oat-date slice

A few things have happened since I last wrote here.

The husband wrote his PhD thesis and successfully defended it.

We moved across the country (again) and now live in Montréal.

I can now say with confidence: "I have my own bag" and "have a good day" in French when I'm shopping.

La belle province is a land of milk and honey. Literally. We are eating excellent local cheese and the honey from the Atwater Market is so full of flavour that I feel like I can actually taste the wildflowers.

And even though it isn't French, this old Scottish favourite has become one of our favourite snacks.

It's called oat-date slice, and it's rather like matrimonial squares — but much simpler. The squares are soft but sturdy, and full of gooey dates. In other words, the perfect snack with your afternoon tea. (It's possible I've said that about other recipes here. It's all true.)

I adapted the recipe from The Scottish Farmers' Market Cookbook. We picked up this little gem on our honeymoon, way back in 2007.

one year ago: overnight oats with raspberries
two years ago: amazing overnight waffles
three years ago: sriracha tofu and broccolini with coconut rice

oat-date slice
The Scottish Farmers' Market Cookbook by Nick Paul

175 g. quick-cooking oats
130 g. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. sea salt
125 g. wheat flour
     or gluten-free:
     50 g. millet flour
     35 g. sweet rice flour
     40 g. potato starch
     1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
90 g. coconut flakes
135 g. butter
1/4 c. water
37 g. / 2 tbsp. golden syrup*
1 tsp. baking soda
200 g. dates, chopped roughly

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease an 8-by-8-inch baking dish or line it with parchment paper.

Stir oats, brown sugar, sea salt, flours and coconut together in a large bowl. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, melt the butter. Add the golden syrup and baking soda and whisk well. Stir into the oat mix. Mix well. Spread into the baking dish and use your fingers to pat it down evenly.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden and somewhat set. Let cool completely before cutting.

*You could probably use honey or corn syrup in a pinch.

 

chipotle & rosemary spiced nuts

I love fancy nuts.

By fancy, I mean nuts that are lightly glazed and roasted. Oh, and that are exciting enough to make me look forward to them as a mid-morning snack.

Spicy cajun almonds and Gramercy Tavern bar nuts have been favourites around here, but after Christmas, I felt like the new year deserved a new nut recipe.

I found this: Ina Garten's chipotle and rosemary spiced nuts. I had a little bag of fresh rosemary in the fridge and so it felt like fate.

I adapted the recipe to suit my nut tastes (and budget) and I feel particularly pleased about the pistachios I added. They are like little gems of concentrated flavour nestled around the bigger cashews and pecans.

On first glance, the recipe looks a bit odd: chipotle, rosemary, orange juice? I know. But trust Ina here. They are a trio I am now very glad to meet.

So here you are – a new nut recipe for the new year. Feel free to adapt it for the nuts you find in your cupboard.

one year ago: tuscan white beans
two years ago: happy things in the new year and carrot and fennel soup
three years ago: glory bowl
four years ago: naomi's granola

chipotle and rosemary spiced nuts
adapted from Ina Garten on The Kitchn

275 g. (2 c.) unroasted cashews
100 g. (1 c.) unroasted pecan halves
200 g. (1 1/2 c.) unroasted almonds
100 g. (2/3 c.) shelled unroasted pistachios
50 g. (3 tbsp.) maple syrup
25 g. (2 tbsp. + 1 tsp.) brown sugar
2 g. (1 tsp.) ground chipotle powder
32 g. (2 tbsp.) freshly-squeezed orange juice
1 tbsp. fresh rosemary, minced
18 g. (1 tbsp. + 1 tsp.) neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed
1 1/4 tsp. Kosher salt (or 3/4 tsp. regular salt)
later: 1 tsp. Kosher salt (or 1/2 tsp. regular salt)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and get out a sheet pan or two regular cookie sheets.

Brush the pan(s) a bit of neutral oil. Get out a very large bowl and mix up the cashews, pecans, almonds, pistachios, maple syrup, brown sugar, chipotle powder, orange juice, rosemary, oil and 1 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt.

Spread the nuts out on the pan(s) as evenly as possible and slide into the oven. Roast for 25 – 28 minutes, stirring twice, until the nuts look glazed and golden brown. Put the pan(s) on a rack to cool and toss with the other 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt.

Stir sometimes as they cool to help prevent the nuts sticking together – although they will anyway. Don't fret: you can break them up later when you put your precious nuts in an airtight container to store. Keep them at room temperature, all the easier to snack upon.

nuts and bolts

Well, I think you know how I feel about retro recipes.*

So how about some nuts and bolts?

My mother-in-law made a big batch of these at Christmas and every time she put a bowl out, we'd dip in and keep coming back until, in very short order, the bowl was completely empty.

I don't think I should even contemplate how many I ate on our day trip down to Seattle . . . but let me tell you, they are a perfect car snack. They're not messy, but they're super tasty and you've got at least two food groups with all the cereals and peanuts.

My mother-in-law made them gluten-free and my husband was so pleased that I knew I'd have to repeat them again soon at home.

And you know what?

They're a cinch. Basically, just mix a bunch of cereal with some oil and spices and bake.

I couldn't resist sampling a few before they went in the oven and they were darn good, but what happened in the oven was magical. The bolts slowly crisped and transformed themselves from separate cereals into one golden, cohesive snack mix.

I know you might be skipping down to the recipe now and might be astonished by the amount of oil called for . . .

What can I say?

This is a retro snack. I actually cut the oil from two cups to one and a half and it still tasted great. And this recipe makes a tonne of nuts and bolts (think: two of your biggest Tupperware containers overflowing).

So I don't think there's very much oil per serving. And the oil is, I truly believe, essential to create that lovely, golden, crisp finish.

Just try it. All the cool retro kids are doing it.

* That would be very, very positive.

one year ago: pan de yuca (colombian tapioca cheese buns), carrot and fennel soup
two years ago: tomato sauce with onion and butter, lemon syllabub
three years ago: naomi's granola, rosemary gruyère baked eggs

nuts and bolts
this makes a lot of nuts and bolts – enough to fill an industrial-size cookie sheet
all of these cereals – Chex, Cheerios and pretzels – are available gluten-free  

1/2 – 3/4 box Chex*
1 box Cheerios
1 bag pretzels
1 1/2 c. neutral oil, such as grapeseed or canola
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. celery salt
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 can roasted, salted peanuts

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour the cereals onto an industrial-size cookie sheet, or even two if you don't like nuts and bolts escaping onto the counter as you carefully mix them.

Whisk the oil with the Worcestershire sauce, celery salt and garlic powder. Alternately pour and mix them with the cereal until it's all mixed in. Don't worry if some spices are hanging out at the bottom of the bowl. Just scrape them out and put them on the cereal. This is a very forgiving recipe.

Stir every 15 minutes or so and bake for a total of two hours. When cool, toss with peanuts and eat.

*I used three-quarters of a 365 g. box because I love Chex. But the original recipe called for half a box.