A new year, a new beginning: Bircher Müsli

 It's been a little bit (read: 13 years) since I last added to my cooking blog, and with the new year, it's time to keep going. 

One of my favorite things I've discovered is Bircher Müsli, a Swiss oat-based breakfast dish. Ironically, I first discovered it on a cruise I took a long while ago with Norwegian, and once I found it in their breakfast buffet, I had it every morning. It had so much that I loved about breakfast - soft oats, ripe fruit, zesty yogurt, and crunchy nuts - all in one sumptuous dish. Only recently, when a craving for Bircher Müsli hit, did I realize I should probably find a recipe that would work for me. I discovered a delicious recipe from Steffis Foodblog, Gaumenfreundin, which needed some translation into English. 

Bircher Müsli
Steffi

150 grams steel-cut oats (for best results, use the old-fashioned oats rather than instant)
300 millileters milk
2 small apples (I usually use Gala or something similar)
1/3 cup nuts (I usually use walnuts or pecans, whatever is your favorite)
200 grams Greek yogurt
2 teaspoons lemon juice (fresh-squeezed is best)
2 teaspoons honey
cinnamon

The night before, mix the oats with the milk and set in the refrigerator. The next morning, they will be ready for the rest of the ingredients. 

Wash the apples with hot water and soap to remove the wax coating. Use a shredder to finely shred the two apples, peel and all, and mix with the lemon juice. Coarsely chop the nuts. Mix all together, and serve!

I find the recipe will supply enough food for a few days, so prepare to have seconds of this delicious Swiss dish!

Breakfast Rolls (aka Monkey Bread)

Growing up, we used to have these awesome breakfast rolls every once in a while, especially around Christmas and Thanksgiving time. When I found out how easy they were to make, I immediately ran out and bought a bundt pan (just saying bundt reminds me of My Big Fat Greek Wedding). You have to start these rolls the night before, but they're really easy to finish the next morning.

Breakfast Rolls
a Jones family recipe

18 frozen roll dough (I use Rhodes rolls)
1/2 packet of the small box of cook-and-serve butterscotch pudding (MAKE SURE it's cook-and-serve, NOT instant)
1/2 cup-1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (again, please don't use margarine)

That's the ingredient list. And it's easy to prepare. The night before, put the chopped walnuts in the bottom of the bundt pan, and place the frozen rolls evenly on top of the nuts. Sprinkle the butterscotch pudding on top of the dough. In a saucepan, melt the butter, and add the brown sugar to it, whisking until its completely combined into a syrup. The butter will resist combining, but you need to have a smooth syrup or it'll separate in the bundt pan. After it's in a syrup, pour over the frozen rolls.

Let the dough rise overnight. The next morning, when the rolls are big and puffy, heat the oven to 350, and bake for about 25 minutes, until the rolls are deep golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. When it's removed from the oven, take a serving dish (let's be honest, most of us will use a big plate), and put on top of the bundt pan; flip it immediately over. If it cools in the pan, it'll be hard to get out, so you want to do that right after taking it out of the oven. Enjoy!