Microwaved Oats? Not Steel Cut

Instant oatmeal - the kind you add water to and microwave - meets expectations. Not high expectations; but that's the point. It's a last-resort convenience food, something to keep on hand for near-emergencies.

But steel cut oats are a slow-cook indulgence. I convenience-ize them by making a large pot on the weekend and reheating portions throughout the next week. That way the lovely slightly chewy texture and full flavor stay intact.

Recently I found a container of quick-cook steel cut oats, which seemed like a middle ground between the instant mush and the weekend cooking oatmeal option. The packaging gave two options: stovetop boiling for 5 to 7 minutes, or microwaving. The stovetop method yields a bowl of oats almost as nice as the traditional slow-cook variety, in about a third of the time. But the microwave method is another story.

Beware microwave directions that require stops and starts with stirring in between, and large vessels to prevent boiling over. I have tried this method several times now, in the name of emprical science, and only avoiding the big puddle of spouted oat mess once so far.

That's enough empiricism for me. By the time you follow the directions properly to avoid the mess, you might as well have pulled out a saucepan and boiled the oats. And if you don't have a stovetop available? Stick with a pouch of the actual instant variety.

Save me, Oatmeal!

That candy jar on the counter. Those leftover meeting treats in the lunch room. The bag of Cornnuts lurking in my cupboard. It’s just too darn easy to graze all day without thinking.

Steel-cut oats with apple chunks

In the late morning and the afternoons during the cool months, I see more and more co-workers leaving our shared kitchen with a steaming bowl of oats. Some are pre-cinnamon and sugared, some plain from a tin of instant, some cooked at home and re-heated in the microwave.

My oatmeal snack is always steel-cut oats, slow cooked at home on the weekend and ready on demand at the office. Since I buy the organic oats in bulk at the grocery, each serving costs less than a nickel. The cooked oats themselves have no sugar and no fat but quite a bit of fiber and vitamins. A cheap, convenient, super food.

But I don’t gravitate towards a bowl of bland virtue, ever. What attracts me so many mornings and afternoons is the lovely texture – a mix of creamy and chewy – and the blank canvas for flavor. Often I am satisfied with just butter and a touch of salt. Or a drizzle of honey, with chunks of fresh apple and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Or a dollop of jam. Or a spoonful of peanut butter. Sweet or savory, only imagination and available ingredients limit the options.

However I serve myself, I’m always grateful for the satisfied taste buds and nice level blood sugar. Best of all, my bowl of comfort keeps me safe from the mindless snacks I don’t actually want but can fall prey to if they sneak up on me when I’m hungry and unprepared.

Blueberry Not-Pancakes

Improvising in the kitchen is good, so long as you are willing to eat the results. Today? Salvaged, but just barely.
It all began when a neighbor borrowed a ladder, which was really our other neighbor's, who didn't mind. Being that sort of community, the borrower gave us a bag of organic blueberries fresh from the farmers market, and we took them next door to give the ladder owner first dibs. Later that evening we enjoyed two bowls of fresh blueberry crumble, and sent some scoops of vanilla ice cream back with the rest of the pan. Following so far?

The crumble was pie-like, and delicious; and it put the idea of baking blueberries into something coffee-cake-ish into my mind.  But I had only saved about a cup from the bagful. So I modified my plan to pancakes. But I hadn't tried making gluten-free pancakes for some time, so I rose early today and asked the internet to teach me what to change from a standard recipe.  A bewilderingly wide range of answers popped up, some as simple as 'buy a bag of gluten-free pancake mix' and some too complex to fit on one page.  So I got the general gist - a fairly standard ratio of egg, milk/liquid, and dry ingredients. And off I went to see what my cupboards held. Kindly bear in mind here that my gluten-free waffles are a smash hit even with wanton wheat-eaters, and they are the result of simple tinkering.

But the combination (I won't tell - you should not attempt to replicate it) did not behave as I hoped. After adjusting here and there, I heated the iron skillet and drop a couple ladlefuls in. Nice flavor, good browning, reasonably light and fluffy on the outer edges - but mushy in the middles. Repeats confirmed that technique was not to blame. What to make of the woeful bowlful of batter, then? Coffee cake!

With a little orange zest, a drizzle of agave syrup, and the berries stirred in, the whole messed plopped goopily into a buttered baking dish. Then a bit of lemon curd was swirled in/over it, and a bit of turbinado sugar to caramelize the top.  I pulled it out and tested with toothpicks twice. Both times it seemed done; but the first time I disbelieved the results, remembering how difficult it was to cook the griddle cakes through. The second time the edges were too brown to leave in any longer; so even if it wasn't done, it was done.

Indeed, the outer inch all the way around came out perfectly. The middle? May get cooked on its own, one last time - or it may be time to throw in the tea towel.