Oatmeal

[lindag]

I've never liked oatmeal or porridge or any other type of hot cereal.  Over the years I've tried many times to change that without success.

Yesterday I ran across a recipe that looks so good I may be able to, if not tolerate hot cereal, but have a substitute that's pretty healthy and contains oatmeal.  It looks delicious and I can't wait to try it; I just have to get some coconut.

Morning Glory Baked Oatmeal

[BeeZee]

I've been making overnight oats to eat cold (more like muesli) for a couple of years, soaking the oats in unsweetened almond milk and adding various "mix ins". You retain a lot of the chewy texture of the oats. Have you ever tried that?

[Tri2Cook]

I love oatmeal. I also love grits, cream of wheat, malt-o-meal and... well, you get the point. I like hot cereals. They were breakfast on probably at least 90% of mornings through most of my childhood (much cheaper to feed 5 kids with that than with Fruit Loops and the like) and I should probably be sick of them all. But I'm not, I still enjoy them. I've done baked oatmeal. Ends up being sort of a really good granola bar which I then turn into granola by breaking it up and pouring milk over it.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I also had too much hot cereal growing up in VT, and don't like any of them much except grits, which I adore.

 

Both quick-cook and regular rolled oats are just too gluey for my taste when cooked into a porridge, although I use them in baking. After trying Bob's Red Mill steel cut oats in a porridge, I found something I actually like. YMMV

[Lisa Shock]

I like oatmeal, and prefer the old fashioned type or the commercial steam table type. Steel cut oats are good but, I am rarely organized enough to make them in a timely fashion. I do not add salt when making oatmeal. I do like to mix in diced apples, walnuts, cinnamon, and honey then right before eating, I add a tablespoon of heavy cream on top. I like to make cream of wheat savory, with butter, a little fresh chives if I have them, and a light grating of Parmesan cheese.

[ElsieD]

I just had a look at the recipe and it looks delicious.  I wonder how it could be adapted to use steel cut oats?  I hope you will post how you liked it.

[TeakettleSlim]

I don't care for cooked oatmeal either, even baked (though it is better than non-baked). But I took the ingredients for this (subbed dates for raisins and maple syrup for brown sugar), mixed them with pan-toasted rolled oats, and ate them with some yogurt. Excellent! Nice and crunchy and fresh. 

[cakewalk]

I love oatmeal, but I love it "straight" - without sugar or raisins or anything sweet. It's a quick breakfast and I sometimes even eat it as a snack. For one serving I use 1/2 cup Quaker old-fashioned oatmeal and 1 cup of water with a little salt. Zap it in the microwave for 3 minutes. Stir and done. I add a bit of milk after it's cooked (about as much as I would add to a cup of coffee). Most people would gag at this, but I absolutely love it. I started eating it when I started bike riding, it was a healthy and quick breakfast before going out on a ride. I haven't been on my bike in quite a while now, but I still love oatmeal this way.

 

[andiesenji]

I love oatmeal. But I can't stand the "quick-cooking" or "instant" glop that has such a horrible glue-like texture.

 

I like a mixture of old-fashioned (organic) rolled oats and steel cut or "pinhead" oats in a ration of 1:2 or 1:3.  

And there is a preparation step that I have found makes a huge difference.

 

I TOAST the raw oats, usually stirring them in a dry skillet until they being to show a bit of color on the edges.  Sometimes I toast them in butter and this does require constant attention and stirring.   I then often cook them in a slow cooker overnight or on the stovetop - again, this requires frequent attention and stirring.  Rarely I cook them in the Thermomix, if I am feeling particularly lazy.

 

Some brands are better than others.  I am very partial to Flahavan's Irish oats - they offer several varieties.  The FLAVOR is far superior to most oat products from the U.S.  

[lindag]

Can someone help me here?

My store had only sweetened coconut.  Do you think it will make any real difference if I use that?

[Pan]

Of course it will! You probably can't get fresh coconuts in Montana, but I hope you can get unsweetened dried shredded coconut somewhere, like maybe a health food store if supermarkets don't carry it.

[liuzhou]

Quote

"Oats: A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people" - Samuel Johnson 1755

 

Despite being of Scottish origin, I can't stand the traditional oat porridge. It is more a texture thing than the taste. I don't like rice porridge either, for the same reason.

 

However, my No. 1 nostalgia dish from childhood is fried herrings in oatmeal. A Scottish classic. The only thing my (French) mother ever cooked well.

 

Recipe here. The 'slaw accompaniment was never part of my experience. Bread and butter and maybe some lemon was enough. Bliss.

 

 

[lindag]

Update:  I reduced the amount of brown sugar in the recipe to accommodate  the sweetness of the sweetened coconut (rather than spending a day searching for a store that sells unsweetened coconut).

Well, the mixture came together nicely and the aroma while baking was heavenly.  However, the finished product just wasn't very good, ino.  I don't like the crumbly texture and the flavors just didn't seem to come together in a good way.  I ended up forcing myself to eat it, pouring a bit of milk over the top helped.  Not a recipe that I'd recommend.

 

[Deryn]

A few years back, I had a love affair with some brand of toasted steel cut oats that I bought in large bags at Costco. They cooked up in minutes in the microwave and had a lovely toasted flavour and a great steel oat texture. Then Costco stopped carrying them. I really wish I could find those again but I can't even remember the brand name now.

 

At any rate, I tend to go on 'binges' when it comes to some foods and oatmeal is one of them. I don't eat it for a year and then something gets me going again and I find myself eating a lot of it for a while before I taper off again. But, as I mentioned, I don't like anything (even milk) on oatmeal other than salt, so salt is the key for me - and right now, I can't have much salt. However, with these posts lately you have all got me thinking of oatmeal and developing a hankering for it. Oh dear.

[liuzhou]

From time to time, when I get my hands on some decent cheese, I have been known to make Scottish oatcakes.

 

 

 

[Duvel]

I remember having those in an upmarket restaurant in Dublin once. Served with a heavily smoked salmon tartar and candied lemon jam. Was weird but not bad at all ...

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

From time to time, when I get my hands on some decent cheese, I have been known to make Scottish oatcakes.

 

 

 

Recipe to share?

[liuzhou]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

Recipe to share?

 

I usually use this one. And yes, I do use a whisky glass to cut the round ones.

[Pan]

Any favorite recipes for a masala oatmeal, anyone? I don't love oatmeal but will start eating it again for health reasons (oats lower LDL cholesterol, according to the Pritikin website). I want to use Indian spices and techniques to make the oatmeal taste good. No salt, please (low-salt diet, too), but I can easily leave the salt out of most recipes that call for it, as long as there is a lot of taste, otherwise.

[shain]

8 hours ago, Pan said:

Any favorite recipes for a masala oatmeal, anyone? I don't love oatmeal but will start eating it again for health reasons (oats lower LDL cholesterol, according to the Pritikin website). I want to use Indian spices and techniques to make the oatmeal taste good. No salt, please (low-salt diet, too), but I can easily leave the salt out of most recipes that call for it, as long as there is a lot of taste, otherwise.

I usually eat oatmeal porridge in a slightly sweet form as breakfast, with cinnamon and fruits. I'm not a fan of savory oatmeal porridge. However, oats can be used in many savory dishes as a component without reducing any of it's health benefits, you might find that you do like it in those forms. To name a few: roasted tomato soup thickened with oats and blended until smooth, oatmeal pancakes and muffins (also savory muffins), non rolled oats can be cooked into a rissoto-like form (with mushrooms, cheese, herbs, or whatever you like in rissoto). To stick with your Indian direction, you can cook it with lentils and some vegetables such as sweet potato, tomatoes, onions, or whatever, spicing to your preference. 

[Pan]

That's a really good thought. Maybe I'll try some with various other ingredients in scrambled eggs and yogurt see how that works.

[Pan]

I'm currently eating my masala oatmeal, but it isn't really that, exactly. On the first attempt, it was a smashing success, although it took a long time to cook and I think next time, I'll use my wok.

 

Ingredients:

 

About 1 inch of fresh ginger, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 large white onion, chopped

3 plum tomatoes, chopped

3 scallions, sliced (optional)

4 mushrooms, chopped

About 5 tablespoons steel-cut oats

3 tablespoons urad dal

3 tablespoons or so of roughly crumbled "raw" cashews

2 dried curry leaves, crumbled into small bits

1 heaping teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/6 teaspoon ajwain seeds

1 teaspoon amchoor powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 flat teaspoon sweet paprika

3 organic free-range eggs

about 1 1/2 cups full-fat yogurt

juice of 1 lemon, seeds removed

a neutral oil (I used canola) as needed

 

Method:

 

Put a bit of oil into a wok or pan. Add the ginger and garlic, stirring until they are mostly cooked.

Add the onions and more oil as needed. Cook until the onions are close to done, then add the scallions if you like and repeat the process.

After that, add the spices and mix thoroughly. Then add the oats, urad dal, cashew pieces and curry leaf bits. Again add more oil as needed.

When the cashews seem cooked, add the tomatoes. You will probably need to raise the heat a little, but be careful not to burn the oats or dal.

When the tomatoes are mostly cooked and the liquid is somewhat reduced, add the mushrooms.

Wait until the mushrooms are cooked to add the eggs, but it is not necessary to wait until the water evaporates. Mix, making sure to coat everything with egg.

When everything is thoroughly mixed and the eggs are cooked, add the yogurt, mix thoroughly, and add the lemon juice. Simmer a bit to reduce the liquid somewhat and cook the mixture.

The result should still have a good deal of liquid - indeed, the texture should be something like oatmeal, but crispier. Distribute it into bowls for eating.

 

Thoughts on this improvised recipe: First, it was delicious. However, I couldn't taste the scallions, so I think I'll use them in something else. The ginger was somewhat present, but I think I'll at least double the amount next time to taste it more. I used few ajwain seeds because when I opened my newly-bought bag, they smelled strong, but I couldn't taste them much, so I'll put at least 1/3 of a teaspoon in next time. I also will use an entire container of mushrooms if I have one handy next time (I had only half a container left). The quantity of tomatoes seemed good; I didn't really taste them separately, but they were part of the mix and also helped add water to it.

 

But more worked than didn't work. The texture of the oats was pleasant, in this combination. The lemon juice was great, and I don't think vinegar would be as good. The spices all came through except for perhaps the paprika and to a large extent the ajwain (and turmeric just gives food a subtle earthiness, so I'm sure it helped, but the taste wasn't that present even with a whole teaspoonfull), and the curry leaves were especially nice. The cashews also really helped. By the way, the cayenne was definitely present and the large amount of yogurt cooled it off some, but if you are sensitive to chili, decrease the cayenne or omit it, then taste it to see if any should be added.

 

Next time, I may try using some mustard oil. I thought I had some, but I couldn't find it. I also would love to add some really substantial green vegetable to this like kangkong (water spinach), adding it before the tomatoes (or possibly in lieu of them, for a different variation).

 

Final comments: The urad dal and oats form a paste, so be careful of that. If you prefer, add more oil (but I wouldn't have wanted more than I used, which I'm guessing was perhaps 1/8 of a cup in total at most). Some people might prefer using less oats, but the result was very good. Also, for those who like it (and aren't trying to avoid them because of their glycemic effect), you could easily add some raisins to the combination of urad dal, oats, cashews and dried curry leaves. And finally, I'm not sure what role the eggs had in this dish. I suppose they could be omitted, and I don't know what it would have been like if I had used 5 instead of the 3 I had left.

[lindag]

My cancer treatment demands a good diet so I’m going to try to improve some.

Today I made steel cut oatmeal (porridge) in my Zo rice maker.

Now I don’t  like oatmeal but I will force myself to eat it and try to make it less distateful.

I added the oats, salt and water and went through the cycle; when done I added brown sugar, Craisins, cinnamon, almonds and dark raisins and milk.  I concentrated on the taste of the added ingredients and tried to ignore the texture which is what I like the least.

All in all, it was okay and it will be something I'll have again.

[BeeZee]

@lindag, I like to add toasted sliced almonds (TJ’s sells them in a bag, so I don’t need to do any work) onto my oatmeal just before eating, if you like nuts give it a try since it adds some nice crunch.

[chromedome]

15 hours ago, lindag said:

My cancer treatment demands a good diet so I’m going to try to improve some.

Today I made steel cut oatmeal (porridge) in my Zo rice maker.

Now I don’t  like oatmeal but I will force myself to eat it and try to make it less distateful.

I added the oats, salt and water and went through the cycle; when done I added brown sugar, Craisins, cinnamon, almonds and dark raisins and milk.  I concentrated on the taste of the added ingredients and tried to ignore the texture which is what I like the least.

All in all, it was okay and it will be something I'll have again.

 

I find the texture is improved the second day. I usually make mine up ahead, and reheat a portion each morning for breakfast. If I forget (which happens occasionally) I'll make 'em up but won't eat them day of. I'll have something else, and then have the new batch the next day when they're "right" in my estimation.