Recipe Corner
Hey, so, I've been describing to some of my friends on voice chat the things I've been making to eat lately. I am not a very good cook really, but I guess I sound like a good one to some of them because they don't cook at all! Leah asked for cooking lessons. :P I don't know that I'm qualified to give them, but I can share some of my recipes! Even if they are really simple. I'm not sure if all of these friends even have LiveJournal, but there's no reason they can't drop by to check this stuff out!
Oatmeal
Some people don't like oatmeal. Usually it's the mushy texture, or maybe they think it's too bland. But the great thing about oatmeal is all the ways you can dress it up. Not to mention it's really good for you! High in carbs, but probably some of the healthiest carbs you can have, since oatmeal IS just whole grain. You can vary the texture by altering the ratio of water to oats and also how long you cook it. It's also really filling. It makes a great breakfast, but also a good snack if you make a smaller amount of it. And if you're really hungry post-dinner, it's a healthier choice than something like ice cream!
The first choice to make is oats. The easiest kind are quick oats, which cook up in a couple minutes. Other, somewhat fancier oats can take longer, like, say, 10 minutes. My friend lucca1 just got a rice cooker that can also cook steel cut oats, but it takes about an hour. (They are SO good though.) Basically, the longer it takes to cook them, the better they usually taste - but quick oats are the cheapest and easiest, and you may find the difference is not enough to bother with. If you're really picky though, the fancier oats often taste nuttier and are generally more flavorful.
The usual recipe is one cup of water for each 1/2 cup of oats. That's about one serving, but if you're really hungry you might want to add a little more. In general, if you want to have thicker oatmeal, add more oats or less water. Heat the water in a saucepan on high - you may want to add a dash of salt - and when it's at a rolling boil, turn the heat down to medium and add the oats. How long you cook the oats depends on what type of oats they are. Keep an eye on them, and stir every so often, especially as they start to cook up because they will stick to the pan if you don't. You don't want them to burn, either! (You can cover the saucepan with a lid while the water boils to help it boil just a bit faster, but don't cover the oatmeal while it's cooking. Steam builds up and it can boil over, and gooey oatmeal water is not fun to clean up off the stove! I found this out the other day.)
You don't have to cook the oatmeal an exact amount of time - it works better to eyeball it and serve it up when it's the consistency you want. When you serve up the oatmeal, remember to put the saucepan straight into the sink and fill it with water! I usually like to clean up as I go, especially while baking - while a cake is in the oven you can clean up the dishes and put away the ingredients - but with cooking it's usually ready to eat immediately. But oatmeal will dry onto a pan and stick really badly, and it's a HUGE pain to clean off later. If you fill the pan with water right away, you can rinse it when you're done eating and the oats will come off easily! (This is the same when cooking rice, by the way.)
That's the basic recipe! Now, let's talk about ways to dress it up. You can experiment on your own, but always think about what flavors will taste good together. Here are some of my favorite ingredients. You can pick and choose which ones appeal to you.
Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
The first thing you likely want to start with is the apple, since apples take longer to cook than most kinds of oats. You can always just toss the apple slices in with the oatmeal, but they'll mostly just warm up rather than actually cook by the time the oatmeal is ready. I prefer to start the apples a few minutes ahead of the oatmeal. There are lots of different kinds of apples, of course, but I prefer the more tart and tangy kind for cooking and baking, so that usually means Granny Smith apples. Jonagolds and Fujis can also be really good, though they're not as tart. Softer apples will generally take a little less time to cook. (Granny Smith can be pretty firm.) A small to medium sized apple is good for one or two servings of oatmeal. I use a paring knife to slice the apple in quarters, then cut out the core and seeds and peel each quarter. Then I cut each quarter into thin slices, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. You can do thicker if you want, but they take longer to cook! The trickiest part of this is timing it so everything is ready around the same time.
Take a pat of butter (about a tablespoon) and put it in a small saucepan on medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the apple slices and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon. Keep stirring regularly. This is a good time to start the water boiling for the oatmeal, if you haven't already. Stir the apples every so often while you cook the oats. You can also get some raisins ready and toss them in with the oats when the water is ready. This way they soak up the water and get nice and juicy and plump.
Ideally the oatmeal will be ready around the same time as the apples, which will be firm but no longer crunchy. Serve up the oatmeal into a bowl and then spoon the apple slices on top of it. I have a specialty kind of cinnamon butter with sugar and spices added into it, and I like to serve a sizeable dollop on top. It melts quickly and is delicious! But that's definitely not something that is available everywhere, so you could try adding a little cinnamon to the apples and butter when you cook them, or you could stir cinnamon into the oatmeal when you serve it. Additional butter is optional - it can make your oatmeal much tastier, but it's also not quite as healthy! As long as you don't overdo it, though, a little butter won't hurt you. You can also add brown sugar or honey if you want your oatmeal sweeter. I like to add nuts for a little extra crunchiness - sliced almonds are good, but if you don't have those, I find coarsely ground walnuts are yummy too. (Walnuts are also good for you! I usually take a handful of walnut halves and break them up a little with my fingers before sprinkling them on the oatmeal.)
You can experiment with other flavors, too. You could try other spices such as cloves, nutmeg, or if you feel daring, maybe even a little bit of ginger. You can buy mulling spices for apple cider - this also tastes good, but go easy on it, just a little sprinkling is enough! If the oatmeal is too hot, a splash of milk will cool it down enough to eat and will also add to the flavor. You can make oatmeal with milk instead of water, too, but it's best to do this if you're going to cook it in the microwave, since it can be really tricky not to burn milk on the stove. Burned milk is nasty stuff!
You can also just have oatmeal with plenty of butter, milk, and brown sugar. It all mixes and melts together and tastes a little like caramel! Oatmeal is also good topped with berries or with jam stirred in. Try experimenting with flavors and see what tastes good to you!
I know this is a really simple recipe, but it's a great start for someone just beginning to cook. It's easy and is a good introduction to experimenting with flavors. Give it a try and see how you like it!
Oatmeal
Some people don't like oatmeal. Usually it's the mushy texture, or maybe they think it's too bland. But the great thing about oatmeal is all the ways you can dress it up. Not to mention it's really good for you! High in carbs, but probably some of the healthiest carbs you can have, since oatmeal IS just whole grain. You can vary the texture by altering the ratio of water to oats and also how long you cook it. It's also really filling. It makes a great breakfast, but also a good snack if you make a smaller amount of it. And if you're really hungry post-dinner, it's a healthier choice than something like ice cream!
The first choice to make is oats. The easiest kind are quick oats, which cook up in a couple minutes. Other, somewhat fancier oats can take longer, like, say, 10 minutes. My friend lucca1 just got a rice cooker that can also cook steel cut oats, but it takes about an hour. (They are SO good though.) Basically, the longer it takes to cook them, the better they usually taste - but quick oats are the cheapest and easiest, and you may find the difference is not enough to bother with. If you're really picky though, the fancier oats often taste nuttier and are generally more flavorful.
The usual recipe is one cup of water for each 1/2 cup of oats. That's about one serving, but if you're really hungry you might want to add a little more. In general, if you want to have thicker oatmeal, add more oats or less water. Heat the water in a saucepan on high - you may want to add a dash of salt - and when it's at a rolling boil, turn the heat down to medium and add the oats. How long you cook the oats depends on what type of oats they are. Keep an eye on them, and stir every so often, especially as they start to cook up because they will stick to the pan if you don't. You don't want them to burn, either! (You can cover the saucepan with a lid while the water boils to help it boil just a bit faster, but don't cover the oatmeal while it's cooking. Steam builds up and it can boil over, and gooey oatmeal water is not fun to clean up off the stove! I found this out the other day.)
You don't have to cook the oatmeal an exact amount of time - it works better to eyeball it and serve it up when it's the consistency you want. When you serve up the oatmeal, remember to put the saucepan straight into the sink and fill it with water! I usually like to clean up as I go, especially while baking - while a cake is in the oven you can clean up the dishes and put away the ingredients - but with cooking it's usually ready to eat immediately. But oatmeal will dry onto a pan and stick really badly, and it's a HUGE pain to clean off later. If you fill the pan with water right away, you can rinse it when you're done eating and the oats will come off easily! (This is the same when cooking rice, by the way.)
That's the basic recipe! Now, let's talk about ways to dress it up. You can experiment on your own, but always think about what flavors will taste good together. Here are some of my favorite ingredients. You can pick and choose which ones appeal to you.
Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
The first thing you likely want to start with is the apple, since apples take longer to cook than most kinds of oats. You can always just toss the apple slices in with the oatmeal, but they'll mostly just warm up rather than actually cook by the time the oatmeal is ready. I prefer to start the apples a few minutes ahead of the oatmeal. There are lots of different kinds of apples, of course, but I prefer the more tart and tangy kind for cooking and baking, so that usually means Granny Smith apples. Jonagolds and Fujis can also be really good, though they're not as tart. Softer apples will generally take a little less time to cook. (Granny Smith can be pretty firm.) A small to medium sized apple is good for one or two servings of oatmeal. I use a paring knife to slice the apple in quarters, then cut out the core and seeds and peel each quarter. Then I cut each quarter into thin slices, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. You can do thicker if you want, but they take longer to cook! The trickiest part of this is timing it so everything is ready around the same time.
Take a pat of butter (about a tablespoon) and put it in a small saucepan on medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the apple slices and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon. Keep stirring regularly. This is a good time to start the water boiling for the oatmeal, if you haven't already. Stir the apples every so often while you cook the oats. You can also get some raisins ready and toss them in with the oats when the water is ready. This way they soak up the water and get nice and juicy and plump.
Ideally the oatmeal will be ready around the same time as the apples, which will be firm but no longer crunchy. Serve up the oatmeal into a bowl and then spoon the apple slices on top of it. I have a specialty kind of cinnamon butter with sugar and spices added into it, and I like to serve a sizeable dollop on top. It melts quickly and is delicious! But that's definitely not something that is available everywhere, so you could try adding a little cinnamon to the apples and butter when you cook them, or you could stir cinnamon into the oatmeal when you serve it. Additional butter is optional - it can make your oatmeal much tastier, but it's also not quite as healthy! As long as you don't overdo it, though, a little butter won't hurt you. You can also add brown sugar or honey if you want your oatmeal sweeter. I like to add nuts for a little extra crunchiness - sliced almonds are good, but if you don't have those, I find coarsely ground walnuts are yummy too. (Walnuts are also good for you! I usually take a handful of walnut halves and break them up a little with my fingers before sprinkling them on the oatmeal.)
You can experiment with other flavors, too. You could try other spices such as cloves, nutmeg, or if you feel daring, maybe even a little bit of ginger. You can buy mulling spices for apple cider - this also tastes good, but go easy on it, just a little sprinkling is enough! If the oatmeal is too hot, a splash of milk will cool it down enough to eat and will also add to the flavor. You can make oatmeal with milk instead of water, too, but it's best to do this if you're going to cook it in the microwave, since it can be really tricky not to burn milk on the stove. Burned milk is nasty stuff!
You can also just have oatmeal with plenty of butter, milk, and brown sugar. It all mixes and melts together and tastes a little like caramel! Oatmeal is also good topped with berries or with jam stirred in. Try experimenting with flavors and see what tastes good to you!
I know this is a really simple recipe, but it's a great start for someone just beginning to cook. It's easy and is a good introduction to experimenting with flavors. Give it a try and see how you like it!