These days, I'm on a food kick. Actually, who am I kidding: every day, I'm on a food kick. According to my husband, the Guv, and a few chef friends, I'm a "supertaster" and a "supersmeller" (that's the Guv's term). If you pour me wine with notes of cherry and plum, I can distinguish the two. It's a gift, and it's a curse, because I don't like plain stuff at all. (Or cheap wine. Or bad coffee. Anyway...) Thus, it might be a surprise to share that my very favorite food is oatmeal. I know -- gross, right? I made oatmeal for the Guv once to treat a hangover, and let's just say that he swore off oatmeal for life, or at least until last weekend. I get it: some people don't like oatmeal, or "gruel" as a friend calls it. My suspicion is that they've never had good oatmeal, and that makes all of the difference.
To me, the miracle of oatmeal is its versatility. If it's cooked right, with a combination of water and cream (or milk, soy milk or almond milk), and sweetened with just a hint of something yummy (the traditional brown sugar, or maple syrup, agave, honey, or chocolate chips), sprinkled with just a bit of cinnamon, and given a wee bit of crunch with some toasted nuts (walnuts can't be beat in oatmeal) -- well, that's just heavenly. And while I prefer steel-cut oats, even plain old quick-cooked in the microwave oatmeal can be fantastic if topped right. If you travel around my town, restaurants try to funk it up even more: fruit compote at Mayfield Bakery, or the "Chronicle Special" at Fraiche yogurt with it's myriad of toppings and dollop of fresh or frozen yogurt. At home, I've hosted many a sleepover at my house with an oatmeal "bar" for breakfast. Pretty much every kid will eat oatmeal if you offer a bevy of fun toppings.
Always on a quest for new oat recipes to try, I came across one in San Franciscan Heidi Swanson's "super natural every day" cookbook that promised to be fantastic -- and it turns out that it was even better than fantastic. It's my favorite oatmeal recipe ever, and even the Guv scarfed it down and helped himself to seconds. Petunia ate the leftovers for several more days, as did I. So even if you don't think you like oatmeal, I encourage you to give this recipe a whirl. It'd be great to make for your morning coffee klatsch or a special brunch. Enjoy!
Baked Oatmeal *
Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats (I recommend Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 cup toasted and chopped walnut pieces, divided in half
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea-salt
2 cups milk
1 large egg
3 Tablespoons melted butter, cooled slightly and divided in half
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 1/2 cups blueberries (or any berries), divided into 1 cup and 1/2 cup
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees with a rack in the top third of the oven. Grease (with butter) an 8-inch square baking dish.
In one bowl, mix the oats, 1/2 of the walnuts, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
In another bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, milk, egg, 1/2 of the melted butter, and vanilla.
Layer the bananas in a single layer on the bottom of the pan. Top with 1 cup of the berries, followed by the oat mixture. Slowly and gently drizzle the wet mixture atop. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 of the walnuts and 1/2 cup of berries atop.
Bake for 35-45 minutes until the top is golden brown. Remove from oven and drizzle with remaining 1/2 of butter.
Serves 6-8 generously. Reheats well if you add some milk to it.
*Note: I shortened the directions and ingredients where I wanted ... if you want all of Swanson's directions and words, pick up her great cookbook! It really is quite good. The next recipe I'll try from there, later today, is her granola -- which I suspect will be great sprinkled atop this dish.
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