Welcome the new year and your dieting resolutions with a healthy and flavor-packed take on a breakfast staple.
By Chantal Rice, Photo courtesy of Van Huffel Photography
Austin foodies buzzed with delight, happy to welcome Guild when it opened recently on North Lamar Boulevard. The progressive American seafood restaurant is a concept from Chameleon Companies, the hospitality group behind Austin darlings Swift’s Attic and Wu Chow. Partner and Head Chef Sterling Ridings, who possesses a passion for innovative cuisine and a French-rooted, Japanese-influenced style, leads the Guild culinary team, which also includes several acclaimed female chefs. And while the Rosedale neighborhood eatery has become beloved in a short time for its gorgeously plated and exquisitely delicious seafood dishes and seasonal vegetables, this coastal- inspired upscale eatery is also gaining a devoted brunch following each Sunday.
A brunch favorite, Guild’s curried granola, served at the restaurant with peanut-butter custard, vanilla yogurt and fresh berries, is a simple yet healthy dish that imparts tons of flavor, in particular from Madras curry, which is often used in more savory recipes but pairs alluringly well with sweeter ingredients.
“The aromatics of the Madras play exceptionally well off of the sweetness of the lightly candied peanuts and the coconut, to the earthiness of the oats and pumpkin seeds,” Ridings says. “These big flavors are balanced out with some fresh lime zest, which provides the illusion of acidity. For the sweetness, I prefer to use a light- brown sugar. It provides a hint of molasses that plays the perfect foil to the spices in the curry, such as cumin and fenugreek.”
Curried Granola
Ingredients
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium-sized lime, zested
1/2 cup light-brown sugar, firmly packed 1 teaspoon Madras curry powder
3/4 cup peanuts
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Mix together the oats, coconut, salt and oil. Place the mixture on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and toast it in the oven for 20 minutes, stirring the mixture halfway through.
2. Once the mixture is toasted, reduce the temperature of the oven to 300 degrees.
3. Combine the oat mixture with the remaining ingredients.
4. Bake it all at 300 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes.
5. Remove the mixture from the oven, cool it to room temperature then enjoy the curried granola alongside yogurt and fresh fruit or as a healthy snack on its own. Store any leftovers in an airtight container.