Starting the New Year Right

Oatmeal's not very photogenic. That's not the point of any porridge. I guess.

I never liked oatmeal growing up. Unless it was mixed with brown sugar and on top of apple crisp, then I loved it. But the rest of the time, not so much.

Home over Christmas I had some and remembered why. The quick cook oats have the texture all wrong. I want the chewy oats. Most oatmeal days are rolled oats with a layer of berries, pour on some boiling water. Let sit in toaster oven for a few minutes so cinnamon sugar can caramelize. But for special days I've graduated to steel cut oats.


Grown up Oatmeal

Basic Skeleton of the Recipe from Alton Brown and the Food Network. But really, dress it up. Make it an occasion.

Bit of butter
1 part steel cut oatmeal
3 parts water
1 part milk
 Add-ins

Following Alton, I melt the butter and toast the oatmeal for a few minutes. (Might as well since the water needs to come up to a boil.) Pour in the water and let it simmer for 25 minutes. Do the dishes from last night or something.


Add the the milk (today a cup of skim, often a mixture of buttermilk and skim), I stir in a Tablespoon of brown sugar, a dash of cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg, and a pinch of salt. Today I added a handful of raisins. Some crumbled walnuts. Frozen blackberries and raspberries. (Frozen blueberries are picked out of the Target mix fruit bag to save for muffin making.)

Simmer some more until the liquids are mostly absorbed, today it took 14 minutes.

 Curl up with the bowl and enjoy.