Hey! Wake up! It's breakfast time!
I'm about to revolutionize your oatmeal with
something so simple, so delicious - and you won't find it anywhere else.
Lovely people, we are in the midst of an oatmeal craze that's taken over our
breakfast tables and our Instagram feeds. Well I have a news flash: you've been
doing it all backwards! What I mean is this: you've all been obsessing about
your toppings, instead of the oatmeal itself. Now, I love toppings,
toppings are great - and stay tuned for my top topping tips later - but the
foundation of a killer porridge is how you prepare the oats! I swear, once you've
mastered this life-changing method, you'll be asking yourself: why didn't I
ever try this before? As I see it, there are two camps of porridge eaters: the
creamy camp and the chewy camp. I am a lover of both, so I've created a single
recipe that merges the best of both worlds. So, full disclosure: this does
require some cooking on the stovetop, but it won't take long, and it's literally
easy enough for anyone to do. Plus we'll make enough for the full workweek,
so you don't have to resort to those overnight oats...
Time out - can I tell you what irks me about overnight oats? For anybody who missed this trend: you take
oats and some liquid, put them in a jar, soak them overnight, and in the morning,
you don't even cook them, you just add your toppings, mix, and go! It's clever - but
let's be honest: the oats don't actually taste very good...they're sort of soupy
bland tasting flakes...and a good reminder why the Romans only fed oats to their livestock...
I'm going to teach you a recipe that
makes the oats themselves irresistible. You're going to be sneaking spoonfuls of
oatmeal on the sly like it's pudding. By the way, I've heard people say that
eating raw oats is healthier than cooked oats, but I've also seen research that
suggests that cooking actually unlocks nutrients that the body can't extract
itself. I'll leave a link to that article in the description below. Okay, let's do
this! But first, we have to choose our weapon. The most common oats are
old-fashioned, quick cooking, instant, and steel-cut. Here's what that means:
oats are seeds - when you remove the inedible hulls, you get edible oat groats
or kernels. When these groats are chopped into smaller bits, you have
steel-cut oats. They're the chewest of the group. Now, when the manufacturer steams
this steel-cut oats, and then flattens them between rollers, you get
quick-cooking oats. When they roll them even thinner, you have instant oats. Now
go back to those whole groats - if you leave them whole,
steamed, and flatten them, you have old-fashioned oats. Old-fashioned will
give you the creamiest porridge without losing the oats' structure. Now let's
pretend it's the weekend - you want to prepare breakfast for the entire week. On
Sunday morning, you...(clearing throat)...on Sunday morning, you take out a medium saucepan, and you
put it over a medium flame. Add 4 tablespoons of salted butter. When it
melts, you add one and a half cups of oats. You stir these to coat. What we're
doing right now is key. Cooking the oats in butter makes them toasty, nutty - this
flavor is going to transform your porridge. A lot of people will put butter
in at the end, but it's not changing the oats in any way; this is making them
tastier. Keep moving them around so the oats don't burn. You know you're almost
done when you smell those oats getting toasty. Okay, turn off the flame.
Now you're going to take out a 1/2 cup of these toasted oats, and set them aside.
These are going to be your secret weapon.
I'm warning you these are really delicious - they're like buttered popcorn.
So, sample, but don't eat them all right now. I line my container with a little
bit of paper towel, to soak up any residual butter. You're going to set
these aside, but don't put them in the fridge - because that will make them soggy.
Just cover them, put them on your counter. Okay, now, back to the oats left in the
pan: you're gonna take three cups of milk and put them right in.
I'm using cow's milk, but you can use any vegan alternative. You're going to give this a
little stir, just to mix it up, and that's it you're going to take this pot, and
once it cools off a little bit, put it right in your fridge if you have the
room, otherwise just transfer it to a bowl. You're going to let this soak for
the rest of the day. Okay, it's Sunday evening, your oats have been
in the fridge soaking all day. Now you take them out you put them back on the
stovetop over a medium-high flame. You want to bring the milk just up to a boil.
You want to stir it now and again as it's coming up to a boil, so nothing
sticks to the bottom and burns. But as soon as you start to see bubbles break
the surface, you're going to turn the flame all the way down to low.
Now this last step is all about achieving the right texture - we want
creaminess, so what we're going to do is take a whisk and we're going to keep
stirring until the oats release a bit of starch into the liquid, and thickens it
up. It's the same principle as making rice pudding. The oats - because they've
been soaking this whole time, are already soft. You could eat them now, but the
consistency will be soupy...This step might take 10-15 minutes - you don't have
to whisk the entire time, but you do have to whisk kind of frequently.
Shout out to my mom, who taught me how to make rice pudding the right way.
And that's it - you just made yourself a week's worth of delectable, creamy, nutty
porridge - naturally sweet from the milk, a little bit salty from the butter, but
here's what you're going to do to send it right over the top: to each serving
you're going to stir in a handful of those toasted oats you set aside. Now you
get the creamy with a little bit of the crispy in every bite. Just don't add
those crispy oats until you're ready to eat them; otherwise they'll get soggy.
So there's your killer porridge! And you can eat it just like that all week. It's
awesome. But if you want to mix it up a little bit, here are my favorite simple toppings...
Or you can get creative with your liquids. The oatmeal is going to stiffen
up as the week goes on, so when you reheat your serving you're going to want
to add a little bit of liquid to loosen it up. So why not add coconut milk, or
brew a cup of Masala Chai tea, and then add a couple of tablespoons to your
oatmeal? Trust me it's amazing. So what do you think? Can we finally put the
overnight oats to rest? Sometimes a tasty breakfast requires a little work - just a little.
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Or...make a Masala Tai Chi...Tai Chi? Hahahaha....Tai Chi...Hahahaha...ok...sorry...