Julie's Granola

Yes, it’s precious to announce this as my own recipe, since I openly adapt it from Carol Gelles, 1,000 Vegetarian Recipes. I think it’s an unspoken truism that any granola recipe is intended to be altered to fit what you have on hand, and what the saveur du jour happens to be. But I’ve tweaked it enough that it’s pretty much my own. But thank you, Ms. Gelles (or Carol, if I may).

A few ingredients notes: I like to use genuine sweetened carob chips. These days you have to hunt for them, because last time I looked, I couldn’t even get it at our local health foods store. Whaaaaaat—? Yes. But I seriously like carob chips in my granola, muffins, granola snack bars, and so on. I’m not going to try to make “chocolate” frosting, cake, or brownies out of it. But as a flavorful ingredient used like raisins or blueberries, they’re really quite nice. Be sure to used sweetened carob chips.

Cashew pieces: I’ve been buying raw cashew halves and pieces in a bag at the international store. Look for Swad brand, in the India aisle. Since childhood, I disliked cashews, but those were always Planter’s roasted and salted cashews. But when you them raw, you can toast them yourself, and season or not. Much more delicious.

And substitute stuff as you like. Just keep the overall quantities about the same: you need enough liquid-stuff to moisten enough for everything to get a little coated with the oat bran, wheat germ, brown sugar stuff. Also, the original recipe called for raisins. You could swap craisins or other dried fruits, nuts, etc. See notes after the recipe for more tips.

• 3 T butter
• ⅓ cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1½ to 2 T juice (apple, orange)
• 2 c. plain, rolled oats
• ⅓ c. sunflower seeds (or pumpkin seeds)
• ½ cup wheat germ (I use Kretschmar’s toasted wheat germ)
• ½ cup oat bran
• ⅓ cup raw cashew halves and pieces (or other nuts)
• powdered cinnamon (to taste)
• ⅓ cup sweetened carob chips (or chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350°F. (If your oven runs hot, set it at 325.)

Spray a 9-x-13-inch baking pan with Pam (Pyrex casserole dish is good). In a microwave, melt the butter, then stir in the brown sugar and juice until dissolved.

In a big mixing bowl, combine all the rest of the ingredients (except for the carob or chocolate chips, or raisins or any other dried fruit you might use). Pour the liquid ingredients over the mixture in the bowl and toss to get everything moistened. (Texture: you don’t want it soggy; if it seems too dry, you can add a little honey.)

Spread the granola mixture into the prepared baking pan and spread evenly. Bake, stirring and checking often, until dryish. The edges will brown first. Don’t let it burn.

Take it out; while it’s still hot, sprinkle cinnamon and the carob (or chocolate) chips over the top. The chips should melt a little bit, which is good. When it cools further, stir in any dried fruits you’re using.

Let it cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Tips:

• I suggest adding raisins or dried fruits after baking to avoid them burning. Burnt raisins are evil. I like chopped dried apricots, chopped dried, sweetened pineapple chunks, dates, craisins, etc.
• Any kind of nuts or seeds are a great addition; the original recipe calls for 3 T. sesame seeds, but I usually don’t keep those on hand, and they go rancid quickly. But I keep sunflower seeds and pumpkins seeds in the freezer; they’re right next to the sweetened carob chips!
• Granola: you know what to do. Sprinkle on yogurt with fresh fruits. Eat some out of hand as a snack. Eat it with milk as a dry cereal, or mix it in with other dry cereals. Sprinkle some on ice cream. This would be a nice garnish of a cold fruit soup or a fruit smoothie. And so on.

What's in a Name?

The name “Julie” isn’t really very common in America. It’s so uncommon, I see it spelled on receipts by boneheaded young people as “July” and “Julle.” (Seriously, Jason, Justin, Joshua? Seriously, Brooklyn, Kennedy, and Madison?)

Now, Susan has a name that comes up ALL THE TIME. Often, in cringeworthy ways. Because of this, Sue hates being called “Susie.” There’s only two people in the whole world with permission to call her Susie, and one of them (her mother) is dead. And I am not the other one.

But I’m not used to seeing my name appear in jingles, ads, and product names. In recent years though, I found my little name popping up in odd places. Behold!

Naturally, I had to try these products. What kind of stuff is my name connected to? And what kind of personality is my name being associated with?

First, there’s this company in Malaysia that makes biscuit sandwiches (cracker sandwiches) as well as wafers, waffles, cookies, and more. I kind of like the ones with cheesy filling, but they make a lot of products. I found these at the international store in Kirkwood. Check it out! Julie’s Cheese Sandwich crackers!

Their logo shows a blond girl with overalls. Is that what a Julie looks like? That could kinda be me, though I wore pigtails. The company’s been around since 1985. They recently updated their logo. Here’s what their website says:

It took us quite awhile to get to where we are today; 39 years in fact. We started sharing our love through our delicious and delightful biscuits since 1985. We’ve always been known as the biscuit brand with the humble and kind girl as its logo.

And now it’s time for a change and a makeover. Over the last 37 years, while we have retained much of humble disposition, we have also grown more open, braver, and funnily more human. Open because we have grown to share our love to over 80 different countries. Braver because we want to be better and inject more fun and playfulness in biscuit makers. More human because we have learned that biscuits are more than just a culinary delight; biscuits are about people. They are about making connections, breaking barriers, and building bridges.

Following this perspective, we have revamped our entire brand look, feel and experience. Julie, our trademark icon, now looks confidently up, into the future and towards her next aspirational adventure. The colourful rays that emanate from her marks the brand’s incredible zest for life. We ask you to join her. Look up, smile, put on your best energy, grab a pack of your favourite Julie’s Biscuits, and join her in her amazing adventure.

One small biscuit can bridge the big, big world

Julie’s, bridging the world with biscuits

Julie’s, share a bite, bridge the world.

Life isn’t only about the big defining moments. It is lived in the small, everyday ones.

What happens in these moments shapes the course of our lives and eventually defines the world we live in.

Imagine what the world would be like if, in these moments, we were ever-so-slightly more open. More open to family member, more open to a neighbor and even to a stranger who wasn’t one of us. We’d learn new things about them and about ourselves. And perhaps most importantly, we’d learn that we have more in common than we thought.

At Julie’s, we want to help people open their hearts and minds to each other. For us, each biscuit is a small yet exciting opportunity to share a bite and to share a moment. A moment that bridges worlds, one small step; one shared smile; one biscuit at a time.

Julie’s. Bridge the world.

So, what do you think? If you had to have your name applied as a kind of “type,” this ain’t too bad, is it!

Exhibit 2 is a bit closer to home: Julie’s Spinach Dip from Schnuck’s. I’m not sure they invented it, because there are a lot of “Julie’s spinach dips” out there on the Internet. Of course, I had to try it.

And yes, two thumbs up. In addition to being used as a dip, it’s also a nice spread on sandwiches, a real upgrade from mayo.

Not the healthiest thing on the planet, but if it gets you eating veggies, then it’s better than not eating veggies at all.

In this case, there’s no logo of a “Julie” for me to ponder. It’s not like if your name was Jemima or Betty Crocker.

Do you occasionally find your name on a product? Does your name stereotype you in some way? What do you think of it?

Jar of Goodness 7.17.22: Picnics

. . . The weekly virtual “gratitude jar.”

This week, I’m expressing thanks for picnics. Snacky meals. Appetizers. Tapas.

Whatever. That’s all. Just the magical way you can take a bunch of odds and ends . . . a leftover piece of ham or sausage. A piece or two of cheese. The end of a loaf of bread or some crackers. A pickle, some olives. A carrot, a crown of broccoli, some fruit. Maybe just a handful of raisins, a handful of nuts. Maybe there’s a few chocolate morsels. Something nice to drink . . .

. . . And make a fabulous tray of delectable morsels.

July is supposedly national picnic month. I encourage everyone to get creative with the stuff in your kitchen and make a little party for yourself. Eat it on the patio, or the back porch steps. Or find a park bench somewhere.

Millet: “Often Called Birdseed in the U.S.”

It started with Aunt Carole giving me a bag of millet seed: “What do you do with this stuff?” She’d bought a bunch of it somewhere and hadn’t found anything decent to make with it. I suppose you can cook it simply, as a grain, like rice or quinoa or buckwheat kasha. It was flattering that she would think I had a clue about its usage.

It’s taken me a while to act on this uncommon gift. Millet. Millet.

It’s like tiny yellow balls.

Here in America, it’s a primary ingredient in birdseed mixes—in fact, of the inexpensive birdseed mixes. What birds eat it, exactly? Most simply flick it out of the feeder onto the ground. Mourning doves, with their muscular crops, can digest the stuff, I believe.

As I’ve told you (see sidebar “About Me”), I’ve been teaching myself Indian cooking. One of my references has been India Cookbook, by Pushpesh Pant (London: Phaidon Press, 2010). It’s thorough, well-organized, and provides a good introduction to the different regional cuisines.

In the glossary of that book, millet is defined as “an alternative to rice. The seeds can be used whole or ground and have a slightly nutty taste. Hulled millet is also often called birdseed in the US.” . . . Called birdseed? No, Mr. Pant, it is birdseed!



Why don’t more people here cook millet as a side dish, a grain? I know there are people interested in it because it’s gluten-free. But as a side dish, I guess it must be hard to beat rice and other more popular grains. So millet, I thought, might be better as a flour. And, being interested in flatbreads recently, I consulted my book.

There are some recipes in the “Breads” section of the India Cookbook that use millet flour. I decided to try the simplest one first.

And it is simple, indeed! Bajare ki Roti (Millet Bread) is not something I’ll try again. It is, essentially, millet flour plus water and a pinch of salt, mixed to a “semi-hard dough,” and allowed to sit for half an hour. Then (more or less) you make it into “flattened rounds” with your hands, then cook on a hot griddle or tawa on both sides . . . well, maybe I wasn’t doing it right, but it sure didn’t “puff up,” and instead of getting “crisp,” it just got hard. Like you might expect, actually.

And buttering it didn’t really help much.

For a breakfast, it was pretty grim. I’d gotten up early to grind the millet seeds into flour in my spice grinder, straining it through a wire sieve to make sure it was smooth. I’d followed the instructions pretty carefully, and the results were flat, hard disks that might have been used as hubcaps, if they were not brittle.

Sue and I gnawed on them for a bit, sipping coffee, then Sue got up and found a cup of yogurt. I kept chewing on the one I’d taken, just for the point of it. The flavor was indeed kind of nutty. Yeah . . . nutty, gritty, dense, hard, dry, bland. We agreed they might be welcome if you were, say, going on a long sea voyage, in the eighteenth century.

We didn’t throw them away, however. Because I had another plan!

I redeemed them, and also my labor in making millet flour in the first place: Another recipe in Mr. Pant’s book is “Bajari-Methi na Tepla,” or “Shallow-fried Fenugreek and Millet Bread.” This flatbread recipe uses many more ingredients, including whole wheat flour, and it definitely showed more promise. And apart from my time, what did I have to lose?

These teplas use equal parts whole wheat flour and millet flour. I made “millet flour” by pulverizing, then running through a sieve, the “Millet Bread” I’d made previously (yes, it was that dry, even with the oil it was fried in).

Additional ingredients include coriander powder, cumin, turmeric, chili powder, ginger, brown sugar, salt, and fenugreek (methi) leaves (although it’s harder to find fresh methi leaves, you can buy them dried at an international store, and they keep for a while if you seal them up really well).

The dough is moistened with yogurt (it calls for “soured natural yogurt,” but I used plain yogurt). (You can see why my bread-baking often doesn’t “turn out,” since I often don’t follow recipes very closely . . .)

And guess what! These were great! They even puffed up a little—how exciting! The methi/fenugreek leaves give it a distinctive butterscotch-like flavor. They’re really delicious alone! I had one of the first teplas out of the pan and noshed on it while I fried the rest. I had to restrain myself from having any more!

And that is the story of the millet. Aunt Carole, this is a great recipe! If you are wanting a recipe for millet (flour), here you go.




Fried Fenugreek and Millet Flatbread
Based on Pushpesh Pant, India Cookbook, p. 622.

Mix together the following:
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. millet flour
1 t. ground coriander
1 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. turmeric
1 t. chili powder (to taste; depends on how hot your chili powder is!)
1 t. ground fresh ginger
2 T. brown sugar
pinch of salt
4 T. dried fenugreek leaves (find these at an International grocery)
2 T. vegetable oil (plus more for shallow-frying)
1 c. plain yogurt (or more, to make semi-soft dough)

Dough should be semi-soft, light, rather sticky.

Knead the dough briefly on a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions and roll into balls, flattening them with your hands (hence the name tepla, apparently), and roll with a rolling pin into rounds 4–5 inches in diameter. Keep rolling them out as you fry them.

Heat a little oil in a heavy-based skillet over medium-high heat (as for pancakes). Add a tepla and shallow-fry about 2 minutes until dark patches form on side facing pan. Turn over and cook another minute or two, until dark patches form on the second side. Repeat with remaining dough balls until finished. Serve hot.

I would recommend having these for breakfast, perhaps with some plain yogurt, or yogurt and chopped tomatoes. Or chutney, if you’re into it. I think they’d be a yummy platform for simple soft-cooked eggs, too.

They are great as a snack, too!

Here is an informative cooking video for making a very similar recipe: “Methi Thepla or Dhebra, by Bhavna”. Bhavna points out that her family really enjoys these methi thepla as a snack while they’re traveling. What a great idea!

Though teplas are slightly sweet, I think they are definitely more in the “savory” category.