Food

[karen2205]

I did a fair amount of cooking over the weekend - recipes for my own reference:



Chicken risotto - vegan marg in casserole dish, add in chopped onion, stir till the onion looks softish (while defrosting the chicken in the microwave). Add in the rice - add more marg when you decide that you want to cook all of the rice. Stir. Boil the kettle and make up the stock. Add the chicken, stir until the chicken is sealed. Then start adding the stock a little at a time. Go back and read the instructions again because it doesn't seem to be sticking together. Have faith in the method and keep adding more stock. It took closer to half an hour to get the right consistency than twenty minutes. You'll know when it's right.

Tuna + non cows' cheese pasta - boil pasta as usual. Make up dairy free cheese flavoured sauce. Don't do this in a microwave, follow the instructions and do it in a saucepan. Taste sauce and check it tastes acceptable before adding to the pasta. Add in tuna, stir, grate (goats'/sheep's) feta on top.

Meaty mixture with stuffing and mashed potatoes. Peel and boil potatoes. Add vegan marg and grated goats cheese and mash carefully. Leave to one side.
Make stuffing up according to instructions and leave to one side.
Chop garlic and onion and add to casserole dish. Chop up bacon and add it, followed by the mince. Then chop and add a yellow peper and a red pepper and some mange tout. Have the cunning idea to throw some lentils in. Make up a stock cube - the lentils will soak up lots of liquid and add it. Let it cook for a while, adding more liquid as necessary. (Should have added Worcestershire sauce + mustard but forgot).



Anyway, now for the important question - how do you make porridge?

I've tried all kinds of methods and can't seem to get my porridge the way it tastes at camp having been cooked over an open fire. Yesterday morning's attempt turned out so sticky I started to gag on it.

Comments

[mstevens.livejournal.com]

I buy instant-porridge-just-add-milk-and-microwave. Forget which brand.

And often add a bit of honey.

[karen2205]

Yeah, I've tried that and found that it just didn't taste right.

I normally add jam to my camp porridge.

[mstevens.livejournal.com]

I can see jam working.

I think the key is how much milk/water you us.

Plus simonb is probably right about it being personal preference to some degree - I know how to make porridge I like.

[simonb.livejournal.com]

The making of porridge is going to depend on how someone likes to eat their porridge. Personally I like to eat porridge which is fairly solid and is not that close to what most people would call porridge.

The usual ingredients for porridge I'd use are:

• 55g rolled whole porridge oats (eg Jordan's Organic whole rolled oats)


• 1 tbsp mixed spice


• 20g sultanas


• 300ml semi-skimmed milk

Mix the porridge oats and mixed spice in the bowl you're going to eat the porridge from. Mix in the sultanas - if you mix the porrdge oats and sultanas first you'll end up with quite a bit of mixed spice sticking to the sultanas. Mix in the milk. Put in the microwave on high for 4 minutes. Leave for at least 15 minutes to cool down and for the oats to absorb the milk. Eat.

Strangely enough I tend to get up, start the above cooking and only then go and get washed, dressed, etc so that I make best use of time in the mornings.

[karen2205]

Putting the kettle on is the first thing I do when I get out of bed in the morning - sometimes even before putting my glasses and watch on.

Sultanas and mixed spice in porridge sounds lovely.

I'd been trying to avoid it getting too sticky by making it entirely with water. I believe camp porridge is made using a mixture of water and milk.

[simonb.livejournal.com]

I used to make porridge using just water when I was following Slimming World and I found that it didn't make it much less stickier than when I use milk. Personally I prefer porridge made with milk - it tastes better (probably due to the flavours in the porridge dissolving into the fat in the milk).

It can be down to the type of porridge used, if its soaked over night, etc.

[cultureofdoubt.livejournal.com]

1 tbsp? That sounds a bit strong. Tasty though.

[simonb.livejournal.com]

A tablespoon of mixed spice is how I like it; its one of those ingredients which is in a "adjust to taste", along with the sultanas. The ratio of porridge oats to milk is important tho as it effects how solid (or not) the porridge is when cooked.

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

Personally I like to eat porridge which is fairly solid and is not that close to what most people would call porridge.

Battle porridge! If you can face that in the morning you can face the rest of the day no problem. :))

[simonb.livejournal.com]

Its not quite battle porridge - you can't sharpen it after all :)

However the fact that I can eat half of the bowl and have the other half happily standing up as its solid enough to be self supporting...

It may be tiredness with a lack of food, but self-supporting porridge now has me wondering if I could eat a tunnel through the porridge I'll have tomorrow morning :)

[karen2205]

Did you manage it?

[simonb.livejournal.com]

I managed to create a simple tunnel through porridge yesturday morning. I needed quite a bit of porridge with the right consistancy and used a teaspoon... the end result wasn't that great - the roof was buckling a little bit - but it was still a tunnel through porridge!

[glissando.livejournal.com]

If you know the night before that you're going to want porridge, then soak the oats overnight in milk/water. This will soften the oats and make a really creamy and smooth porridge. In the morning, heat the oats and milk/water gently - don't try and cook it too fast, cos then it can get sticky. It helps if you stir with a wooden spoon as the oats are heated, because then you can keep an eye on the consistency. Microwaving never works as well, but if you're really pushed for time it's acceptable (I suppose).

[karen2205]

*nods* - that'd work well at the weekends. During the week I don't have time to pre-soak the oats or to cook it any other way than in the microwave and porridge pans are hard to wash anyway.

[arkady.livejournal.com]

I make porridge in the microwave. About 2oz (55g) porridge oats in a large jug, stir in half a pint of milk. Microwave on high, uncovered, for 3-4 min in a 650W microwave or 2-3 min in a 750-850W microwave, stir, leave to stand for a couple of minutes, then drizzle in a little cold milk until it's the desired consistency (and cool enough to eat without causing 3rd degree burns!); add desired flavouring. I like a teaspoon of black treacle in mine. Tip into a bowl, put the jug into soapy water to soak immediately (because otherwise the leftover porridge sets like concrete), enjoy!

[simonb.livejournal.com]

Personally I just cook the porridge in the bowl I'll be eating it from, but I also leave the porridge for about 10-15 minutes to set/cool down after its finished in the microwave so its not like most porridge.

Its definately true that you have to soak the implements used to cook porridge in - when I finish with the bowl I use it gets filled with water; its far easier to clean it out when its been left for a while like that.

[karen2205]

I tend to cook in the crockery I'm going to eat from - I hate washing dishes, so try not to create them.

[karen2205]

*nods* re dribbling in extra liquid to get it to the right consistency.

You think a porridge jug is bad? Try a billy can - about 25cm radius, full of enough porridge to feed 25 people ish, that's been on a wood fire. Cleaning that pot is a horrible job - the outside's far easier to clean than the inside (washing up liquid painted on the outside makes it a lot easier to clean), and the job either goes to the girls who've been noisy at night or gets left for the adult cooks to do.

[rougeforever.livejournal.com]

50g porridge oats (I use Tesco Organic, but YMMV)
300ml soya milk

Put porridge and milk into (microwaveable) bowl.

Cook for 2 mins on high
Take out, stir
Cook for 2 mins on high
take out, stir.
Sit porridge for one minute.

I usually add chopped dates.

I love the Tesco porridge oats because they aren't milled (?) so fine, so you get a chewier porridge.

Mmmmmm. porridge.

[simonb.livejournal.com]

I love the Tesco porridge oats because they aren't milled (?) so fine, so you get a chewier porridge.

Thats why I use Jordans organic porridge oats which are just rolled oats rather than being roll and chopped up into really small pieces as you find has been done to quite a bit of porridge on the market.

[karen2205]

I'm currently working my way through a bag of Tesco value oats bought in 2001.

I might use what I've got left to make some flapjacks and buy some non-chopped oats for porridge making purposes.

[simonb.livejournal.com]

You may find that those oats are out of date; given the low cost of decent porridge oats I'd say that its worth just getting some new ones.

I also find that I prefer non-chopped porridge oats for flapjacks; the recipe I use doesn't have any butter and replaces the sugar with maple syrup. Another difference is that I cut the flapjack right after it comes out of the oven and not after its cooled - its much easier to cut then.

[karen2205]

Maybe - I'd always thought oats were one of those things that just didn't go off, like tinned veg.

I don't have any maple syrup - I don't particularly like it, though I might try making it using a combination of golden syrup and sugar rather than vegan marg and sugar.

Leaving it to cool before I cut it wouldn't even have crossed my mind:-) It's always easier to cut stuff like flapjacks when they're hot - besides you've got to cut them so you get your first slice to eat!

[simonb.livejournal.com]

Well, anything organic will go off if you leave it long enough. All it takes is for a little bit of moisture to get into the bag the oats are stored in and you'll end up with a lovely environment for bacteria or fungus to grow in. Give it enough time and you'll have a problem.

I should probably note that I only used maple syrup as it has a lower calorie density than golden syrup!

[karen2205]

*nods* - I don't like dates and I'm having great difficulties adapting to the taste of soya milk but the rest sounds good. I don't have the patience to cook breakfast in a saucepan. I normally have cold things for breakfast that don't require any cooking at all.

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

Maybe rice milk would work better for you?

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

Or, you know, maybe not. I'm a lot behind on reading and didn't catch your anti-rice-milk post before replying to this one.

[iuil.livejournal.com]

I don't cook my porridge! I put about a cup of oats into the bowl, add a tablespoon of sugar and a sliced banana. I then add a cup of milk (soya or cows') and leave to soak for a few minutes before eating.

If it's cooked, it goes all horrible and slimy ;-).

[karen2205]

Hmm, that could work - I'd always thought oats were a bit like lentils and had to be cooked through properly before it's safe to eat them.

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

Quick warning since I know you have IBS: IME, eating raw oats is a really good way of getting bad stomach cramps :-(.

OTOH, it tastes really yummy though!

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

They might be a bit difficult to digest if they aren't cooked first, but they aren't poisonous or anything (nor are lentils, iirc, but kidney beans and a few other related beans are. Lentils will just be a complete sod to digest because they are small round HARD things).

A breakfast I have if I make time muesli made with raw oats, although admittedly I leave it in the refrigerator overnight to get soft.

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

Per person: half a mug of oats, one and a bit cups of water. Put in pan, and heat until boiling. Turn temperature down, and cook on a low heat for a few minutes, stirring lots.

[skibbley.livejournal.com]

I do one cup of oats, one of water and one of soya milk. Bring to boil, stir and then put on very low heat to bubble until the required thickness. I like it with maple syrup if I want it sweet.

Another way I've had it is left overnight in a thick pan on a wood / coal burning stove on a boat.

Porridge

[daweaver.livejournal.com]

I go for a mish-mash of other people's recipes. The result can be slightly runnier than most people like it, and as it's cooked in the microwave, it's very sensitive to variations in power output.

Take two-thirds of a glass of oats, one-and-a-third glasses of water, and a pinch of salt.
Heat in the microwave on full power (800W) for about 2 minutes.
Stir in two tablespoons of semi-skimmed milk and a pinch of dried fruit.
Microwave on full power for 30 minutes.
Stir well, add a little more milk or water if required for consistency, and leave for about two minutes to cool and thicken.
Eat and enjoy.
Put the bowl in to soak at once, with a squirt of washing liquid.

[pfy.livejournal.com]

It sounds like your attempt described above was too thick, making it hard to swallow. Try adding more liquid during cooking to keep it somewhat runny. Also, make sure you are using milk for your porridge, not water. A half-and-half mixture of milk and water is just about acceptable if you are short of milk, but if you do not have enough milk even for that, give up and have toast instead. Porridge made entirely with water is not food, and should be used only for hanging wallpaper.

There is much good advice in the other comments. In particular, I second the advice about soaking the oats overnight (especially since it only takes 30 seconds to put some oats in a bowl and pour milk on top). It can take a while to judge the quantities correctly for your desired consistency, but it is worth the effort of experimenting, as this method gives you porridge that you can nuke in two minutes in the microwave in the morning, instead of having to mess about for 20 minutes with a saucepan.

The One True Way of eating porridge is, of course, with a light sprinkling of salt, but heathens may wish to include dried fruit, cinnamon, nutmeg, and such like in the mixture for soaking. If you like your porridge sweet, it's hard to beat a large blob of jam or golden syrup on top.