the granola around on the pan with his hands and then placed it into our fancy expensive oven to bake for an hour, taking out every twenty minutes to stir it around. Every time he took it out of the oven it smelled better and better and I just wanted to eat it right then and there. I was disappointed a good few times at him placing the sheet pan back in the over before it was finally ready. Here it is:
Yum yum yum! We then proceeded to drool (just kidding, well, I mean I will admit that I did) and sprinkled this healthy snack on top of some yogurt to enjoy! It was gone very quickly or I definitely would've gone for seconds. Days in class where we get to eat Chef's creations are by far my favorite. But the learning didn't stop here! After we all finished our yogurt and granola we gathered at the front of the room so Chef Mark could explain the methods of pasta-making. But before I tell you about that, here is one final picture of my yogurt and granola, just so you can be jealous.
This post is getting a little long, so I will shorten it up now and tell you about the ways in which chef taught us to make pasta. We ran out of time in class and a few people took the pasta dough or whatever you would like to call that stage of the pasta home to experiment with it, so this slideshow will show you the beginning steps in the process of pasta-making.
And that was it! Chef Mark made it look a lot easier than it actually was, I'm almost positive. He tends to do that. I'm sure with practice my pasta will turn out just as nice. I can hope at least.