Granola bars…or how to use up a can of condensed milk

Following our recent adventures in Vietnam, we naturally came home with large amounts of delicious Vietnamese highlands coffee and of course, the correct filter with which to make said coffee. Naturally, we had to make the experience completely authentic and serve it with condensed milk. That said, a can of condensed milk (397g) goes a VERY long way, considering you use barely a teaspoon or two per cup of coffee.

Faced with a jar of left-over condensed milk rattling around in the fridge for months, I went on the hunt for a good recipe for home-made granola bars. I had made granola bars using condensed milk before our trip to Ethiopia, not knowing that not only would we enjoy them, but so would 20 of our fellow stranded passengers (check out our post for that story). Unfortunately I couldn’t remember where I found that recipe, until C reminded me that it came from Nigella, the domestic goddess herself, from her cookbook, Nigella Express.

What else do you do on a rainy Sunday afternoon, but use up your left-over condensed milk and make some lovely granola bars that are free from all the preservatives and E-numbers of store-bought bars? These are easy to make and even easier to eat. Here’s the recipe, with some modifications. (Apologies to those without weighing scales – I only have the ingredients listed in grams not cups.)

Granola Bars (from Nigella with modifications)

1 can (397g) condensed milk

250g oats (not quick cooking) or a mix of oats and barley flakes

75g unsweetened dessicated coconut

100g dried cranberries or other dried fruit

125g mixed seeds – pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, flax, etc.

125g nuts (peanuts, walnuts, pecans) OR chocolate chips, or anything to make up the same quantity

Preheat the oven to 130C/260F. Grease a large rectangular (13″x9″/33cmx22cm) baking pan.

Warm the condensed milk in a pan over medium-low heat.

In a large bowl, mix together the other ingredients. Add the condensed milk and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula. Empty into the pan and press down firmly. Bake for about an hour. Remove from the oven, let it rest for 15 minutes, then cut into 16 bars (or smaller if you want).

This recipe is quite forgiving, and you can add anything you want, as long as you keep the quantities roughly the same. You can also use a few tablespoons of the condensed milk for your Vietnamese coffee before you make the granola bars!

Duck in orange juice with star anise

Inspired by Rick Stein’s and our own recent far eastern odysseys, we decided to give this recipe a try. It’s super easy, and a good recipe to try out on your friends if you like duck, but are apprehensive about preparing it yourself. The original calls for a whole duck cut up into portions, but if you want a smaller quantity, you can use duck legs and halve the recipe (as below). You could also use duck breasts, but in that case, I would sear them in a pan, finish them in the oven and prepare the sauce separately so you don’t overcook them.

Ingredients:

2 duck legs, thigh and drumstick separated

1/2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1.5 cm root ginger, peeled and sliced thinly into spears

2 spring onions, cut into 4cm lengths

3 star anise

2 chillies, sliced with seeds in

1 stalk lemon grass, bruised

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 cup orange juice (or juice from two oranges)

1/2 tbsp palm sugar

1.5 tbsp cornstarch

Sear the duck legs in a hot pan or wok, skin-side down to render off most of the fat. Once the skin is golden brown, drain off all but a tablespoon of the fat. Add the garlic and ginger and stir for a few seconds, before adding the orange juice, star anise, chillies, lemon grass, palm sugar, and some black pepper. Stir well, add the spring and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes until the duck is cooked. Dissolve the cornstarch in a little water and add to the sauce to thicken.

Add some chopped coriander for garnish and serve with some plain white rice and vegetables of your choice.

Duck leg in orange juice with star anise

In praise of markets

We are sure it is obvious to anyone reading this blog that our interest in food borders on the obsessive. We love cooking, eating (of course), tasting new things, exploring culinary traditions from around the world, and our cookbook collection is ever-growing with no end in sight.

It should come as no surprise, then, that we are self-professed market fiends. No matter where we go, our first port of call is the market, be it big, small, obscure, or the biggest tourist-trap for miles. We don’t discriminate either – we are just as happy with markets selling fresh produce as we are with markets filled with odd souvenirs and piles of plastic shoes made in China. From Vienna to Dusseldorf, as close to home as Twickenham, and as far-flung as the excellent weekly market in Lalibela, Ethiopia (complete with a ‘parking lot’ for donkeys), we’ve made it our mission to see as many markets in as many countries as possible. Markets provide a wonderful insight into the local culture and daily life outside what the guidebooks tell you.

Columbia Road flower market - London

Naschmarkt - Vienna

Weekly market - Lalibela, Ethiopia

We were in market heaven in Vietnam. We found ourselves being drawn back over and over again to the same markets, wanting to see them at different times of day, and making sure we hadn’t missed a single corner. Our first encounter with Vietnamese markets was the big and bustling Ben Thanh market in Ho Chi Minh City. A market with multiple personalities, Ben Thanh has something for all tastes. The covered stalls entice you away from the heat and scooter fumes into a huge dimly-lit space crowded with stalls selling T-shirts with Uncle Ho or the ubiquitous yellow star on a red background (yours for only $1!) or a mind-boggling array of souvenirs for friends and family back home. Poke around a bit more, and you’re sure to find war memorabilia, although the authenticity may be suspect. In the centre, food stalls abound, with all manner of Vietnamese delights – freshly squeezed juice, pho (noodles in broth), spring rolls…At night, the outdoor perimeter of the market comes alive with food stalls crowded with plastic tables and chairs. Vendors try to encourage you to pick their ‘restaurant’ for your evening meal, and it’s difficult to decide where to spend your money. Slightly further out, you’ll find fruit stalls, mobile juice vans and portable carts selling a rainbow of cooked rice.

One of the many food stalls at Ben Thanh market

We were equally delighted by the market in Hoi An, which was a respite from the overwhelming number of tailors and shops selling tourist schmaltz. It’s easy to lose yourself in the densely packed stalls selling a dizzying array of fresh vegetables – lettuces, herbs (more varieties of basil than we’d ever seen before), tomatoes, onions, garlic, fresh turmeric and tamarind. Piles of beautiful fruit were everywhere – the beautiful yet bizarre dragon fruit, more than five varieties of oranges, pomelos as big as basketballs, custard apples, sapodillas (or chicoos, as I know them), longan, durian, jackfruit, guavas, and Vietnamese apples. The ‘department of fish’ is not for the squeamish. Fisherwomen, who sell the catch their husbands bring in each morning, sit behind baskets of still-jumpy shrimp, huge prawns, tilapia, and snapper, while the ground around them is covered in fish guts and blood. It’s worth the dirty shoes to see these women bantering with customers while smoking very large cigarettes.

Selling fish in Hoi An

The market in Hue seemed larger than the one in Hoi An, and more organized into distinct sections. We went in search of the famous Hue poem hats, which are like the traditional Vietnamese conical hats, but when held up to the light, you see images of sights around Hue or poems. After the requisite bargaining for our two hats, we soon got lost in the maze of fruits, vegetables, fresh meat (again, not for the squeamish!) and piles of rice noodles, rice paper wrappers, and sacks of rice.

Baskets of lentils at the market in Hue

Our only disappointment came in Hanoi. We went in search of two markets mentioned in our guidebook. One, supposedly in an alley between two major streets seems to have vanished, and the other was a hole in the ground, sadly demolished to make way for a glass and concrete monstrosity. The only remnant of anything market-like was the doner kebab stand, very grandly named the Goethe Café! That said, the entire old quarter in Hanoi was like one big market, where every small street specialized in one certain product. Shoes, coffee, mattresses, tombstones…anything you would ever need seemed to be within easy reach.

Spending a few hours in a market is an excellent way to build up an appetite, and we certainly did our fair share of sampling all that Vietnam had to offer on a plate. Stay tuned for more of our culinary adventures!