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esperanza

Dec 16, 2004, 6:05 AM

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Oatmeal

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I'm sitting here eating my cold-morning breakfast, a big bowl of oatmeal, and warming myself up from the inside out. I started thinking about the different ways of cooking oatmeal. Here in Mexico, it's most often served very thin, almost watery, flavored with cinnamon and sugar. It has almost no texture. And no raisins, no fancy-dancy maple syrup, no butter. Milk is usually added, either while it's cooking or later. There used to be only one brand of oatmeal available here, pre-flavored with cinnamon and sugar--Hojuelas.

I like mine thick, with just enough salt in the cooking water to perk it up and the texture of oats still present. I sure don't like it after it's been sitting for a while: no gluey, gummy, yucky oats for me. And I don't like the instant stuff either, although every flavor is available now in Mexico.

How about you? How do you like your cold-morning warmup bowl of oatmeal? Or would you rather die than eat it?

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Caarina12

Dec 16, 2004, 9:29 AM

Post #2 of 9 (495 views)

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Re: [esperanza] Oatmeal

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I love the steel cut Irish Oats, slowly cooked with maple syrup and a bit of cinnamon! YUM!

jennifer rose

Dec 16, 2004, 9:36 AM

Post #3 of 9 (494 views)

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Re: [esperanza] Oatmeal

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I'd rather die than eat hot oatmeal, or oatmeal served up in a bowl for breakfast. In fact, I'd rather eat dog food.

Now, if the oatmeal were prepared in the form of oatmeal cookies, that's another matter. When I was a child, my mother never got up and made breakfast. We had to make do with the oatmeal cookies she'd baked sometime during the night. And to this day, I think of freshly made oatmeal cookies as the perfect breakfast food.

Gayla

Dec 16, 2004, 11:53 AM

Post #4 of 9 (481 views)

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Re: [esperanza] Oatmeal

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I wasn't too fond of oatmeal as a kid, but I have learned to like it pretty well over the years. My brother-in-law makes oatmeal similar to what you describe, gruel-like, lotsa liquid, but he doctors it up a lot. Personally, I don't care for his oatmeal very much. I perfer my oatmeal thick and somewhat on the chewy side. I add in dried cranberries (also sold as over-priced Craisins) and brown sugar. Karo has come out with a new brown sugar corn syrup that's pretty good. I've used it on oatmeal a couple of times in the last month. I usually just have milk (1% or 2%) on it, but if I'm feeling really extravagent I'll use half and half or <gasp> heavy cream, which more than kicks it up a notch :-))!! What's a fat gram or two in persuit of edible oatmeal.

I like steel cut oats, or quick oats, but not the instant oatmeal, which doesn't look or taste much like real oatmeal. And I usually cook the "heart healthy" portion, in water with a dash of salt.

Also, check out Alton Brown's recipe for doing oatmeal overnight in a crock pot. It's on his web site (which I think is www.altonbrown.com ). It's kind of a cool concept and it really works.

P.S. Jennifer, I like your mother's idea of breakfast food :-)) Works for me.

sfmacaws

Dec 16, 2004, 12:38 PM

Post #5 of 9 (478 views)

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Re: [Gayla] Oatmeal

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I love McCain's Irish oatmeal, thick and chewy. I add raisons or dried cranberries and nuts and a big chunk of butter but rarely any sugar. I don't put any salt in, but then there are very few things that I like salt on anyway. I'm so glad you mentioned this, I forgot I have some and it will be perfect for breakfast tomorrow.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

Bubba

Dec 16, 2004, 1:22 PM

Post #6 of 9 (471 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] Oatmeal

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The very best oatmeal I ever had, and it was truly excellent, was served up in one of the many oatmeal joints in Kathmandu, Nepal circa 1969. In addition to the normal ingredients, it contained a special resinous substance associated with hemp. This was a very long time ago but I vaguely remember feeling really really good all day after ingesting just a small amount of this regional specialty. I do not find present day oatmeal concoctions to be comparable, therefore, I have adopted the French farmers' early morning warm-up method by ingesting what is known as a pousse-cafe (literally, "push the coffee"). First you brew up a nice cup of espresso (cafe express in France) adding sugar or even milk if desired. You drink that down fairly quickly and, while the cup is still warm, pour in a shot of your favorite spirit which you should drink in one gulp while the cup remains warm. What spirit a French person uses varies according to where he or she lives. In Normandy, it might a nice calvados whereas in Cognac, a cognac. I am personally partial to calvados which, when of exceptional quality, is hard to beat. If you still do not feel as good as you might wish after one pousse-cafe, hell, have another one or two or, by God, three. Then get out there and plant that field in the pre-dawn chill.

(This post was edited by Bubba on Dec 16, 2004, 1:39 PM)

Carol Schmidt

Dec 16, 2004, 7:49 PM

Post #7 of 9 (451 views)

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Re: [esperanza] Oatmeal

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I like my oatmeal in meatloaf, which Norma coincidentally is baking tomorrow.

Carol Schmidt

Cynthia7

Dec 16, 2004, 10:04 PM

Post #8 of 9 (446 views)

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Re: [Carol Schmidt] Oatmeal

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I like mine zapped in the microwave- crunchy!! I do not like minute oatmeal or liquid oatmeal. I didn't know that Mexicans like it that way. I thought they just didn't know how to cook it. Most of my family like it creamy but not liquid.

Anonimo

Dec 17, 2004, 3:08 PM

Post #9 of 9 (428 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Oatmeal

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This really cracked me up!
Personally, I can tolerate oatmeal, but I don't seek it out. And my favorite version of Bubba's pousse café is a café correto with Anís del Mono or other quality brand of Anís.
Funny, I always thought pousse café were those frou frou layered liqueur drinks. Well, you learn something new...

Saludos,
Anonimo