What are you Cooking the Week of February 21, 2021

[Mike Nolan]

I mixed up the baked steel cut oats last night and baked it this morning. I think the recipe is a keeper, but I will change it a bit.

It tasted a little too salty, I think we'll try cutting out half the salt and maybe leaving out the baking powder, since I'm not sure what it there for. I wound up adding about another half cup of milk during baking, it was getting too dry.

I think I'd chop the apple up a bit and mix it in with the oats rather than just have slices of apple on top, which are kind of clumsy to eat. I used sliced almonds, next time I may try chopped almonds.

I'm tempted to add a little brown sugar. I had a spoonful of it with one bowl and liked the resulting maple and brown sugar flavor, though it did make it taste saltier for some reason.

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[cwcdesign]

I definitely change the baked oatmeal each time I make this recipe. I decided to search her comments to see if anyone had asked about the baking soda and here's the answer.

Question: why baking powder? Isn’t that a leavening agent to help things rise?
ALEXANDRA — SEPTEMBER 7, 2020 @ 6:07 PM REPLY
Hi Liz! It does help leaven/lighten this recipe a bit. If you don’t include it, everything kind of sinks/becomes very dense.

I'm even thinking about trying cranberries that I have in the freezer and maybe buttermilk for fun. I gather you could use almond milk or coconut milk too. I don't bother with the cinnamon - the time I tried it, I thought it overpowered the blueberries.

[Mike Nolan]

Cinnamon and blueberries aren't the best combination, but cinnamon and apples are a natural pairing. I may try cutting both the baking powder and salt in half, it was definitely a little too salty today. My wife says for 3/4 cup of rolled oats she generally only puts in a pinch of salt. We had it for lunch and there's about enough left for my wife to have for breakfast tomorrow.

We usually put raisins in oatmeal, which ramps up the carbs a lot. My wife figured this recipe as having about 11 grams of carbs per serving (9 servings total).

[BakerAunt]

The recipe sounds great, and would make a fast breakfast, but I won't be trying the baked oats, since it has 3 Tbs. butter and less oats than when I cook them my usual way for breakfast.

The Bob's Red Mill has different water to steel-cut oats ratios depending on whether the oats are cooked right away or rested overnight. It specifies 3/4 cup water to 1/4 cup oats when cooked right away, but 1 cup water and 1/4 cup oats when they are allowed to rest overnight after being added to the boiling water, or when using a slow cooker for overnight. When I made the steel-cut oat crackers last week, I used the ratio for cooking directly, and the water was mostly gone after 15 min. (directions say 15-20 min).

My breakfast steel-cut oats are 1/4 cup, which I add to boiling water and let rest covered on the stove overnight. The next day, I add 1/3 cup milk and 1 Tbs. dates. I cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the spatula, pulled across the bottom of the pan briefly leaves a clear spot, then I cover, turn off the heat, and make my coffee. While the coffee brews, I put the oatmeal into a bowl with 1/4 tsp. maple sugar and chopped walnuts. It's a 20 minute process. I've thought of making a double recipe and microwaving the other half the next day, but then I'd be fighting my husband for the microwave, as that is how he cooks his quick oats.

[Joan Simpson]

We had Sloppy Joe's open face and French fries.

I've never had steel cut oats,I made buttermilk pancakes and sausage for our breakfast.

[Mike Nolan]

Since it takes 50-55 minutes in the oven, it isn't all that fast, though maybe it is compared to other ways of cooking steel cut oats.

[Italiancook]

I also had baked steel cut oatmeal this morning. I put apple slices on top. I didn't peel them. While the baked product was picture-worthy, the slices were clunky to eat. Like Mike, I will chop the apple next time. My husband and I both like this. We ate it alone for breakfast without anything else. I didn't end up with 9 servings, Mike. More like 3 or 4. I used 1/4 cup maple syrup and it was sweet enough for us. Mike, I agree with you on the salt. I halved it in the recipe I made. Next time, I'm going to delete the baking powder. I couldn't see where it did anything.

BakerAunt, you may want to try this with oil instead of butter. I substituted light olive oil for the butter -- 1-1/2 tablespoons + 2-1/2 teaspoons olive oil. It didn't hurt the finished flavor, and I didn't miss butter.

I agree that cinnamon wouldn't make a good pairing for blueberries, but it was wonderful with the apples. I think I'd use cardamom with blueberries, because cardamom has a citrusy flavor. But I also have the KABC lemon powder and may try a tad of that instead.

I also made this last night to bake today.

Mike, when I make slow cooker Irish oatmeal with the steel cut oats, it cooks on Low for 6 hours or High for 3 hours.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 10 months ago by Italiancook.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 10 months ago by Italiancook.

[BakerAunt]

When I make blueberry pie, I use allspice rather than cinnamon.

[Mike Nolan]

Some sources claim blueberries pair well with cinnamon, but I've tried it and it isn't a combination I like. Other spices that get listed in a net search for spices that go with blueberries include basil, ginger, mint, lavender, nutmeg, rosemary and tarragon. None of those really jump out at me as 'wow' combinations.

[BakerAunt]

For lunch on Sunday, and into the week, I made creamy tomato soup, using a can of crushed tomatoes, baking soda, a can of 2% evaporated milk, onion, and Italian Seasoning. It should have had a cup of chicken broth, but I did not thaw any because I know that I have a container of Penzey’s chicken base. I saw it in the past month in the pantry. Can I find it? I settled for a cup of water. It was still good, and unlike even the Healthy Request Campbell’s condensed tomato soup, it has no high fructose corn syrup and a lot less sodium.

Dinner on Sunday was boneless pork chops, cooked in the frying pan by my husband, roasted sweet potatoes cooked by me in the countertop oven, and microwaved frozen peas. The sweet potatoes are Beauregard, a variety I first encountered at the farmers’ market in the fall. I was able to find a bag of organically grown ones at Kroger last time we went to the next town to shop. They are naturally sweet—no need to add maple syrup.

[chocomouse]

For dinner tonight, I cooked a small pork loin roast, and made a fresh mushroom-onion gravy on mashed potatoes. With it we had a Greek salad with mozzarella instead of the usual feta.

[Mike Nolan]

We had tacos and apple pie.

[BakerAunt]

On Sunday evening, I cooked some millet. It needs to rest in the refrigerator overnight, and then I will use most of it in the bread I plan to bake.

[RiversideLen]

One of the blueberry pie recipes I make uses 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of nutmeg, 1 tsp of lemon zest and lemon juice. It makes a very fragrant pie.

Today I made some potato soup. I used 2 strips of smokey bacon in which I sauteed some onion and a fair amount of celery and carrots. Then I added about 3 cups of potatoes and a quart of boxed chicken broth. After the potatoes were tender I gave it a ride in the food processor. I add a touch of half and half to it when I serve it. Came out pretty good. I portioned some out and froze it. It makes a good lunch with a small sandwich.

[Joan Simpson]

I love potato soup Len.I fix mine similar to yours.

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