| Ever since I turned my family on to steel cut | | | | markets in my community also sell steel cut oats |
| oats, they can't get enough of them. This includes | | | | from their bulk bins, which saves a little money |
| one child who always made faces whenever I | | | | over the pre-packaged ones.The basic recipe for |
| tried to serve him regular oatmeal made from | | | | steel cut oats is to bring 4 cups of water to a boil |
| rolled oats.A steaming bowl of steel cut oatmeal, | | | | in a saucepan, slowly stir in the oats and heat on |
| served with raisins or fresh fruit such as | | | | high until the oatmeal begins to thicken (about 4 |
| blueberries or strawberries, makes a hearty | | | | to 6 minutes). Then reduce the heat, cover the |
| breakfast any day of the week. Steel cut oats | | | | pan with a lid, and simmer for about half an hour. |
| are especially welcome on a cold, rainy day. For | | | | Serve with the aforementioned fresh fruit, or add |
| me, there's nothing better at such a time than | | | | a little milk, honey or brown sugar. It's all good!If |
| curling up with a good book and my oatmeal while | | | | you want to reduce the preparation time for |
| listening to the rain drip and splatter against the | | | | those busy mornings when everyone is trying to |
| windows.Steel cut oats are the inner part of the | | | | get out the door, here's a way to do it. The night |
| oat grain, known as the groat. The groats are cut | | | | before, boil 4 cups of water in a saucepan or pot. |
| in two or three pieces in such a way as to | | | | Turn off the heat, stir in a cup of oats, cover the |
| enhance the naturally nutty flavor. They are | | | | pan or pot, and let sit overnight. In the morning |
| golden-colored and shaped roughly like small grains | | | | you'll just need to cook the oatmeal over low |
| of rice. Some other names for them are Irish | | | | heat for 10 minutes or so.Yes, if you really must, |
| oats, Scotch oats, coarse cut oats, and pinhead | | | | you can microwave steel cut oats. The |
| oats.Besides being deliciously chewy, steel cut oats | | | | consistency will be noticeably different, but many |
| are highly nutritious. They're especially high in the | | | | people prefer it cooked this way. Try it and |
| B vitamins. They also provide protein, calcium and | | | | decide for yourself.This microwaving method |
| fiber to your diet. An interesting fact about | | | | works pretty well: Mix a half cup of oats with 2 |
| oatmeal is that it is the only food with naturally | | | | cups of water in a large bowl. Cover the bowl |
| occurring GLA, or gamma linolenic acid. GLA is an | | | | tightly with plastic wrap. Place in the microwave |
| essential fatty acid.The one drawback to steel cut | | | | and zap for 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from the |
| oats, and it's a minor one in my opinion, is that | | | | microwave, stir the oatmeal, then return and zap |
| they require a longer cooking time than regular | | | | it for another 4 to 6 minutes. Due to the |
| oatmeal. I rather like this aspect of them. It | | | | variances in microwave power, you may need to |
| means that to enjoy them, you have to slow | | | | experiment to find the right cooking times for |
| down and step out of the hurry-hurry modern | | | | your particular oven.Sarah Sandori is the food and |
| world for a while. And what's wrong with being | | | | entertaining columnist for the Solid Gold Info |
| forced to take such a break now and then?Steel | | | | Writers Consortium. Have you ever wanted to be |
| cut oats are available in most supermarkets, sold | | | | able to exactly duplicate a favorite dish from a |
| in cans or packages. The two whole-foods type | | | | favorite restaurant? |