While cleaning up after dinner a few years ago, my 4-year-old daughter Josie kissed me goodnight and ran upstairs so her dad could put her to bed. “Oh, and mom? Can we have that beautiful porridge again for breakfast tomorrow?” And she left.
You may be saying to yourself, “Beautiful? Blech!” I’d bet the porridge of your youth was a sticky mess that stuck to your spoon as well as your ribs. It does not have to be this way. Her family might love a good stir-fry as much as mine, though I can’t say her kids will eat three bowls at a time like Josie does when she’s in the middle of a growth spurt.
The secret: fresh grain, properly prepared
But first, some basic terminology. What do we understand by porridge? Porridge, which also goes by the names stir-fry, porridge, and very unappetizing porridge, is any of a number of grains that have been broken or rolled (steamed and flattened) and then cooked in water or milk until soft. quite soft. The classic, of course, is oatmeal, which we will talk about later.
The best cereals for porridge
* Broken wheat
* Steel cut oats
* Coarsely ground corn (polenta or grits)
* Whole grain or broken brown rice
* Spell
* Kamut
* Darling
*Barley
* amaranth
* Quinoa
* …or really any grain you like!
Almost any grain makes a good porridge. The key is to cook them longer than you would if you served the same grain for dinner and in more water. What makes the porridge my family eats taste better than the ones you probably remember from childhood is that we don’t buy it in boxes and keep it on the shelf for years. We buy fresh grains, usually from the bulk bins or in big sacks straight from the mill, and we stay away from rolled grains, like what you probably think is oats.
And the oats?
Rolled oats are great for cookies and granola, but when it comes to a proper porridge, steel-cut oats are what you want. These are also called pinhead, Scottish, Irish, thick-cut, or oatmeal. Unlike rolled oats, which are steamed and then flattened into flakes, steel cut oats are the raw grain (a grain when talking about oats), ground very coarsely, chopped or broken, actually. This makes for a much chewier, firmer textured porridge with a full-bodied, nutty flavor. One bowl of steel cut oatmeal porridge and you’ll be a believer.
In the US, probably the most famous brand of steel cut oatmeal is McCann’s Irish Oatmeal, which makes an extremely tasty porridge; it’s also wildly expensive for what it is (over $6 for a 28 oz. at Trader Joe’s the last time I bought it). Bob’s Red Mill is a good version, although I find it too fine for my taste. Bob’s version cooks much faster than McCann’s, which takes a full half hour.
Grinding your grain yourself
By far the best, and often cheapest in the long run when considering waste and nutrition, since whole grain lasts much longer than ground grain, is to buy whole grains and grind them yourself. I have a small hand grinder. It was cheap, less than $50. You can get accessories for your blender or invest in a fancy electric grinder, but I find there’s something satisfying about using a manual grinder. Lehmans.com has a wide variety of them in many price ranges.
About once a week I roast a few beans in a dry pan on the stove until they start to give off a nutty smell. Then once they cool down I grind them on the coarsest setting of my grain mill. Kids like to help with this sometimes, especially if you have a manual grinder. What you seek is barely ground, cracked, really; If at the end you have flour left, it has been too fine. (Make some bread.) I then store the ground grain in an airtight tin (a McCann tin) until I need it. I try not to grind more than I can use in a week.
Having said all this, I must emphasize that you do NOT have to go to all this trouble to make a good porridge. Just buy small batches of cracked beans from a trusted source; make sure they haven’t been sitting on a shelf since the Truman administration, or even the Clinton administration.
cooking it
It’s variable, but a safe rule of thumb for porridge is one part grain to four parts water. You want it moister than you would with the same grain for dinner.
My favorite way to make it used to be in a very small slow cooker I’ve had since I left home, a small one-person pot that makes just enough porridge for the family’s breakfast, as long as we’re not all incredibly hungry. I put the grain and water in the pot the night before, put the lid on, plugged it in, and forgot. Another method: try a wide-mouthed thermos: put the grain and water in the thermos, cover it with a tea towel or thick kitchen towel, and you’ll have well-cooked porridge in the morning.
However, since I discovered Nourishing Traditions, the way I cook my porridge has changed. It has also made it faster. The night before, I put my cracked grain in my rice cooker (without a rice cooker, I could just use a plain pot) with water to cover and a pinch of salt. In the morning, I add more water, turn on my rice cooker (or use the stovetop method below), and in about 10-15 minutes I have rich, creamy porridge. Soaking the grain makes the nutrients it contains more bioavailable, as well as speeding up cooking times. The rice cooker makes it almost as easy as toast.
If any of these fail, you can use the good old stovetop method. Put your water and a pinch of salt on the stove to boil in a pot with a lid. When it comes to a good boil, pour your grain into the water in a thin stream, stirring as you go. This will prevent lumps. Reduce the water to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. If you have a flame tamer or a heat diffuser to put under the pot, so much the better; it will prevent the porridge from burning. Lift the lid, take it off the heat and let it sit for another 5-10 minutes.
serve it forward
Serve your porridge with, choose one, maple syrup, honey, brown sugar, molasses, jam, raisins, chopped dried fruit, sliced fresh fruit, and milk, rice milk, cream, or even buttermilk just like they do in Scotland. (not as weird as it sounds with oatmeal, not my favorite though). Add a little butter, or not. Add a pinch of cinnamon, or not.
My favorite ingredients depend on what is in the porridge. If it’s all or mostly corn, I add molasses or honey, butter, and just enough milk to thin it out. If it’s brown rice (delicious for breakfast!) all I put in is raisins and cinnamon. With oats, it’s milk, brown sugar or real maple syrup, cinnamon, and a little butter.
You’ll find that a porridge breakfast will fuel you for your day like no other. We eat it all year round; it’s cheap, it’s incredibly nutritious and wonderfully delicious.
