Porridge: I am old-fashioned enough to embrace this term, generally understood as one or more cereal or grain ingredients cooked to tender submission in liquid on the stove top. But when it's presented with splashes of hot milk or embellished with dried fruit, raw nuts or seeds, a spoonful of maple syrup or muscovado sugar, hot cereal can be so much more than a bowl of oats, beloved as that is.
A mixture of rolled cereals and milled grain is texturally interesting and produces soft, earthy flavors. The idea of combining fairly disparate elements is not particularly novel, as thrifty cooks tend to use up small amounts in delicious ways.
But the sheer variety of cultivated components now available drove me to develop a blueprint for a recipe that allows for creative substitution.
In the accompanying tips list, you will find exchanges and additions for customizing with sweetening agents, seasonings and other enhancements for mixing and matching.
And now, a confession: One of my clearest childhood memories is of me as a 4-year-old, running to hide in the bathtub after a bowl of oatmeal was placed before me at the kitchen table. It looked like library paste, and it was years later that anything resembling that bowl would charm me.
Bolstered by a pantry full of flakes, meals and grains, however, I'm pleased to be at the ready for a warm bowl of goodness on a cold morning.
GIVE YOUR HOT CEREAL A GOURMET TOUCH
Think of this list as a working plan for mixing and matching ingredients in a saucepan of hot cereal – see the accompanying recipe – or for topping a steaming bowl.
• Rolled barley flakes: Substitute 1/2 cup for an equal amount of spelt flakes or rolled wheat flakes. How to use: Add along with the other grains and meals
Cream of buckwheat: Substitute 1/4 cup for an equal amount of brown rice farina.
How to use: Add along with the other grains and meals
• Dry sweetening agents: Brown sugar (light or dark), muscovado sugar (light or dark), evaporated cane juice sugar; 1/4 to 1/3 cup for the entire recipe.
How to use: Add to water and salt before boiling.
• Liquid sweetening agents: Maple syrup, agave nectar; 1/4 to 1/3 cup for the entire recipe.
How to use: Add to water and salt before boiling.
• Raw or roasted cashews, raw walnuts, raw almonds, raw pistachios; 1 tablespoon per serving. How to use: Sprinkle over cooked hot cereal.
• Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds; 1 tablespoon per serving for pumpkin seeds, 1 teaspoon per serving for sunflower seeds, 1/2 teaspoon per serving for sesame seeds.
How to use: Sprinkle over cooked hot cereal.
• Small dried fruit: Blueberries, cranberries, currants, raisins (golden or dark), cherries (sweet or tart), gooseberries, goji berries; unsweetened coconut flakes; 1 tablespoon per serving.
How to use: Stir into cereal halfway through the cooking time, or sprinkle over cooked hot cereal.
• Large dried fruit: Pitted prunes, apricots, pluots, dates, pineapple; 3 or 4 pieces per serving.
How to use: Dice and stir into cereal halfway through the cooking time, or sprinkle over cooked hot cereal.
• Preserved/crystallized ingredients: crystallized ginger, ginger in syrup, kumquats in syrup; 1 or 2 pieces per serving.
How to use: Dice and stir into hot cereal just before serving.
• Ground spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom. For cinnamon, use 3 teaspoons; for nutmeg and ginger, use 1 teaspoon; for cardamom, use 1/2 teaspoon (all amounts are for the entire recipe).
How to use: Add to water and salt before boiling.
• Vanilla extract: 2 to 3 teaspoons for the entire recipe.
How to use: Stir into hot cereal just before serving.
• Whey protein powder: 1/4 cup for the entire recipe.
How to use: Stir into salted boiling water.
• Finishing liquids: milk, half-and-half, heavy cream, coconut milk; 1/4 cup per serving.
How to use: Heat the liquid, and pour over individual servings of hot cereal.
• For sprinkling: Toasted wheat germ, roasted unsalted soy nuts; 2 to 3 teaspoons per serving.
How to use: Sprinkle over cooked hot cereal.
RECIPE:
Hot cereal merry-go-round
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Serves 5
Bob's Red Mill is an excellent and reliable source for gluten-free and organic meals and cereals as well as seeds, dried fruit, nuts and sweeteners.
Natural-food stores and food co-ops might offer some of the ingredients in bulk bins.
The amount of water required to cook the cereal is directly dependent on the circumference and depth of the saucepan used; a wider saucepan will necessitate more water.
Serve with a splash of warmed milk, half-and-half, heavy cream or coconut milk. See the accompanying tips list for more add-ins.
Make ahead: Though freshly made is best, hot cereal can be portioned out into individual food-safe containers, sealed tightly and refrigerated for up to 1 day or frozen for up to 3 weeks. Because the stored cereal will congeal, it needs to be loosened up with additional water (about 3 tablespoons for each 2/3 cup of cooked cereal) during reheating.
– Cookbook author Lisa Yockelson
INGREDIENTS
4 1/2 cups water, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt, preferably coarse sea salt (or to taste)
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup rolled wheat flakes
1/2 cup rolled spelt flakes
1/3 cup miller's bran (also known as unprocessed wheat bran; not bran cereal)
1/4 cup brown rice farina (also known as brown rice grits or creamy rice)
3 tablespoons golden flaxseed meal
Dried fruit (see accompanying tips list)
2 to 3 teaspoons vanilla extract (optional; may substitute other sweetening agents; see accompanying list)
INSTRUCTIONS
Combine 3 1/2 cups of the water and the salt in a large, heavy saucepan (preferably enameled cast iron) and bring to a boil over high heat. If you are using one of the sweetening agents (see accompanying list), now is the time to add it, stirring well to blend it into the water. When the water is boiling, sprinkle in the remaining ingredients, one at a time and in this order, stirring after each addition: old-fashioned rolled oats, rolled wheat flakes, rolled spelt flakes, miller's bran, brown rice farina and flaxseed meal.
Reduce the heat to low; cook for about 5 minutes, then stir in 1/3 cup of the remaining water, adjusting the heat as needed so the mixture bubbles gently. Repeat two more times, so the remaining 2/3 cup of water is added at 5-minute intervals and the mixture has cooked during this stage for a total of 15 minutes.
After about 10 minutes of cooking, you can add dried fruit (whole or diced), as the fruit plumps beautifully and will not need rehydrating beforehand.
It is preferable to stir the mixture frequently, though not constantly, with a wooden spoon during the cooking time to keep it from sticking to the saucepan and to maintain an even texture. When cooked through, the ingredients should be tender and well blended. If you are adding vanilla extract, stir it in, to taste, after the saucepan is removed from the heat.
Divide the hot cereal among individual bowls. See the accompanying list for garnish ideas.
Per serving (cereal only): 140 calories, 5 g protein, 27 g carbohydrates, 3 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 230 mg sodium, 6 g dietary fiber, 0 g sugar
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