Concept Cooking

I like reading recipes & watching others cook. But what I really love, is experimenting. Downside to that is doing something spectacular, and then trying to remember all the ingredients that went into that unique, one-of-a-kind batch. Sometimes NEVER to be recreated. I've tried to be better at documenting successful meals.

If you understand the concept behind a recipe--or the necessary elements, you can play! It is a little like understanding the chemicals and necessary textures/flavors/binders/heat requirements. That is a lot of variety, if you change something in a recipe, you need to balance it. You put in too much flour, you need more liquid. Or it is too wet, you can make pancakes or add more dry ingredients to turn batter back into muffins or cookies. I am still learning. And I think my lack of real recipe cooking has intimidated my children a little. How do you teach them to cook this way? Encourage them to experiment, and talk about what works, and what doesn't...

So, granola day. The concept for granola is to mix grains with a little fat, sugar, and liquid to bind it and cook it. One lady I know uses egg whites as a binder. No fat. Which is a great idea. I've been adjusting each time, trying to find perfect ratio of oats to nuts to bran to wheat germ to butter (YES!) and sweetness.

I do like the taste of butter. And brown sugar makes everything taste better...

This batch, I used 3/4 jar of raspberry jam in the liquid/sugar/fat mixture. Tasty, but the sesame seeds I added are too overpowering. And I could have used more raspberry flavor, omit the maple flavor from the syrup...next time!

Raspberry, coconut, pecan granola, coming to you via package soon!