Last week I tried an experiment in Liveblogging that didn’t really work. I was really just fooling around, having some fun with my phone, but I can see why seeing pictures of bread arriving at a lunch table isn’t the most exciting thing in the world. Today, though, I bring you a different take on the same concept: a post about something I just made and ate. This all happened moments before I clicked “Add New Post” so I literally still have the taste in my mouth and can describe it to you in vivid detail. Are you ready?
The taste in my mouth is the taste of muesli. What is muesli? Up until today, I asked myself the same question. I knew it was some combination of oats and milk and yogurt and that it was cold. What I didn’t know was that it’s basically just oatmeal that you make without a pot (and without heat) so nothing really gets dirty. You can do everything in one bowl.
Riffing on a recipe I found on Food52, I started with 1/2 cup oats and a sprinkling of golden raisins.
To that, I added almost 1/2 cup of whole milk (slightly less).
Stirred that together and walked away for THIRTY MINUTES. During those 30 minutes I made tea, answered e-mail, and read posts on Google Reader which is going away soon and nobody knows how to handle it.
30 minutes later, my muesli looked like this:
At this point, I was wary about whether the oats had really softened enough to be edible. But they had! This is the oatmeal equivalent of cold-brewed iced coffee. With that, you can make coffee without a coffee maker; with this, you can make oatmeal without a pot.
Now you add some Greek yogurt (a big spoonful):
Grated apple:
Stir that all together. Now I was supposed to add honey but I forgot that part so my muesli wasn’t especially sweet. You can also add lemon juice here but I found it tangy enough. One ingredient I added, though, that pepped things up a bit was flaky sea salt. Just a pinch.
At the very end you top your muesli with toasted almond slices:
And that’s a breakfast fit for a king.
Really, I can imagine myself making this often. Next time, I think I’ll skip the grated apple (it was messy and didn’t really add that much) and I’ll definitely add the honey.
Now it’s time to wash the bowl because THIS REALLY JUST HAPPENED. Food blog posts don’t come fresher than this.
I’m surprised you guys don’t have muesli so much in the US! It’s very common here in Europe. The swiss especially love it and “birchermuesli” is very common, often with apple and cinnamon but it’s pretty varied.
My mom used to make this for me, but she always added a mashed banana as well as a lot of grated apple. I can’t imagine it without the fruit. Have fun with your new breakfast!
I know it ruins the alliteration, but that’s Bircher muesli. What I call (bog-standard) “muesli” is more granola-esque, and doesn’t include a soaking step. You do make the bircher muesli sound delicious though!
I make Bircher muesli in large quantities (4-6 servings) and store it in the fridge. All I have to do is add the apple and almonds and I’m goo to go. I use yogurt and no milk.
Grated apple sounds like a great addition! I’ll have to try that next time. :)
I love museli. I sometimes just add yogurt to oats and let it sit overnight, the next morning the oats are “cooked”, to that I grate apples and add a bunch of nuts and seeds. It’s delicious. I made a big bowl of the oats/yogurt mixture so that I have it handy in the morning.
I’ve been so into muesli lately! Swiss Bakers in Boston has a great recipe that uses lots of raspberries, grated apple, and sunflowers seeds. I should really recreate it at home.
I love muesli – it’s the perfect camp breakfast! Mix a big batch and divide it up amongst enough Mason jars for the number of people and breakfasts, stick it in the cooler, and add crunchy fixings in the morning! I also loved Google Reader and am sad to see it go. I’ve already switched to The Old Reader (where I get your blog now!) since it is most like Google Reader.
When I lived in DC I would go out of my way before work to get Bircher muesli at this one particular Swiss-style cafe. It was SO delicious I asked how it was made. They soaked it overnight in half and half with sliced dried apricot and almond slivers, (not the slices), then sprinkled raisins, cantaloupe and halved green grapes on it before serving. The overnight soak made it reallly creamy, and the green grapes and crunchy almonds made it, imo.
Love muesli.
It’s great with chia seeds, too — they provide a really fun crunch. True, this is pretty much the only use I’ve ever had for chia seeds, but it’s so worth it! (It’s also great refrigerated overnight with fresh berries, though the oatmeal can get a touch soggier that way.)
Try good quality applesauce instead of grating apples – the best applesauce is homemade of course but if you don’t have that look for High J Orchards Chunky Applesauce – most of the Whole Foods South Cal stores stock it, or you can Google and find website…