Steel Cut Oatmeal As Fast Food

If you’ve tried steel cut oatmeal, you would never go back to old-fashioned rolled, quick, or instant oats…except for one caveat. The taste is superior for sure but the amount of time it takes to cook the oats is absolutely unrealistic for busy mornings. Thanks to America’s Test Kitchen, I now know of a great way to cook steel cut oats in five minutes amidst routine of morning chaos. This is one of the best recipes I got to test for upcoming issues of Cook’s Illustrated.

As a member of Friends of Cook’s Illustrated, I receive recipes in my inbox from America’s Test Kitchen to test. Sometimes the recipes are not typically what I would cook and sometimes the cooking directions are a little unconventional. However, it is always exciting to see what’s coming up in future issues of the magazine. There were only a couple of occasions when time constraint or limitation of ingredients prevented me from trying out the recipes. As much as I love the more complicated recipes, I am most fond of new and improved ways of making old favourites.

Although I cannot share with you the recipe at this time, I’m pretty sure this superior Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal recipe will make its way to publication soon enough. The gist is that you soak the oats in hot water overnight and cook it with the remaining ingredients in the morning. The softened oats turn into pudding consistency within five minutes. With enriching ingredients such as apple cider, milk, grated apple, and a touch of brown sugar and cinnamon, this is one bowl of apple cinnamon oatmeal like I’ve never tasted before. Those horrible memories of dusty gluey instant “apple” “cinnamon” “oatmeal” is nothing but a pale shadow of the real thing.

Apple cinnamon is only the beginning. With the basic cooking method mastered, I am already dreaming of all kinds of variations. Maple Pumpkin Pie would be made with pumpkin puree, maple syrup, and pumpkin pie spice. Banana nut chocolate can be a mix of sliced banana, cocoa, chocolate chunks, and roasted peanuts. The sky’s the limit and I can only image years of great breakfast to come.

Comments

[Cher]

That's an interesting concept - oatmeal is a huge favorite in our house. I ususally cook mine up in my rice cooker (I should probably just dub it the "oatmeal cooker").

Happy New Year!

[DessertByCandy]

Thank you Cher! Apparently this soaking method also works great for making rice pudding and other hardy whole grains. I'll definitely experiment with it more in the next few months.