Steel Cut Oats

Back when I was in the health food store and purchased the gluten free bread mix for Judy, I also purchased a box of Steel Cut Oats for me. Carol told me about the oats. Told me how she prepared them. You bring them to a boil, remove from the stove, cover, and put in the refrigerator over night. I swear she told me that she even likes it cold. Ummm...I don't think so. The next morning you take the oats out of the refrigerator and heat in the microwave (with butter and sugar) then pour in a good glug of milk.

I've prepared single servings a time or two. The other night, I boiled 4 cups of water and poured in 1 cup of oats. I thought that would be good for breakfast on workday mornings. Will NOT do that again! What they call four servings is more like 5 or 6 for me. I got Sam to try them today. When I asked him...he said that the little ...well...wait a minute.

Steel cut oats (also called pinhead oats, Irish oats, coarse cut oats) are whole grain groats (the center part of the oat kernel). They are...well...cut in pieces, of course. And they resemble fat grains of rice. Unlike rolled oats which are the groats smashed flat then steamed and lightly toasted.

I like it. Instead of just wallowing oatmeal around in my mouth and swallowing...there's actually something to chew before swallowing. Back to Sam...

First thing, he was put off by reheating leftover oatmeal. I told him that these were different...that they were not the glutinous glob of regular leftover oatmeal. When he looked at the oats fresh out of the refrigerator he asked, "This is not a glutinous glob?"

"Not like rolled oats," I answered with a smile. Since I had already eaten my breakfast, I skipped off to the shower while he was eating his. Later I asked him how he'd liked the steel cut oats.

"Not bad," he said. "But when I first bit into one of those little bulbs...well...it was kind of like eating fish eggs."

Can I tell you that that was the end of the conversation? I don't know if I can eat another bowl of steel cut oats without thinking about fish eggs!!! eyeroll