My Kitchen Café #5: Natashya's Maple Apple Granola Crisp

It’s once again time to throw open the doors to My Kitchen Café and this month my guest is Natashya who blogs at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. Even if the name of her blog doesn’t get you wondering, you ought to step across to see the variety of good food she cooks up from cuisines across the world. She also writes rather neat cookbook reviews.

I first came across her blog when I started baking with the Bread Baking Babes (as a buddy!), but got to know her a bit better over a wet grinder!

Her friend bought her a wet grinder thinking it was a flour mill. A wet grinder is an appliance that a lot of south Indian kitchens cannot do without, and mine is one of them. So Natashya sent out a “help wanted” tweet on Twitter asking if anyone knew how to use one. I replied and it turned out we even had the same brand and model of wet grinder! E-mails/ tweets followed and that’s how we became virtual friends.

I’ll let her introduce herself to you and a bit of her country through her post ~ Maple Apple Granola Crisp!


Hi there!

I am a Canadian food blogger, just outside of Toronto, with three grown children, one happy hubby, and, of course, puppies. When I say "living in the kitchen", I mean it. It is my favourite room of the house. I have a little television set in there, a huge library of cookbooks, the pups have beds by the table, and we happily while away our days in cooking and baking bliss. Occasionally we leave the house for walkies, shopping, and to bark at squirrels. It's a rough life. (Or is that ruff?)

When Aparna asked me about a guest post, I wanted to profile something that represented Canada to me - delicious maple syrup. A true treasure indeed.

Real maple syrup is a point of pride in Canada. Just look at our flag!

(Source: Google Images)

Maple syrup is made from maple trees, as you might expect, black and sugar maples being the sweetest and most popular to use. The sap is collected at the end of winter/beginning of spring when the nights are still freezing but the days are warming. As the tree starts to wake from its dormant slumber, the sweet stored sap rises from its roots and starts to circulate. Up to 40 litres of sap can be harvested from a tree during the season and the tree is left relatively unharmed by the process. The sap is reduced, traditionally by being boiled down, to a syrup one fortieth the original volume.

(Source: Google Images)

Europeans arriving in North America learned to harvest and process maple sap from the original Native peoples who lived in Eastern Canada and the North Eastern United States. The Native communities used the syrup as food, sweetener, and as medicine.

As time and technology moved along, the process became more industrialized. Instead of the taps and hanging buckets you would once see on a family farm, you are more likely to see tubes running from tree to tree following gravity to bring the sap to the “sugar shack” where the sap is reduced to syrup.

A real treat for anyone visiting an active sugar shack is to have super-heated syrup spread out onto clean snow where it hardens like taffy for an instant treat. Many Canadians have had experiences of this sort on class trips as children.

Canada makes 80% of the world’s maple syrup, with the province of Quebec making 75%. Some northern U.S. States make maple syrup as well, notably Vermont, but not nearly the volume of Canada.

Real maple syrup is a labour of love and the costs reflect that. It is an expensive treat compared to regular sugar but the flavour is worth it. Beware of imitators, the grocery store shelves are lined with “pancake syrup”, “table syrup”, “maple-flavoured syrup” and the like. They are sugar syrups, high-fructose corn syrups and other wolves in sheep’s clothing. Only the real thing will do.

Maple syrup can be poured freely on pancakes and waffles, to be sure, but it is also great for cooking and baking with.

Below I have a recipe adapted from Food Network Canada’s Chef Michael Smith. It features the rich sweetness of real maple syrup with tart apples and nutty granola. Topped with plain yogurt it doubles as a special breakfast treat or a healthier dessert. Enjoy!

Maple Apple Granola Crisp – adapted from Chef Michael Smith

Ingredients:


6 of your favourite apples, cored and cut into chunks

1 teaspoon ground cardamom, cinnamon, or 1/4 tsp of nutmeg

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 cup raisins


Topping:


2 cups oats

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup maple syrup

Pinch salt



Method:


Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Toss the apples with the cardamom, maple syrup and raisins. Pour into an 8” by 8” baking dish. In a separate bowl mix the oats, almonds and sunflower seeds together than add the maple syrup, oil and a pinch of salt. Mix well and crumble over apples, letting it clump a bit. Bake for 1 hour.

I chose this dish as I think it represents lots of great Canadian flavours. Maple syrup, oats, apples and dairy are all points of pride for Canadian farmers and food producers.

Thanks Aparna for inviting this Canadian gal to guest post on your blog and share a little of her local flavour. Cheers everyone!

The copyright for this post and photographs rests with Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies, and are reproduced here with her permission.