During our time in Liechtenstein, we had a picnic lunch where I tried Bircher Müesli for the first time ever. Joel said that the grocery store Bircher Müesli is “no good”. “Homemade is BEST!!” So last night, Joel graciously agreed to give us a Swiss cooking lesson on Bircher Müesli. First stop was grocery shopping during Joel’s lunch hour to get all the proper ingredients. Now let the Swiss cooking lesson begin. Well, actually, there is no cooking involved. Just a lot of grating, cutting and stirring. He was right. HOMEMADE IS BEST!! The best part: all 5 of us worked together to create this fantastic meal.
So what is Bircher Müesli anyway? It is basically an all natural summer meal with ingredients of yogurt, milk, fruits, and oats with the main ingredient being apples. The secret is the special bircher affel grater. It looks like a cheese grater, but the divots are bent in the middle and they go both directions. Why is it called Bircher Müesli? It is named after the man who invented the grater – Dr. Bircher. This dish is served as a main meal with bread and butter. YUM!! Awesome summer meal! Thanks Joel for sharing yet another Swiss experience with us.
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- Joel choosing the perfect bread to be served with the Bircher Müesli
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- Words of wisdom from Joel: "I think we need 2 boxes of raspberries".
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- Words of wisdom from Joel: "The bigger the apples, the better!!"
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- Words of wisdom from Joel: "Don't forget the ground and whole hazelnuts."
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- Words of wisdom from Joel: "And the oats. Nothing with sugar...just OATS!"
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- Joel sent me home with directions to get this recipe started. Take 3/4 of the yogurt, 3/4 of the oats and 1/2 container of milk. Mix and put in the fridge until tonight.
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- Joel demonstrating to Aaron how to properly grate an apple with the Bircher grater.
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- Katelyn preparing the lemon.
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- Katelyn was a bit sad to see the lemon "naked". Sure did smell good after it was zested.
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- Zach making whipped cream from scratch!
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- Joel stirring in the raspberries I smashed. Raspberries give it the pretty red/pink color.
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- Joel taking a turn at the apple grater. Your arm gets tired grating 6 large apples, so the guys all took turns.
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- The finished meal: Bircher Müesli with cream dollops topped with whole hazelnuts.
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- That was just a serving for Zach, right? (Note the spoon) The bowl actually doesn't look that big in the photo.
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- A close up of pure yumminess.
The trick to serve this is to keep the dollops of cream on the top for beautiful presentation to the one being served. I failed the first scoop, but mastered it with a different spoon after that.
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[…] native to Switzerland, Joel. He helped us immerse in the culture, led us on many hikes, taught us Swiss recipes, and shared many stories and experiences. Joel visited us recently at our home in Minnesota, […]