How to Cook Perfect Oatmeal

[HazelStone]

So...I've never been much of a breakfast person. Most "normal" breakfast foods are simple starches, which just made me hungrier later. Cheerios, instant oats, pancakes...crash. I don't tolerate eggs very well. When I just fix a sandwich or nuke leftover pizza, that works well... pre-coffee everything better be quick and easy.

 

A few years ago I "discovered" steel cut oats. They stuck with me better but are not always very appealing in texture. I've subscribed to Cook's Illustrated to help get out of a kitchen rut, and came across this:

 

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/PerfectCookedOatmeal.htm

 

(found a link for the recipe that wasn't behind a paywall). It is very good! I can even get my husband to willingly eat it. The main idea is to toast the steel cut oats in a bit of butter (or coconut oil works too) before setting it to simmer. And it sticks with you, too.

[Mt_Rider]

Mmmmm, that does sound interesting. I have whole oat groats so I wonder if I have to chop them to get 'oatmeal'?

 

But that step of toasting the grain....

 

Our favorite additive is chopped walnuts and chopped Granny Smith dumped in while the water [milk] is getting hot....so they soften and the apples give up some juice. Add cinnamon, of course. Breakfast cobbler!

 

 

MtRider

Edited January 14, 2014 by Mt_Rider

[Sarah]

Perhaps I can toss one in here for additives.

 

One of my little ones halves a bullion cube into the milk. She likes hers soupy. And sunflower nuts for some crunch.

 

My other one says 'yuck!', but sometimes uses craisins.

 

Sarah

[Mt_Rider]

I love craisins in a lot of things....esp. turkey cold salad with apples, celery, etc. or in hot turkey [can't do chicken] casseroles. A bit of sweet tang.

 

Soupy oatmeal? That's a new one. Savory instead of sweet. Hmmm....

 

 

MtRider ....oatmeal craisin cookies with chocolate chips?

[Gunplumber]

I'm thinking of a couple things here - rice seems to cook faster if it is "fried" in butter first. And cofee beans go through a chemical change at roasting.

 

It would be interesting to compare cooking times of oats that are fried (sauteed?) first, versus simply boiled.

[Mt_Rider]

GP....you mean you "fry" the raw grains of rice....then cook as usual? Never heard of that but I'd like to try it.

 

Any easy way to get taste variety with staple foods might ward off food fatigue....or just be tasty!

 

Dry toasting in a cast iron pan changes taste....enhances taste. Like sesame seeds, for example. [staple in Korean seasoning] Just don't burn the tiny things!

 

Malt is made from toasting sprouted grain [barley, whatever] ...right?

 

 

Haven't tried this yet with my oat groats.

 

MtRider

[Homesteader]

When we lived in Scotland we combined pinhead oats with oatmeal. It was more 'stick to the ribs' meal for those cold and damp years. I've never looked for them back in the States.

[Gunplumber]

Well the little boxes of Rice-a Roni, which are a mix of rice and rice sized pasta, say to brown it first in butter. I've used olive oil or bacon fat as well, each with a different smoke point, but that's another subject.

 

so I was doing brown rice, and the recipe said to do the same thing. So I'm wondering on rice that hasn't been "polished" like traditional American rice, if this cracks the outer layer and allows it to cook faster.

 

Something else I like to do is to drain canned corn really well, and cook it on cast iron (I use almost exclusively cast iron) so that it browns or even chars here and there, and then mix it in with the rice (and some rinsed black beans too).

 

I googled it, and apparently there are two versions. "Toasted" is dry, and also called toasted, but really should be sauteed (?) is in oil. There are a variety of ways of doing it, from the white turning slightly opaque, to light tan, to brown, to a few chars.

 

I think the style goes well with BBQ, and will sometimes "burn" vegis around the edges on my gas stove, especially peppers going into salsa.