When I was a kid I hated oatmeal. Something about the texture, it was just too mushy for me. When I was around 12 my family took a trip to England and I decided to give oatmeal another shot, mainly because I wasn't interested in a full English breakfast and there wasn't much else available at some of the B&Bs we stayed at. To my surprise I loved the oatmeal in England! I later found out what the difference is. In America we mainly use rolled oats and in the UK they are more likely to use steel cut oats. The steel cut oats have a slightly crunchy and chewy texture. If you love American oatmeal then you may not like the steel cut version because they are pretty different but for me steel cut is the way to go. Today I'm going to share my cooking method with you, this was adapted over many years and I've found it to produce my ideal oatmeal. The amounts listed below make one generous serving, since Eric is eating low carb again I usually just make enough for me.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup steel cut oats
1 cups water
1 cup milk ( I use whole but you can use whatever you like)
1 tbs butter plus more for topping
brown sugar, dried cranberries and cinnamon to taste ( for toppings).
In a small saucepan melt 1 tbs of butter over medium heat. Add oats and cook in butter until they start to smell "toasty", this only takes a couple on minutes. add milk and water and bring to a boil. Boil for about half and hour, stirring regularly or until oatmeal has thickened to whatever texture you like. I'm not real big on timing things, I just know when it's done by looking at it and checking the thickness. Pour in to a bowl and top with extra butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, dried cranberries or whatever topping you like. Enjoy!
