Survival Sunday 18

Remember the steel cut oats? I made rolled oats today. It's mostly the same process, but it certainly came out looking more like I wanted it to!

Ingredients:

1 cup Rolled Oats (any brand, just don't grab "Quick" oats, because that's a shorter cooking process)

2 cups Water

1/4 teaspoon salt (optional; I didn't use it, but I probably should have)

Cinnamon, Maple Syrup, Half-and-Half, Butter (for topping; I didn't use butter. Again, I should have.)

I like this company. I can't think of any problems I've had using their products.

Make sure your pan can hold the water & the oatmeal with plenty of wiggle room.
The oats expand.

An excellent combo, though I really do wish I'd used butter and maybe some brown sugar...

Yum dairy! Or non-dairy if you prefer.
Milk, cream, half-and-half, any dairy or dairy-like product works.

1) Grab yourself some coffee. You're going to be standing at this stovetop for a long time. Don't make this if you're in a hurry. If you're in a hurry, just go with 1/2 cup oats in 1 cup water in the microwave for however long it tells you on the package. Making the good stuff takes time. You're going to need something to sip on, and you won't be able to leave the oatmeal alone long enough to brew a pot while you're cooking.

Hooray for the mocha-sludge I call breakfast most days!

2) Boil your water. Seriously, you want it boiling when you dump the oats in, not simmering or just steaming. You want that agua muy caliente before you start mealing them oats.

That is the best-looking photo of boiling water I've ever taken.
By the way, maybe don't use the same bowl for dumping your oats in the water as you'll use for eating out of.
It gets pretty dusty. I just ran out of time.

3) Pretty much the second you dump your oats in, you're going to want to crank the heat way back. We're talking from High to Low pretty rapidly. Otherwise, you're going to boil over and then your whole house will smell like oats and it takes a while to get off of the burner pan or whatever that's called. Regardless, we're going low and slow!

This is way too high. That's why mine did, in fact, boil over pretty bad.
Still tasted good, though.

4) Stir. Stir constantly. Get the bottom and edges of the pot while you stir. You can set the spoon down long enough for a sip, but you're going to be stirring anywhere from 10 minutes to a half hour, here, depending on the weather, how much water you've added, and what you want your oats to look like.

Stirring around 10 minutes in - still too much water for me.

Stirring 15 minute in. Too much water.
I prefer a thick oatmeal, not oatmeal soup.

5) After an eternity of stirring, grab something for a lid and turn your heat off. Then cover your oatmeal and leave it there while you run to the bathroom because you've been sipping coffee all morning.

Hooray for really blurry photos.
It's hard to get a good angle on this stuff without plastering my face everywhere.
Also, yeah, we don't have a lid for this pot, so I used a small plate.

6) After a few minutes, check on your oats. Are they the way you want them? Yes? Then plop that stuff into a bowl. If not, then figure out what you need - are they too dry? Add more hot water and stir. Are they too wet? Cook them a little longer. Are they burned? Yikes. I'm sorry, bro. Time to start over. Less heat this time. But if they're just right, you can glop that stuff into your bowl and get to topping!

I made this with milk once. It was incredible.
Same process, but you have to be more careful so the milk doesn't burn.

7) Topping time! I suggest choosing things you love. I like cinnamon & maple syrup with half-and-half. You may like bananas and yogurt, or strawberries & cream, or peanut butter, which I'm going to have to try next time. Oh man. Peanut butter in oatmeal... maybe a little cocoa powder? ooh...

Blurry breakfast. So good.
Also, you can't really see the syrup, but i promise it's there.

Now that you have breakfast ready, go sit down with it, stir it up, and eat to your heart's content. By the way, this is technically two servings! I don't really do the whole "healthy" thing, though, and I was really hungry. This is a great way to get your grains, your protein, and your dairy in the morning, and it also acts as somewhat of an appetite suppressant. You won't be hungry for a good long while. It's been 3 hours and I'm still full.

As for this week's spice, we're going a slightly different route with:

Cream of Tartar (aka Tartaric Acid)

So many recipes I've seen call for Cream of Tartar. According to the nice bottle I have, it acts as a stabilizer for eggs (like in souffle and macaroons and stuff like that), so while it's not 100% necessary, it helps to give things the right lift, the right strength, and the right finish. If you want your baking to come out looking like it does on TV, you're going to want to keep some Cream of Tartar on-hand. Besides, it's always best to start out following the recipe. You can always experiment once you've figured out the tried-and-true way!

That's all from me this week. If you enjoyed this, why not give it a share on the old Facebook or leave a comment? Sometimes I get lonely out here :P

Go Enjoy Something!

FC