Oatmeal "Mush"

My father's family know oatmeal by only one name.  Mush.  That's what Grandma and Grandpa Bade called it.  If they called it by it's true name when I was a kid, I would have never eaten it.  I was a self-avowed oatmeal hater--but I liked mush.  I thought it was a special treat I got to eat when I spent the night with my grandparents.  I didn't know mush was oatmeal--the substance created when a packet was ripped open and hot water was added.  You know, the stuff that coagulates in milk.  The only paste a kid is allowed to eat.  I frustrated my mother something awful when I asked for mush, but when mom pulled out the packet of instant oatmeal--I turned my nose up at it and made faces.  I can still hear the starving children in China  lecture.  It was one I heard so often, I still remember it.  Verbatim.   Instant oatmeal is an acquired taste and I was a late bloomer.  I couldn't stomach it until my teen years when children turn into goats eating anything and everything.  Mush, however, is one of those foods that I've always liked.

Mush was the staple in my grandparents' diet.  Every morning either my grandpa or grandma would get up before dawn and put the oatmeal on to cook.  As it cooked, they would sit down at the table with the Bible and start to read.   They fed their souls before feeding their bodies.

In my attempts to recreate the same texture/flavor of oatmeal that was served at my grandparents, I failed miserably.  The reason?  I was using rolled oats.  Rolled oats are processed so that cooking times are reduced.  After the hull is removed from the grain, the grain is steamed then flattened to varying thinness.  This increases the surface area of the grain allowing for shorter cooking times.  This affects the texture.

My grandparents used whole oat groats or steel cut oats.  Whole groats are the oat kernel left intact.  Steel cut oats is the end product of the groats being cut up by steel blades during processing.

All oats are steamed to neutralize the enzymes inside the grain. This prevents the cereal from going rancid.  No chemicals or other preservatives are needed.  Steaming, cutting and  rolling remain the extent of processing.  The exception would be instant where the rolled oat is cooked then dehydrated.

The easiest method of cooking steel cut oats is by using a crock pot.  The recipe is relatively simple and easily modified to accommodate personal preferences.

For plain oatmeal, melt 2 tablespoons butter in fry pan.  Add 2 cups steel-cut oats to melted butter.  Cook and stir for about 2 minutes until oats are toasted.  Place toasted  oats in crock pot.  Add 8 cups water and 1/2 cup half-n-half.  Set crock to low heat and leave for 8 hours to work it's magic.  At the end of the cooking time, then add salt to taste.  Do not salt before as the oats neutralize the salt during cooking.  Please note that the oatmeal might have a crusty appearance--don't worry, just stir it all in.


Rest assured, the half-n-half and butter are optional if you are wanting to reduce fat/calories.

This is a very versatile recipe.  Dried, canned or fresh fruit may be added with your favorite spices, nuts and sweeteners.  Due to the extended cooking time, some dried fruits might need to be added an hour before the oatmeal is finished cooking otherwise, the fruit might break up.

My current favorite add-ins are dried blueberries, dried cranberries along with 1/2 cup maple syrup.  To the base recipe I added blueberries and the syrup at the beginning of the cook time.  I add the cranberries at the end. 

Of course, adding raisins and cinnamon is good too--especially with a drizzle of a mildly flavored honey.

What are your favorite mix-ins?