overnight steel cut oats

The past week has been a rough one. I’ve been under the weather, spending most of my time on the couch, feverishly speeding through episodes of How I Met Your Mother. I’m pretty sure I’m already on season 3, but really, I’ve lost count. Food has become a four letter word in our house, only spoken of when absolutely necessary for survival. It’s a strange thing, detesting food. That’s a feeling I hope to soon forget.

It’s no coincidence that this week’s cook the book post happened to be an upset stomach’s dream. Steel cut oats are as close to soothing as you can get, besides eating a whole tube of saltine crackers (which may or may not have happened) and since standing for an extended period of time also proved to be rather difficult, I decided to throw these in the slow cooker and let them work themselves out while I slept soundly in the other room. In the morning, I awoke to freshly stewed oats, smelling of cinnamon and milk. They were wonderfully smooth, more like porridge than the usual toothsome oats I am used to when I cook them in a pot on the stove, but this was a welcome change for my poor belly. The only additions necessary were a sprinkling of brown sugar and a few ripe raspberries to brighten things up a bit. It was exactly what the doctor ordered. Now I’m hoping the left overs get me through the rest of the week.

[This post is part of a Cook the Book project with 5 other incredible bloggers. Take a stroll on over to see Aimee, Samantha, Natasha, Emily and Claudie to see what they've come up in the rolled oats department!]

overnight steel cut oats

adapted from The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham
serves 8

I have to admit, I kind of went rogue on this one. Because of the fact that I was a bit under the weather, and I didn’t want to do a whole lot, I threw a bunch of ingredients into the crock pot, set it on low and crawled into bed. I think the beauty of such a simple recipe as how to cook oats is you can adapt it to fit your mood. It’s not uncommon for me to use them in a savory application with a few sprinkles of salt and pepper and a runny egg on top to moisten the normally crunchy oats. If you find yourself in a mood to soothe, use your slow cooker, if you’re in the mood for something more toothsome, follow the recipe at the end for a more traditional approach.

[For the crock pot]

Ingredients:

• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 4 cups water
• 2 cups fat free milk
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• large pinch of salt

Preparation:

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker and mix to combine. Set the slow cooker to the lowest setting and go to bed. Wake up to the smell of spiced creamy oats and enjoy in a nice large bowl. Sprinkle with brown sugar and top with fresh berries.

[For the stove top]

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup steel cut oats

Preparation:

Mix the water, salt and oats together in the top of a double boiler. Cook, covered, over simmering water, stirring occasionally for 1 hour. Remove from the heat and serve.

August 21, 2012. breakfast, quick and easy.