A taste of New York

I recently returned from a trip to New York City. Despite the week of meetings I had planned, I made sure to leave time to eat my way through Manhattan (and some of Brooklyn). I asked everyone I knew for recommendations, and also went by my gut (both the instinctive and the grumbling).
I was pleasantly surprised by lunch at L'Express. I was a little disappointed with dinner at Bar Breton (although the company more than made up for that!) I had delicious chestnut soup at Little Giant, and stumbled upon a lovely salumeria on Amsterdam Ave.
There was one place that I loved so much that I had to bring it home with me. Local is a little cafe on Sullivan Street. I wandered in, desperate for coffee and looking for a quick bite to eat. After salivating over their delicious sandwiches I decided to order something they called "pukkolla." It sounded like a muesli of sorts, hearty with oats and bran and studded with dried apricots and apples. Mug of coffee in hand I dug into the pukkolla. It was delicious: the apples and apricots sweetened it slightly and the oats gave it a healthy heft. With a hard-boiled egg and Local's tasty coffee it was the perfect breakfast.
Once I got home I figured I could make my own version. The recipe follows below, although these are rough guidelines. Feel free to adjust and tweak. One note--it tastes best when soaked overnight, as time and memory allow, but is also delicious with a quick soak method too.
I have been enjoying this most mornings since my return, and since I also brought some of Local's Thompson Street coffee home too, it's almost like I'm there!

Local's Pukkolla

Ingredients
2 c. rolled oats
1/2 c. wheat bran
1/3 c. dried apricots, finely chopped
1/3 c. raw almonds, chopped

Apple, unpeeled but cored, finely grated
Milk to cover

Method
Combine oats, bran, apricots and almonds in large bowl. Toss to combine. Transfer to container with tightly fitting lid. This mixture will keep for about a month in your cupboard. The night before you'd like to eat your pukkolla, put about 2/3 c. of the oat mixture into a bowl. Grate in about 1/3-1/2 of your unpeeled apple and stir to combine with the oat mixture. Cover all of this with milk, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and pop into the fridge overnight. The resulting mixture is a cross between muesli and porridge, but is surprisingly refreshing.

Quick soak method
So you forgot to soak everything overnight. No problem! When you put your coffee on in the morning, pour 2/3 c. oat mixture into a bowl, grate in your apple and cover with milk. By the time that your coffee is brewed, the oats should have soaked up enough milk to be slightly tender.