A GOLDEN-ERA GRANOLA

Dreamy breakfast vibes from Olga Massov and Sanaë Lemoine's breakout new cookbook, Hot Sheet. (Trust me, it's hot.)

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Hello!

And, Happy April. This week, I read something about how April hits us squarely in the jaw, no longer at the beginning of the year, but not in the juicy middle part yet. It struck me that I’ve never given April much thought besides being my sweet Mama’s birthday month and the month I get to plant my garden (a ritual I’ve enjoyed since age 12). I’ve long since forgotten New Year’s resolutions, if I even made any (this year, I did not), but I am not yet set on summer plans.

This year, with newly minted big kids, living feels different than it’s ever been, and so far, April—still on spring break (me and the kids) but at this point holidaying at home—has a sense of quiet joy I’ve been craving for a decade. For years and years, we were the family always on the move or at work on something—a decade-plus of traveling, near-constant construction on our house (here or in Hungary), publishing books, hosting shoots, growing/birthing/raising kids, surviving covid, moving cities and moving schools. They’ve been rich, magical years, but hard-hitting and hard work nonetheless.

This year has so far felt slightly more settled. I miss holding little kids. I miss chubby thighs in my palms and meaty little hands wrapped around my neck (so much so that I cried about it in church on Easter Sunday). Yet, we’ve started into a new era that’s nice in its own ways: like watching TV for the first time as a family (my friend calls TV the modern-day fireplace, and for better or worse, she’s right), our nightly episodes of The Brady Brunch with legs draped over one another.

And then there’s breakfast. I’ve cooked a hot breakfast nearly every morning for all of my kids' lives. That’s not meant as a humble brag; I’m just a morning person, most optimistic before I’ve engaged with the rest of the world, and breakfast is the meal I love cooking more than any other. It was also a moment to control the outcome: what I put into my kids' bodies must certainly equal their (and, by extension, my) success in life, right? I’m sure some of you can relate.

But lately, I’ve leaned into new ease there, too—buying boxed cereal from time to time, lying in bed with a book for a few minutes, trusting them to make good choices, when I once lept up the minute I heard tiny feet. It’s a self-serve opportunity that helicopter (ish) parents can consider a small but much-needed break.

Granola offers this ease, too—with more elegance and far better ingredients.

Full disclosure: I rarely buy granola in the store. Most of it is too sugary, clumpy, and hard on teeth; I find it sits on our shelves for weeks. But homemade granola is a whole different story. There’s something golden and optimistic about waking up to a giant jar of homemade granola, especially when done right, like this one from the new book Hot Sheet by Olga Massov and Sanaë Lemoine.

There are two granola recipes in the book (pictured); both of them closely resemble how I make my own: with tons of nuts and seeds and absolutely loaded with vital nutrients. Olga calls hers birdseed granola, and that seems about right for April, when the birds flock back to our hard in droves waiting for the sweet nectar of flowers that are currently bursting forth. This granola is perfect for shoulder-season breakfasts when we’re tired of hot cereal and pastries but not ready for cold fruit bowls.

There’s something you should know about granola. It’s widely flexible and can be tweaked (within reason) to your liking. I don’t like dried cherries (which are too sweet/chewy for me in the morning), but I love fennel and seeds, so I may leave cherries out and use fresh fruit on top instead. You may want to omit coconut or borrow the pistachios or dried figs from Sanaë’s granola on the opposite page (pictured, top). You do you.

When you get an opportunity to share a recipe from a new book, I want it to be both a representation of the book's breadth and something you all (specifically you, my dear audience) will use and appreciate; it’s funny that of all the truly wonderful dinners within, I chose to share breakfast. It was hard (really HARD!) to pick just one recipe from Hot Sheet! Here are some others that caught my eye—for all times of the day:

Potato and Ricotta Galette, Roasted Shallots with Maple-Miso Butter, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Whipped Ricotta, Oven Milanese (pounded and dredged steaks) with Tomato Salad, Cauliflower Steaks with Parsley-Shallot Sauce….. to name a few. In the intro to Hot Sheets, my friend (and one of my first mentors)

Dorie Greenspan

writes:

If you’re new to sheet-pan cooking, start here—there’s no better place to begin your adventure. And if you’re a long-time fan, I think you’ll be as excited as I am to cook from Hot Sheet. The recipes are seductive, smart, and wildly imaginative—also practical and everyday doable.

This is just a baby toe dip into Hot Sheet cooking. Don’t get me started on the desserts in this book.

Jenny Rosenstrach

shared a peek of this genius Blackberry-Lemon Clafoutis a few of weeks ago, which would be brilliant on a Mother’s Day spread. You can also find their delicious recipe for caramelized bananas in Cup of Jo. But stunners like their XL Galette des Rois and Mille-Feuilles with Walnuts, Pistachio, and Cream are there if you want to go fancy.

As for me, school/work/sports start back up in two days; the golden era of ease may be short-lived, so I’ll take it for now.

xx

Sarah

This letter wouldn’t be possible without YOU! Thank you for being here and enormous thanks to all who choose to support my work with a paid subscription.

OLGA’S BIRDSEED GRANOLA WITH FENNEL AND DRIED CHERRIES

Excerpted from Hot Sheets

The list of ingredients below is long, but what makes this granola so good is that it has varying textures and a range of crunch. There are nuts, seeds, and grains, and the whole thing looks a bit like bird-seed, but in the best possible way. It’s also extremely forgiving: You can skip whatever you don’t have and use more of what you do. Swap out, say, quinoa for raw buckwheat groats—or use both!—for your preferred crunch. I add a little fennel seed to take my granola just a hint over to the savory side, but what I love the most about it is that it’s not too sweet, which is both better for your health and doesn’t obfuscate whatever you sprinkle the granola over. I like to add dried tart cherries at the end—that bright, tart note really makes the granola sing. Once you make it a few times, you may even stop measuring out the ingredients.

MAKES about 9 CUPS

3 cups (300 g) old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup (110 g) pecan pieces

1 cup (100 g) sliced almonds

1 cup (80 g) unsweetened coconut flakes

1/2 cup (70 g) sunflower seeds 1/2 cup (65 g) pumpkin seeds 1/4 cup (50 g) quinoa

1/4 cup (50 g) millet or amaranth seeds (optional)

1/4 cup (40 g) sesame seeds

(I do a mix of white and black) 3 tablespoons chia seeds

11/2 teaspoons fennel seeds 11/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 cup (100 g) coconut oil, melted (see Hot Tip!)

1/4 cup (60 ml) maple syrup

1/4 cup (55 g) packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup (75 g) dried tart cherries, dried sweet cherries, or dried cranberries (optional)

1. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 300°F (150°C). Line two half-sheet pans with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, toss together the oats, pecans, almonds, coconut flakes, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, quinoa, millet (if using), sesame seeds, chia seeds, fennel seeds, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg until combined. Add the oil, maple syrup, and brown sugar and stir well to coat. Divide the granola between the prepared half-sheet pans and spread in an even layer.

3. Bake for about 45 minutes, stirring once, switching racks, and rotating the pans from front to back halfway through baking. The granola will be done when the nuts and coconut flakes are a rich golden brown and smell fragrant. You may need to bake the granola for another 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how golden brown the oats look, but keep an eye on it because granola can burn quickly. Once it’s done to your liking, turn the oven off and let the granola continue to crisp up in the oven until fully cooled off.

4. Add the dried cherries to the granola and briefly stir to combine. Transfer the granola to an airtight container and store it at room temperature for up to 4 weeks.

COOK’S NOTE: Use a liquid measuring cup with a spout for melting coconut oil in the microwave, then once it’s added to the oat mixture, use the same cup to measure the maple syrup. Because the inside of the measuring cup will be oily, the syrup will slide right out—every drop!

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A NEW (BOOK) SHOP!!!

I share a lot of new books on my Instagram and a select few favorites in my letter here. It’s worth noting that I don’t think you need absolutely every book I share. I like to be a resource for what’s new, support my peers in the industry, and also continue to learn and grow in my own life in the kitchen. Sometimes, I share something that will appeal to a specific part of my audience but not others. That’s OK. But some—a rare few — fall into the useful to everyone category. Hot Sheet is such a book.

To that end, I’ve started a bookshop on Bookshop.org, one of the best places to buy books that supports small booksellers and authors simultaneously. If you choose to buy a book from my shop, EDIBLE LIVING, you can know these books are vetted by me and from authors I trust. It also gives me a small kickback (much smaller than if I owned a real bookshop). It’s a tiny drop in the bucket that keeps me and my work going, but I appreciate it deeply.

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Photos and recipe from HOT SHEET by Olga Massov and Sanaë Lemoine. Copyright © 2024 Olga Massov and Sanaë Lemoine. Reprinted by permission of Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.