Breakfast Barefoot Contessa Style

Having gotten myself into a bit of a weekend breakfast rut, I decided it was time to lift myself out of it, and were did I look for inspiration? Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. They have been running her shows on UKTV Food for a while now, and I manage to catch a few new episodes which led me into an Ina recipe spree (more of which in later posts).

As I made her strawberry scones and granola, I had visions of walking into her deli and buying them, which is a bit silly really I suppose as I’ve never been there, and because it’s now shut am never likely to get there! Still I imagine it was a busy place to be on a Saturday morning.

Since Barefoot Contessa Cookbook arrived a few years ago it’s the strained breakfast orange yoghurt that I’ve not managed to get past, we really love it, and I now have yoghurt in the fridge ready for straining, will do that this weekend. The past couple of weekends though had been lit up at breakfast time by strawberry scones and granola.

The scones are nothing like a British scone, they are a lot richer for starters, with a big amount of butter and cream in the mixture. They were a bit rich for me, but maybe I was being too fussy as everyone else who tried them liked them. What I did like about them was the diced up dried strawberries - it was like a little mouthful of jam when one popped inyour mouth, mmmmm.

Home made granola has taken me a while to get right, I’ve resorted to baking it at much lower temperatures in the oven, and this time this particular granola came out perfectly, a fabulous mixture of oats, fruit and cashew nuts. I liked that the sweetener was honey and not sugar, it fits in better with my healthy / natural image of granola.

The oats with their coating baked and crispy.

The fruit and nut add ins.

Mix together to arrive at this, a great, filling and energy giving breakfast! Now I’ve had my fill of granola as is with milk, granola muffins here we come!

Granola
A halved recipe from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
Click here for the full recipe courtesy of the Food Network. My Note: I cooked this at 160oC for 30 minutes and used sunflower oil.

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 cup sliced almonds

3 fl oz / vegetable oil

2 fl oz / 1/4 cup good honey

3/4 cup small diced dried apricots

1 cup small diced dried figs

1/2 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup roasted, unsalted cashews

Preheat the oven to 170oC / 350oF.
(1)Toss the oats, coconut, and almonds together in a large bowl. Whisk together the oil and honey in a small bowl. Pour the liquids over the oat mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until all the oats and nuts are coated.
(2) Pour onto a 13 by 18 by 1-inch baking tin / sheet pan. Bake, stirring occasionally with a spatula, until the mixture turns a nice, even, golden brown, about 45 minutes.
(3)Remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool, stirring occasionally. Add the apricots, figs, cherries, cranberries, and cashews. Store the cooled granola in an airtight container.