I used to like oatmeal, until I decided to attempt to lower my cholesterol
by having a bowl every morning for a month. That was six or seven years ago,
and I haven't been much of an oatmeal fan ever since. But today I tried
McCann's Irish Oatmeal (Steel-Cut Oats) for the first time, and it was
exceptional. Normally, oatmeal is made by rolling oats between steel rollers
to flatten them into little booger-shaped plates, a resemblance which
becomes even more pronounced upon cooking. This oatmeal is made by cutting
the grains (called "groats") into little cylinders instead. When cooked, the
oats plump up nicely and take on a pleasant chewy texture. Toasting them
beforehand also causes them to take on a nutty flavor.

It wasn't particularly quick: Altogether, the process took about 40 minutes,
but it wasn't labor-intensive; all I had to do was toss the oats while they
were being pan-toasted for two minutes, dump in some water and cook them for
25 minutes (without stirring at all), then dump in some milk and cook for
another 10 minutes, while stirring occasionally.

I'm going to try an even easier recipe for tomorrow: Before I go to bed, the
oats get dumped in a crock pot, water and dried fruit are added (I'm going
to use dried apricots and dried cranberries), and the crock pot cooks the
oatmeal while I sleep.

Bob