Pukkolla

I was watching The Naked Chef, and Jamie Oliver started making this interesting breakfast concoction. It seemed like a fairly basic and simple recipe to me, so I gave it a try. What made it even more convenient was that Oliver used natural measuring devices. There's no need for measuring cups and the like because he measures the ingredients by the handful.

Pukkolla is basically, as Oliver said, "a bastardized, personally composed muesli." You can make the composed cereal ahead of time. This will last for months in an airtight container.

My version is less expensive (though still a bit pricey). I substitute the organic Scottish porridge oats with rolled oats. I use oat bran or whatever bran I find for the the ground bran. The recipe requires some dried fruits. Oliver used apricots and dates. I used apricots and sultanas. Use whatever to your liking. For the extra nuts, Oliver suggests almonds, hazel nuts, or Brazil nuts.

Composed Cereal:

• 8 handfuls of rolled oats
• 2 handfuls of ground bran
• 2 handfuls of the chopped dried fruit
• 1 handful of crumbled walnuts
• 1 handful of smashed nuts

Pukkolla:

• Composed Cereal
• Milk
• washed, unpeeled, and grated Granny Smith apple
• optional: sugar to taste

Oliver's suggestion for smashing the nuts is by bashing them with a tea towel. I, being not British, have no tea towels. I just place the nuts in a plastic bag and smash them with any heavy kitchen utensil. They leave identical results. He likes this procedure better because it leaves both finely and coarsely ground nuts. Mechanical processors leave equally ground results.

A Granny Smith apple is basically a green apple. Portion half an apple per person. Once you plan to serve Pukkolla for breakfast, Oliver suggests that you leave the mixture in the fridge with the milk and grated apple already added to it overnight. Leaving it in the fridge will prevent the apple from discoloring and will give the muesli a "smooth, silky, scrumptious texture." Oliver merely suggests this, but I strongly insist that you do this. Eating it right after adding milk to it isn't really good. It tastes very woody, and the texture is quite rough. Please, leave it in milk overnight.

The original recipe does not have sugar, but if you have a sweet tooth, then you may want to add some.

Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

Elvis Presley used to eat 14 or 15 of these. It’s a famous Elvis favorite, but strangely enough, I got the recipe from Nigella Bites. It’s much simpler than Pukkolla and tastier for some people.

Ingredients:

• creamy peanut butter
• mashed banana
• sliced bread
• butter

Prepare the sandwich normally, using the peanut butter and mashed banana as spread. On a griddle or any other cooking pan, melt a dollop of butter. Brown both sides of the sandwich on the pan.

Enjoy!