How Do YOU Make Oatmeal?

[eskay]

Oooh lemon/lime oatmeal. Definitely going to have to try that soon.

[Jensen]

Except for the occasional substitution of Sriracha. Hey, some mornings are like that.

Soo... I don't have to feel silly that one day a couple of weeks ago when we had a cool snap, I made my oatmeal with curry powder & brown sugar? Next time I'll take achevres' tip and sprinkle that with toasted coconut... mmm.

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Heh. No need to feel silly at all. I think porridge is great with soy sauce or a really hot salsa. Mmmmmm.

ETA: has anyone tried putting toast dope on their porridge?

Edited September 25, 2007 by Jensen (log)

[slkinsey]

Steel cut oats. Toast in a heavy copper saucepan until lightly browned. Add water at around 4:1 by volume. Bring to boil. Heavy pinch of salt! Simmer half-covered at lowest possible setting until thick, stirring occasionally. When ready, turn off heat and stir in medium knob of butter. Eat with a touch of brown sugar.

[DanaG]

Mmmm...oatmeal...love it! One of my favorite breakfasts of all time.

I'm a huge fan of toasting steel-cut oats in a pan first, then cooking them up in a 50/50 ratio of water and milk. I top it of with a splash of milk (or half and half..) and brown sugar. Toasting the oats really brings out the nutty flavor.

Another favorite of mine is "Scottish" style oatmeal, which is really more like porridge. Bob's Red Mill makes a good version. I love it with a splash of milk or half and half and a little brown sugar or maple syrup.

[blurby]

I like savory oatmeal but I've never found anyone else who has a similar taste. This is my general method:

Boil a mixture of 1/2C water and 1/2C milk

Add 2/3 C of thick rolled oats (bulk at whole foods)

Turn burner to low, cover, and simmer for 8 minutes

Add 1 tsp butter and 1/8+ tsp salt

Stir to incorporate, cover, and simmer 2 more minutes

Dish out, top with fresh ground pepper and shredded parmesian cheese.

[Syrah]

I'm a bad foodie... I use old fashioned oats, or McCann's instant and make them in the microwave.

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If you are, I am too. I make it at work, so the microwave is really the only option.

I do like adding dried fruit and a little honey, but I recently tried a few torn up dates added to the mixture before cooking. Comes out delicious.

[Katie Meadow]

I love Hamlyn's Pinhead steel cut oats from Scotland. They seem to cook a bit faster than McCanns...perhaps the cut is finer? The cooking instructions on the can are completely bizarre, so I don't follow them; the oats would be practically raw in the time they allow. My way: for 2 portions bring to a boil 3 cups water with a pinch of salt, add 2/3 c oats and turn down to a modest heat. Simmer 20-25 minutes or to taste, stirring well toward the end. I find 20 minutes is good, then I turn off the flame, cover and let sit a few more minutes.

Of course I'm attached to the can, too, with the Hay clan tartan and the somewhat off-kilter (sorry!) implication that there's a relationship between the Hay clan and this oatmeal, without saying what exactly it is, other than the name of Hay.

I like it with butter, maple syrup and/or sometimes molasses, a splash of cold half & half and maybe peaches or berries.

It never crossed my mind to look for steel cut oats at TJ's, but I will definitely try that, since yes, imported canned oats are pricey.

[Sony]

Growing up, I never had oatmeal cooked in water- always 100% milk as the cooking liquid.

My latest variations:

-adding extracts beyond vanilla (a drop of almond extract + a small swirl of raspberry jam is SO good)

-subbing a bit of the milk with coconut milk (achevres, I'm going to add cinnamon and citrus peel next time- genius!)

-caramelized bananas on top (decadent enough to be a dessert!)

[nakedsushi]

I grew up having savory oatmeal that my mom would make. I think my mom always figured that oatmeal was American porridge. It wasn't until I was in college that I realized that people eat this stuff sweet (yuck!)

My mom's "oatmeal" recipe:

Quaker Oats (in the cardboard cylinder)

Water or milk

An egg (swirled around like egg-drop soup)

Fish sauce (to taste)

Sometimes, I still crave it.

[scubadoo97]

put me in the steel cut camp. Grew up with quick rolled oats but really like the more toothy texture from the steel cut oats. I cook them like rice for an average time of 20 min so they aren't soft and mushy.

[Jmahl]

I'm a bad foodie... I use old fashioned oats, or McCann's instant and make them in the microwave.

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You are not alone!

I usually eat Quaker Oats (but not instant), but I make them in the microwave. Half a cup of oats, one cup of water, and a bit of salt. When they're done, I add some milk, about 1/4 cup or less. And that's it, I don't like them sweet and I don't like to find chunks of anything in my oats!

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Basically, the same recipe 1/2 cup regular rolled oats, 1 cup water and two pinches of sea salt - four minutes in the micro - except I prefer a little cream. On the weekends, steel cut oatmeal or whole oatmeal that I let sit out all night after adding to boiling water. cooks faster.

Also used whole, uncut or rolled, oatmeal as a savory with dinner cooked in chicken stock. My guests don't believe its oatmeal.

[JEL]

this is dessert oatmeal to be serve after the savory breakfast courses...

beverage of choice here is kalua and coffee w/ whip creme bump, or, hot chocolate 1/2 and 1/2 w/ peppermint schnapps.......

pinhead oats in water w/ salt....cooked medium ...a little toothy...

2 scoops pro-complex dietary supplement by "optimum nutrition" vanilla flavor.....

granny smith apple slices, pecans and a sweet potato disk carmelized w/ butter , brown sugar, nutmeg,cinnamon,alspice and blackpepper .....

small scoop of natural vanilla bean icecream......

1-2 shots cognac.........por one on top, drink one on the side.....

[pax]

I put a cup of steel cut oats in a crock pot with two cups of water and a pinch of salt. Put it on low and let it cook overnight.

I like to throw a cinnamon stick in, too, I don't think it adds a lot to the oatmeal frankly but it makes the house smell nice in the morning.

Top with whatever is at hand...fruit, granola, butter and honey, whatever you like. I like a knob of butter and Johnny Bird's Toast Dope, which lives in a jar on my kitchen table. Thank you, Johnny Bird. My kids love it when I sprinkle raw sugar on the top and then run it under the broiler, a sort of Oatmeal Brulee.

[moreace01]

fill the individual serving bowl to the line with hot water from the office coffee maker.

work gives out free oatmeal. and free soda. both are becoming a bad habit that i need to kick!!!

[Jaymes]

I like a knob of butter and Johnny Bird's Toast Dope, which lives in a jar on my kitchen table. Thank you, Johnny Bird.

What is Johnny Bird's Toast Dope?

As to the oatmeal, we eat a lot of it and always have several types around. Although never, ever the instant stuff.

I find that regular rolled oats, even the particularly thick varieties, cook just about as quickly as the instant and they taste so much better.

I put about a half-cup of the rolled oats into my bowl and add some water and put it in the microwave and cook about three minutes. I just let it sit there for about five more minutes. Then I stir it up and cook it one more minute, basically just to heat it.

Then I take it out and arrange the cooked oatmeal into a volcano, pulling it away from the sides of the bowl and mounding it high. Then I poke a deep depression into the top and drop in a chunk of butter, and a spoonful of brown sugar.

Then I pour cream if I'm being bad or evap milk if I'm being good into the "moat." I figure that since I used water to cook it, I need some sort of concentrated milk for things to even out.

I eat it by getting a spoonful of the milk and oatmeal and then a dab of the ambrosia puddle in the middle.

[Terrasanct]

I didn't know what it was, either, so I Googled it, which brought me back to egullet. Ah, okay. If you do a search here it should come up.

[lcdm]

Usually McCanns steel cut. We follow the directions on the can. I like mine savory and add milk, salted butter, garlic powder and cheddar cheese. My husband and daughters like theirs sweet and add milk, brown sugar or maple syrup and either canned or dried fruit (peaches, apricots, raisins, cranberries). My middle daughter is a big fan of the Quaker instant oatmeal (any kind of flavor - not plain) she often has a bowl as an after school snack. It's great because she can make it herself in the microwave.

[pax]

Johnnybird's Toast Dope...I had to go looking for it, too, it wasn't easy to find. I know I printed it out but for some reason I can't lay hands on it.

Anyway, here it is..

Toast Dope

1 oz granulated sugar

1 oz raw sugar

zest of 1 mandarin orange

.5 oz cinnamon

8 scrapes of nutmeg

I don't know why it's not on recipe gullet, I found it buried in a thread after I spent so much time looking for "dope" I am sure the Feds are on their way to my house.

PS. I do keep a cannister of the quick cook stuff around for cookies.

PPS. Your salsa is my go to, Jaymes, thank you, too.

Edited September 26, 2007 by pax (log)

[Jaymes]

Toast Dope

1 oz granulated sugar

1 oz raw sugar

zest of 1 mandarin orange

.5 oz cinnamon

8 scrapes of nutmeg

PPS. Your salsa is my go to, Jaymes, thank you, too.

Thanks for the compliment.

And for that recipe. I must say, it looks very interesting. So you keep it just sitting around on the counter? And then sprinkle it into oatmeal? Or on toast and broil? With butter? Or what? I must know more!

[Susie Q]

Love steel cut but tend to make Quakers old fashiond most often.

Use half milk half water. Cooked on the stove top and served with butter, brown sugar, cream; sometimes cinnamon and sometimes with nuts and dried fruit.

Love hot cereals in general from cream of wheat to grits, except malt-o-meal.

Anybody else love hot rice with milk, cinnamon and sugar?

[Terrasanct]

I used to have rice for breakfast all the time, just like that. We'd use leftover rice or just make it in the morning. My mom loved all kinds of cooked cereal, including 7-grain rolled or cracked, cracked wheat, farina, malto meal, and cornmeal mush with milk and sugar, or butter and sugar.

The fact that she had six kids may have had something to do with always making hot cereal for breakfast (it's cheap) but she still eats it. I liked all of them except for the cornmeal mush.

[Majra]

McCann's quick-cooking oats or Quaker rolled, 1/4 c is enough for me, + 1/2 c water and a spoonful of natural chunky peanut butter, nuked and splashed with milk. Mmmm...

[pax]

I'm sorry...I keep it in the fridge. I have all my jellies and jams and stuff like that in a basket in the fridge so I can just throw it on the table in the morning.

[toweringpine]

I usually boil Quaker or PC steel cut in water with a good pinch of salt. Sometimes if I'm feeling fancy I'll do it in the slowcooker with dates and nuts. Yum.

[JEL]

anybody ever use barley in these same ways.......

hulled barley, pearled barley, rolled barley............

then any arrangement of aforementioned "condiments".......

i have, and there is such a wonderful chewiness.....amazing