Cooking oatmeal on the stovetop:

[bethzaring]

I'm surprised anyone finds a difference in taste between the long cook oats and quick oats. It is basically the same beast, one is just cut up into smaller pieces than the other, to expediate the cooking.

Personally, I buy organic rolled oats in the 50 pound bag. And the current bag we are eating out of is a particulary cooking resistant product. Usually I cook it for 5 minutes in the microwave. But five minutes of cooking these babies produced no results. So I am leaving the food processor out on the counter this winter, and giving the daily ration of oats a buzz in it, before cooking breakfast. In effect, I am making my own instant oats. And even cooking the buzzed oats for 5 minutes in the microwave produces a chewy gruel.

 

[sparrowgrass]

Try the steel cut oats in a "ris-oat-o" at suppertime. Toast them, along with some finely chopped onions and garlic, and cook with chicken broth. Good whole grain side dish.

 

[BBQ Mikey]

I add boiling hot water to oats, fruit pieces (minced) and syrup (today strawberry syrup n' apples) yumyum.

 

[Robo410]

the long cook is worth the time, and the toasting is a great flavor booster

 

[srm]

I learned something from Martha Stewart a couple of years ago about toasting the oats before cooking them. She said the flavor was wonderfully nutty and the toasting brings out the flavor of the nuts and makes it more intense and interesting. She was right. I toast the oatmeal in a skillet for about 5 minutes, tossing often just til they turn a nice golden brown. Then proceed as directed. The flavor is just like eating a bowl of toasted nuts. Much better.
I add 2 tsp. of brown sugar and a few shakes of cinnamon along with some dried cranberries. Awesome! Who knew oatmeal could taste so good?

I just came across this thread... curious, is toasting the oatmeal just regular oats? or steel cut oats? could you do both?

 

[DramaQueen]

You can use either steel cut or regular oats. Toast slowly, just til they're deep golden brown, and keep shaking and stirring the pan so they don't burn. Keep the heat low. You'll be able to smell the nutty aroma when they toast.

 

[xmascarol1]

baked for a change

Yesterday they had a baked oatmeal recipe on Recipezaar, and we had it this morning. It was very good. It was a nice change. It had 2 c. oatmeal, 2 eggs, 1 1/2 t bkg pwdr, 1/2 c brown sugar, 1 c. milk, salt, 1/2 c. applesauce, stir and bake 45 min. in a greased pan. I mixed it up the night before and baked it in the morning. As I only did 1/2 a recipe I baked it 30 min. Served it w/ hot applesauce and yogurt on top. As I have tons of applesauce canned up this year, I need to use some of it.