Hot Cereal 30 Ways at OatMeals in Greenwich Village

My (Irish, of course) Great Grandmother's method:
Mix 1 cup steel cut oats into 2 cups boiling water & turn off the stove after 1-2 minutes (until it starts to bubble again)
Soak overnight -- covered -- on the back of the stove.
Warm through in the morning with cream, add sugar. Can add fruit if desired.
Serves 3-4

Gets you through all of the morning and part of the afternoon.

The best oatmeal I had was Macroom's from Zingerman's. It's stone-ground so you get all different size pieces rather than the more uniform steel-cut. This allows for a creamy matrix and some more substantial pieces. I admit that it got kind of pricey and I was tired of paying almost as much in shipping as the oatmeal cost, so I usually use McCann's and toast batches in a cast-iron skillet. Then I take a portion and whirr briefly it in a coffee grinder to give some finer pieces that can be mixed with the steel-cut. This approximates the Macroom's fairly closely.

Surprised to see they use Quaker. I thought McCann's was the industry standard.

I have been making oatmeal lately with almond milk or coconut milk instead of water and add a package of frozen raspberries about half way through the cooking... then at the end chopped raw almonds and a little maple syrup. Radically good. Think pie for breakfast.

All of the described menu items sound interesting, but too sweet or fat. How about plain rolled oats, with nothing more than a touch of sea salt to bring up the flavour; or a half-cup of raw oats stirred into a bowl seasonal fruit and plain yoghurt (try this once and you will be hooked for life).

I cook Bob's Red Mill organic oatmeal every morning on top of the stove in my little pot. I like the Scottish oatmeal which cooks in ten minutes. However the Bob's Red Mill organic steel cut Irish oatmeal actually tastes better. But it takes 20 minutes to cook. And this Irish Steel Cut won the contest in Scotland which is referred to in this article. I add cinnamon, walnuts and milk. After reading this article, I'm definitely going to add dark chocolate chips..... and other things. Yum. I hate to bring this up, but I switched to Bob's Red Mill because I couldn't get the Quaker Oats whole wheat creamy enough. It just wasn't as good. And when my grocery store nutrition section ran out of Bob's Red Mill, I went to their web site and ordered direct from them.

If you like hot cereal, check out the recipe I posted for Hasty Pudding, a hot polenta breakfast cereal with crystallized ginger, golden raisins, and pepitas, at
http://www.cookingthekitchen.com

McCann's steel cut oats, agave syrup, plain Greek yogurt. Repeat.

I adapt my breakfast dish from Mark Bittman's Savory Oatmeal with Scallions and Soy Sauce:

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/01/mark-bittmans-savory-oatmeal-...

I serve mine with a fried egg on top and a bit of sriracha or tabasco. Add cherry tomatoes and/or cukes. Savory flavor and easy to prepare.

I suggest Coach's 100% Whole Grain Cracked n' Toasted Oatmeal (Costco or Amazon); it's far better than that Quaker mush.

I have my oats w/ hot sauce and over-easy eggs on top of them

Although two pieces of rye toast and an apple are my preferred breakfast, a delicious treat is a bowl of steel cut. I like mine with a pat of butter and S & P.
Variety is the spice as they say, at least for this 79 year-old.

I understand that one can make hot oatmeal in a rice cooker. Has anyone tried this method and liked the results?

Whole oat berries have a wonderful flavor and texture, a bit nuttier and makes more of that gooey, gluey stuff that is so good for you.
Super easy to make. Cook in water, 3-4x the amount of oats, for about 1 hr or so, depending on the quality of the grain over minimal heat. Or put in thermos overnight.
I usually make a big pot to last all week, keeping in fridge and reheating portions in a small saucepan with some water, then add nuts, seeds, fruits, spices etc.

Grits are better and more versatile.

I've discovered thick cut rolled oats by Bob's Red Mill. It cooks more quickly than steel cut oats but isn't as mushy as the regular rolled oats. Takes about 5 minutes on the stove covered. I've been eating it for breakfast since I discovered it a few years ago. For me, it's a good compromise.

What about oat cakes? Best for the on the go meal. Somehow the article seems an undisguised advertisement for the Quaker Oats brand. Too bad. Not organic and way over processed grain. Rather Ms. Stephens should try' Bob's Red Mill' brand from Portland Oregon, regular or steel cut are organic and minimally processed.

I strongly suggest (or suspect I'm not the first to do so) that Ms. Stephens connect with GRØD, one of my favorite spots in Copenhagen for comfort food... they have won our loyalty with their simple menu, inventive combinations, and agreeable opening hours... there's room in everybody's tummy for this deliciousness no matter the season.

I am recent convert to oatmeal and would go to this place everyday if I could (if I lived in NYC).

Sure, you can say it's for suckers willing to pay so much for oatmeal but we're living in a time of packaged bananas here, people.
This concept is alive and well as Grød in Copenhagen, which started in 2011, and has grown to a small chain with extra take home sales. Proof that simple concepts and beautiful design go a long way. But the Danish make everything so stylish that I've already been sold.

They lost me at Quaker oats..it is as much about the oat choice as it is the toppings and none of Quaker Oats' products taste good to my (Irish) palate.

The best part about oats is that you can have them as savory dishes as well as traditional breakfast. Oats can easily be made as Indian Idli's, Dosas or Upma. YouTube has lots of such oats recipes.

Just made a batch of steel-cut oats yesterday for visitors. Make it according to the Quaker or other brand directions, but keep it covered, on very low heat, for at least 30 mins. and uncover and stir about every 8-10 minutes. I call it my risotto method. At the end, I add a handful of raisins, a half-cup of hot water, and let it simmer for another 15 mins to soften the raisins and finish the cooking. The texture is great, soft, yet chewy and the taste is 100% oaty good (well, oaty and raisiny). Be sure to add a bit of salt in the cooking water. My job application to OatMeals goes out in the afternoon post.

These recipes make my oatmeal-raisin-banana-honey-walnut-cinnamon concoctions seem like small potatoes! Would love to have a meal here. I've read that steel cut is healthiest for fiber and tried it once; it was like eating rocks. A friend then told me a great way to cook it, and it's worked perfectly every time. Heat 10 cups of water on high, in a large enameled, cast-iron Dutch oven (Le Creuset, Staub, etc.). When it comes to a boil, add 2 cups of oats & 1/2 tsp. salt and stir, boiling, for 5 minutes (if foam appears and gets near to overflowing, lower the heat a little, but keep it boiling). Turn off the heat, put on the lid, and let it sit for 4+ hours (I let it sit overnight). Get up in the morning and presto, perfectly cooked oatmeal that just needs warming. The above recipe makes about 10 servings (my husband and I eat it for an entire work week; it keeps fine in the fridge). Enjoy!

When I read the comment about oatmeal smelling like a lumberjack's meal, well I was raised by my grandparents. My grandfather was a lumberjack and we would have breakfast consisting of oatmeal and on occasion pancakes as a treat and then load up our trucks and head for the woods.

What we loaded were large bags of oats for our mules and Percheron Horses who loved to work in the woods. I remember smelling the bags of oats and thinking - gee this is what we had for breakfast.

That was over 60 YAG and the oatmeal habit is still with me and on weekends it is pancakes and eggs and bacon. The vast majority of oats for the USA are prepared in Cedar Rapids, IA and I wish this article would have discussed more about the benefit of steel cut or Irish Oats.

Thanks