Apple cinnamon oatmeal

 

All too often there's a long gap between when I espy a recipe I want to try and when I get around to actually making it. Plenty of time to forget the details.

I remembered there was an apple oatmeal recipe I wanted to try for breakfast, and remembered thinking it wasn't something I'd be likely to pull off before work. So when I woke up early one morning when Dave went out to shovel sometime after 5, I figured I'd finally make that recipe that called for steel cut oats. 

Only it didn't, as it turns out. My memory had translated "would take too long before work" into Irish oatmeal, which I rarely get around to on weekdays. (Yes, I know I could speed the process by soaking them overnight, but they're still going to take longer than standard oatmeal, and I scramble around enough as it is.) I could, of course, have gone ahead and made the recipe with old fashioned oatmeal as called for. But by that time I was hungry for steel cut oats, so I went ahead and sort of split the difference. I did some further refinement when I tried this on the weekend, and think this works quite well. 

I did finally get around to making the original recipe. But now I'm spoiled because I've had the version with steel cut oats, which I kind of dote on even though I don't get around to them as often as I'd like. 

 Spiced Apple Oatmeal

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, October 2020

Ingredients
1½ cups water, plus 3 tablespoons, divided
½ cup apple cider or juice (or more water)
¾ teaspoon cinnamon, divided
1 cup steel cut oats
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup
¼ teaspoon salt
Toasted pecans or walnuts, optional

Method
In a medium saucepan, bring 1½ cups water, apple cider and ½ teaspoon cinnamon to a boil. Stir in steel cut oats and simmer until tender and liquid is absorbed.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine apple, remaining 3 tablespoons water, butter, syrup, salt and remaining ½ teaspoon cinnamon and bring to a simmer. Cook, covered, until tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. When apples are tender, spoon some of the cooking liquid into the oatmeal as it cooks, leaving some liquid in the pan with the apples. Simmer apple mixture uncovered until liquid reduces somewhat and becomes more syrupy. Remove from heat and set aside.

Serve oatmeal topped with apple mixture and toasted nuts, if desired.

Rating: The steel cut oat version is really quite nice, and on weekends totally manageable. The old fashioned oat version is just fine, but not something that makes you remember, oh, yeah, that was really good. I should make that again.