Steel-cut Irish oats superior to quick types

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jan 9, 2002 | by Teresa J. Farney

If I were devoted to planning my breakfasts ahead of time, I'd have a steaming bowl of oatmeal every day. But not just any oatmeal - and certainly not the kind that is ready in seconds. Don't even go there with me!

For a true oatmeal connoisseur, those products are about a close to the real thing as Naugahyde is to leather. And, like you would expect to pay more for leather, you can plan to pay about twice as much for good oatmeal.

I want the stuff that sticks to your ribs: full of lumps of creamy, hot, chewy oats. The only kind that does that for me is steel- cut Irish oats, also known as Scotch oats or Irish oatmeal. All are names for oat groats that have been cut into two to three pieces and not rolled. They take considerably longer to cook than rolled oats and have a decidedly chewy texture.

The brand I like is McCann's Irish Oatmeal, found in specialty and health-food stores. Though the directions on the attractive tin can say they cook in about 30 minutes, it takes more like 45 minutes to an hour for them to be properly softened because the high altitude here requires cooking some foods longer.

However, I've learned a couple of tricks to speed up the process. One of my favorites is to cook them in a crockpot overnight. I got the idea and recipe from Alton Brown on his Food Network show, "Good Eats." One cup of steel-cut oats is combined with a cup each of dried cranberries and dried figs, 4 cups of water and 1/2 cup of half-and- half in a crockpot to cook overnight. I usually don't care to add much to a bowl of oats, but the dried fruit, especially the figs, was a tasty surprise. I've made the recipe several times and it's a great dish for overnight guests.

Another speedy way to cook the oats is in a pressure cooker. It takes about five minutes for the pressure to come up and another five minutes to cook the oats. Once they're cooked, the pressure has to release slowly, which can take another 15 minutes.

The other trick comes from the McCann's Web site, www.mccanns.ie: You pre-toast the oats, which cuts the cooking time in half. Place the steel-cut oats on a cookie sheet in a preheated 300-degree oven for about 20 minutes. It adds a more distinctive flavor and texture to the oats. They can be toasted and stored in a tightly covered container in a cool place.

Another suggestion from McCann's, directed to those daily oatmeal eaters, is to prepare five days' worth in advance. Store the oatmeal in the refrigerator, and when ready to use, reheat it in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes.

That's fine, but I like my oatmeal made fresh. The crockpot is my choice, and when it's just my husband and myself, I leave out the dried fruit but keep the amount of cooking liquids the same. The next morning I top the plain oats with fresh buttermilk and a little brown sugar.

I also keep that round box of old-fashioned Quaker's oats on the shelf next to my tin of McCann's. These oats have been pre-steamed and flattened, called rolled oats, and cook in about 15 minutes. I have them as backup in case I run out of the steel-cut variety. Plus, they are the best to use in meatloaf or cookies.

The Quaker Oats folks have proclaimed January Oatmeal Month, so what better time to try to get more grains in your diet - whether at breakfast or not. Quaker is offering three free brochures to help: "Awesome Oats: Easy and Delicious Recipes with Oats," "Super Recipes for a Super You," and "Oats: The Whole (Grain) Story."

To order any or all of the brochures by mail, send your name and mailing address to: Oatmeal Month Brochures, P.O. Box 3305, Chicago, IL 60654.