Pan-fried Oatmeal

Eating healthy can be likened to a journey. One discovers new and inspiring things along the way. This morning as I sat at the dining table reading and enjoying my morning coffee, the thought of breakfast popped into my mind. I’ve been on an oatmeal kick lately but being that it was the weekend, I wanted something a bit more decadent and my regular oatmeal sounded boring. 

Pancakes or waffles sounded more like weekend breakfast but I really wanted to maintain my healthy breakfast streak. Then the idea came to me to use oatmeal instead of regular flour. I would simply grind up the oats in my food processor and sub the “flour” for regular flour. It would be a breakfast adventure. It would still be my regular oatmeal, just doctored up a bit and pan-fried. That sounded decadent enough to appease my weekend breakfast yearning. 

Recipe adapted from this one found on Pinterest: 

Ingredients: 

3/4 cup oat flour (approximately 1 heaping cup of regular oats, ground in a food processor or blender)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

2 eggs

1/3 cup milk (I used almond milk)

2 tablespoons agave syrup 

1 teaspoon vanilla

Butter for griddle

Raspberry jam (or other fruit jam of choice)

100% pure maple syrup

Directions:

In a bowl, whisk dry ingredients 

In a separate bowl add wet ingredients and whisk lightly to combine

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Adjust mixture with more flour or milk to reach desired consistency, one tablespoon at a time.

Place skillet over medium heat and add a couple of tablespoons of butter. Once the butter has stopped sizzling, ladle 1/4 cup of batter for each oatcake. Pan-fry on each side approximately 3-4 minutes. Repeat until batter is gone. Makes approximately 6 medium-sized oatcakes.

Serve with equal parts raspberry jam and maple syrup, blended together and heated.

They turned out delicious! 

The pan-fried oatmeal cakes were slightly more dry than regular pancakes, possibly due to the lack of a fat or oil used in the recipe, but topped with the raspberry jam and maple syrup they hit the spot. 

The Greasy Spoon

Along a lone street on Södermalm lies a quaint, little restaurant called The Greasy Spoon. This lovely little gem serves English-styled breakfast and, in my opinion, the best breakfast in Stockholm, that I’ve had so far that is. For such a small, somewhat hole-in-the-wall, The Greasy Spoon is big on flavor and options. My breakfast partner in crime tried the Full Veggie and a pot of English tea while I chose the Scottish Pancakes, with option 1. blueberries and mascarpone, and a freshly-squeezed, grapefruit juice. 

I had eyed the pancakes as they were delivered to tables as we waited and at first I thought the scoop of unwavering cream was, in fact, ice cream. When I discovered that it was actually mascarpone I thought it was perhaps a bit overkill. It was a huge ball balanced atop the stack of pancakes. The English apparently know what they are doing however as it was actually the perfect amount of cream to compliment the blueberries and 'cakes.

And freshly-squeezed, grapefruit juice? I was in heaven. They also serve freshly-sqeezed orange juice and both are served with ice unless you request it without. The doors open at 7:30 am Monday-Friday and at 9:00 am on the weekends. My recommendation is to get there as close to 9:00 am as possible to avoid a long wait. I am not sure what their rules are on booking tables in advance but I do know that there was a party of 6 reserved at the front window table when we arrived, so large party bookings are a possibility.

So, if you find that you are in the mood for a tasty breakfast out this week, I highly recommend The Greasy Spoon. There was a yummy breakfast polenta that caught my eye, as well as a few other tasty-looking options that I would like to try, so I am sure I will be back in the near future. 

Maybe I will see you there?

Breakfast Popsicles

Yes, you read that correctly. Breakfast popsicles! How can you justify that? Easy. It is merely frozen juice. Healthy, frozen, fruit juice. How can you not justify it? Created out of necessity (it was HOT), and the fact that there was nothing else in the apartment to experiment with, juice popsicles happened. We discovered that our favorite juice flavor makes the most delicious, thirst-quenching popsicles and an award-winning, summer breakfast. 

The juice flavor, if you are wondering, is Brämhults "Blåbär och svarta vinbär,” which translates as "blueberries and black currants." So tasty! If you live in Sweden, you are in luck as it is readily available. My only wish if you do not live in Sweden is that you can find something similar. However, I would think any juice would be delicious (pomegranate blueberry, orange strawberry, apple, etc.). If you already have a favorite flavor in mind even better.

You don’t have to limit yourself to juice however. The other day I made a batch with Turkish yogurt, honey, and roasted rhubarb. I just stirred all of the ingredients together, spooned the mixture into the popsicle molds, and send those babies to the freezer. You could even blend a combination of juice and fruit in your blender first to puree it a bit, or a lot depending on how chunky you want the end result. And since you are enjoying these for breakfast on hot, summer days, I would think the more imaginative the better. I personally would not recommend bacon but if that's your thing, go for it. 

Instructions:

Your favorite juice/yogurt honey fruit combo + Popsicle mold + Freezer = Breakfast popsicles. 

You are welcome.

Ps. You can eat these any time of day, but doesn't the thought of having popsicles for breakfast feel a bit luxurious? Plus, your kids will think you are the coolest ever.

Weekend Breakfast

A quiet Sunday morning. You awaken and make your way down to the kitchen. Make a couple of cups of coffee. One for yourself and one for your husband. You feed and pet the kitty, then hand-deliver coffee to the husband. Spoiled. Perhaps, but totally deserved.

You then settle in at your desk to enjoy your coffee and morning ritual of sitting in front of the computer and discovering what happened on the Internet in the mere eight hours you were asleep. Suddenly the coffee cup is empty. Not too much later the stomach starts to growl. So back to the kitchen you go.

What's it going to be? Often on the weekends, a more extravagant breakfast tempts you. Scrambled eggs with beans and toast, American pancakes with bananas or berries and maple syrup, or breakfast tacos maybe? Today however, simplicity calls.

Whole oats are soaked in almond milk, then topped with fresh blueberries, a dollop of Greek yogurt, and finally, a drizzle of agave syrup. A perfect start to the morning. A new weekend breakfast ritual created.

What is your favorite weekend breakfast? Do you have a tried and true morning breakfast ritual?

Winter Breakfast

"Did you add salt?" He always asks me that when I make the oatmeal. I never cooked oatmeal with salt before we met. Salt is for savory food and oatmeal is a sweet, breakfast food, right? Okay, technically oatmeal is not sweet at all but you'll never catch me eating it plain or without some sort of sweet addition. And though I never would normally add salt to oatmeal, now I find my hand uncontrollably hovering over the salt bowl for a pinch to toss into the oatmeal as it cooks. 

There are still days that I forget and cook it without salt but nowadays, most times you'll find just a hint of salt flavor mixed in with my butter and brown sugar, or fruit topping. The tiny hint of salt provides a more rounded flavor and when I think about it, most chocolate chip cookie recipes that I've come across call for a little salt. 

A few combinations of things that you could find adorning my oatmeal:

- Fresh blueberries, walnut halves, butter, brown sugar and milk

- A light sprinkling of homemade granola, with sliced bananas & milk

- A BIG dollop of fresh “fruktkräm" and milk. Fruktkräm is a homemade Swedish jam made with any leftover berries and fruits, that are slightly passed their freshness but not quite ready for the compost, with a little added sugar and potato flour for thickener. So delicious!

... or one of my new favorites...

- Sliced bananas and a tablespoon or two of ground cinnamon cooked in with the 

  oatmeal that is then topped with a dusting of brown sugar and a heavy pour of milk. 

 Complete with a lovely cappuccino...

Good to the last spoonful...

And if I'm feeling especially inspired... 

baked oatmeal with bananas, blueberries, milk, eggs and a touch of sugar, cinnamon and pecans...

What favorite toppings or flavors adorn your oatmeal?