Savory Dinner Oatmeal with Mushrooms & Herbs

For those of you who started reading this blog before I entered my current existence as a solo-living, studio-apartment-dwelling graduate student, I'm sure you've noticed a trend in the posts I've made since. Generally it's simple, easy, and basically-healthy comfort food that appeals to the cook in me these days, and since it's a gross rainy day here in Philly (and, okay, I'm a little depressed at the prospect of not seeing Brady for another five weeks), I surely was not about to deviate from this theme tonight. So in the spirit of semi-wallowing in my school readings and Netflix reruns, I thought I'd take a stab at using a super basic whole grain as the base for this vegan main dish. If this idea seems a little weird to you, keep an eye out for my mushroom barley risotto, coming soon. It combines very similar flavors but bypasses any potential is-this-breakfast-or-dinner confusion.

Ingredients:
1/4 large white or yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 zucchini, sliced
2 tsp Italian herb mix
1 cup rolled oats - not instant or "quick-cooking"
About 3/4 cup water or vegetable broth
1 small clove garlic, smashed
Fresh parsley, diced avocado, or toasted pine nuts, for sprinkling (optional)
Salt & pepper
Olive oil

Directions:
1. In a medium saucepan, heat about 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Saute mushrooms until they release their juices, and the juices evaporate. Add garlic and onions and cook until softened before adding zucchini. Saute for about 1 minute then salt (generously if you're using water, less generously if you're using veggie broth), add a drizzle of water (a few teaspoons) and stir. Cover to cook for a few minutes until the vegetables are very soft.
2. Add oats, pepper and herbs. Stir, and gradually add about 3/4 cup water or vegetable broth. (You may use slightly more or less, but add it gradually so you know if it's getting too liquidy). Turn heat to low and cover to cook for a few minutes until oats are well softened. (I also added a dash of ground sage, dried marjoram and dried thyme just for fun).
3. Serve sprinkled with diced avocado, fresh herbs or pine nuts.

I won't act like this is my favorite thing ever, but it is somewhere between "not bad" and "pretty good, actually." So I'm not gonna hate on it. Just like for breakfast, oatmeal for dinner is low-glycemic, filling and heart-healthy, and with all the herbs and veggies, it ends up more like a thick risotto than "oatmeal" per se, which is probably the best outcome that I could expect.

Quote of the Day: One of life's best coping mechanisms is to know the difference between an inconvenience and a problem. If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you've got a problem. Everything else is an inconvenience. Life is inconvenient. Life is lumpy. A lump in the oatmeal, a lump in the throat and a lump in the breast are not the same kind of lump. One needs to learn the difference. ~ Robert Fulghum

Easter Wrap-Up

This photo caused a few family members to have flashbacks to Gourmet Magazine. I'm afraid the reference was somewhat lost on me, but I definitely get the vintagey feel part!

If you read my last post, you know that I was a bit apprehensive about the honey oatmeal bread that I brought for Easter with Brady's relatives yesterday. I had never made it with 100% whole wheat flour before, and I was a little afraid it would come out dry and heavy. Well, I was gloriously wrong!

The muffins that I had thrown together also came out much better than expected. I combined a very general online banana nut muffin recipe with the tried-and-truly fantastic Jacked-up Banana Bread from Smitten Kitchen. The resulting recipe:

1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. soda
3/4 c. rolled oats
1 egg, beaten
3 tbsp. oil
1/2 c. milk

2 heaping tbsp. honey
1 c. mashed ripe bananas - about two bananas
1/3 c. chopped walnuts

1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, spices, soda and oats. Add egg, oil, milk, honey, vanilla, bananas and nuts. Stir only until dry ingredients are moistened. Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until done. Makes 12-18 muffins.

I used my little silicone muffin cups on a jelly roll pan, which yielded 14 muffins. One became sadly decapitated (and immediately eaten) in the cooling process, making a perfect baker's dozen. 

These came out moist and tasty, and somehow much more delicious than I was expecting. We had some for breakfast, and a few even made it to the bread basket at Easter dinner.

If the bread looks lumpy, that's because it's braided.

Perhaps more importantly, they received high praise from Brady's grandmother, who could not have been sweeter. Come to think of it, everybody was very complimentary about both the muffin and the bread.

My first feeding-other-people-things-I baked experience was a big success! I have to admit, it felt pretty grown-up.

Everything was even more delicious than it looks. But the best part was the goodie bag that Brady's Aunt Kathy packed up for us!

Honey Oatmeal Breads I & II

About two months ago now, I made this bread. I found the recipe via a Google search, which sometimes yields mixed results, but the reviews were all excellent so I decided to give it a go. The only adjustments I made were 1) to bake one regular-sized loaf, and two mini-loaves (because of my love for all things miniature and therefore adorable), and 2) I used a combination of white and whole-wheat flour. I think it was half-and-half, but who can remember.

It came out moist, soft but slightly chewy, and "pleasantly sweet," to quote one review. Basically, its fantastic. The recipe below reflects my adjustments. I should say that it was the TEENIEST bit squishy in the middle, and perhaps should be baked for 35 minutes rather than 30. This could just be my oven displaying one of its many quirks, so I would check it at 30 minutes and decide there.
________________________________________________

"Original" Recipe:

Ingredients
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1.5 packages active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 5 cups flour; combination all-purpose white and whole wheat flour
For after baking:
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons rolled oats

Directions
1. Combine boiling water, oats, 1/2 cup honey, butter and salt. Let stand for 1 hour.
2. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
3. Pour the yeast mixture into the oat mixture. Add 2 cups of flour; mix well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 20 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
4. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and form into loaves. Place the loaves into two lightly greased 9x5 inch loaf pans.* Cover the loaves with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Remove loaves from pans, brush tops of loaves with 2 tablespoons honey and sprinkle with oats.

*In my oven, three mini-loaves placed on the bottom rack, with the large loaf on the top rack, baked for the same amount of time.

________________________________________________

Which brings us up to date on the honey-oatmeal-bread-situation.

Tomorrow, Brady and I will be meeting up with his folks for Easter with some of his relatives. Brady's dad is a great cook, and his mom is a great baker, though she is very modest about it, and at least as busy with other things. Still, we always seem to end up talking about what we've been cooking lately, so I figure it's high time I bring something tasty along for the holiday.

Of course, when I made it this morning, I had the itch to use only whole-wheat flour. (I just can't leave well enough alone, honestly.)

Anyway, I used my Hodgson Mills dry active yeast,  which contains 25% more yeast per packet than other brands. This makes it especially good for whole grain breads, but with other types of bread, you just end up with higher loaves, which is kind of pretty, so that's nice. In this case I was just hoping it would counteract the weight of the wheat flour to create a similar consistency as the original recipe.

Many of the reviews say that they had to add up to two cups more flour to get a workable dough, and I had a similar experience when I used part white flour. But with the wheat, four cups was all it took. The dough also did not achieve the same elasticity as the mixed flour version, though I will admit that I certainly did not work it for the full 20 minutes. I don't have a good reason for this. Mostly, this whole week (and kinda the week before) has been rushed and a bit slap-dash.

I was happy when it rose just the way that I wanted, but I am less pleased with its appearance than the first incarnation of this recipe. This can surely be blamed on my bread-braiding skills, which are still under construction, but I am also wishing I had taken the time to work the dough just a LITTLE bit more. I don't really know how this works, or exactly what it does to change the texture of the bread, but there you have it. I'll be honest. I was nervous about how it looks and how it would taste, so I decided to hedge my bets, and to bake some banana nut muffins for breakfast with Brady's folks, reserving one of the two loaves for Easter. The other loaf we are nearly halfway through already...

To me, is a totally different bread than the original. It is also delicious, but I would call it a "honey wheat bread" instead of a "honey oatmeal bread," just based on the prominence of the wheat flavor. It is also just a tad less soft and moist, but I think a slight increase in the water content - perhaps a quarter or half cup - could correct that.

Now, how the heck do I wrap two loaves of soft, sticky bread for transport on a Megabus? Hmm. I'm thinking loosely wrapped in parchment paper, in plastic food storage bags, in a paper shopping bag.Or maybe I will bring a little honey in a small container, a small baggie of oats, and dress it up upon arrival. Any advice for transportation of baked goods?

Peanut Butter and Oat Energy Bites from The Cilantropist

I have two people to thank for this fab snack recipe: The Cilantropist, for writing about it, and my sister for telling me - quite adamantly - that I should try it.

Despite all the school work I should have been doing instead of making these, a 9-hour shift at my retail job, and the possibility of not having a day off this week were my inspiration to stock up on reinforcements. If you're like me, hungry = tired = cranky = potentially being very rude to my coworkers and customers. So at a job like mine, the challenge is to avoid hunger at all costs without frequenting the nearby fast-food spots.

 Photo credit to The Cilantropist

For these tasty, healthy, and power-packed little guys there isn't a lot more to say than this: Make them. It couldn't be easier. It is literally just a matter of measuring out a few things, mixing them up, and rolling the mixture into balls.

From The Cilantropist:

3/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup unsalted, roasted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup (or more) dried cranberries, roughly chopped
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract


Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl, making sure to evenly distribute all the ingredients.  Take some of the dough and press it together between your hands - if it sticks together well, it is ready to go, if it feels too dry then add a bit more peanut butter or honey.  Likewise, if it is too 'wet,' add some extra oats or flax.  


To form the dough into a small bite, use a spoon or a cookie scoop to portion out the dough, squeeze it between your hands, and then gently roll it into a ball.  This amount of dough makes 12 bites that are about 2 inches in diameter.  Store the bites in an airtight container, and keep them refrigerated until eating.  Bites will keep for 1-2 weeks refrigerated.

The Bread Experiment

Yay! Okay, I should probably wait until the end of this post to tell you how the oatmeal-version of this bread turned out, but I am much too happy and excited to wait that long. It's good.

Ultimately, I decided to use 1 cup of oats for the 1 cup of flour being replaced. I did this because I decided NOT to soak the oats first, which you can do for very moist and soft oatmeal breads, because I read somewhere that not soaking results in a more textured bread. I also thought that the 3/4 cup of oats I originally planned for may not expand to my liking, which may be entirely false. I suppose it doesn't really matter.

I thought that to achieve the same texture as the original Mom's Multigrain bread, the addition of oats would require more water, but this was not the case. I dissolved the yeast in a half cup of water, then added another cup and a half to the dough. A few good stirs and it was fully moist and combined.

I am afraid that photos of this bread really won't do it justice. It's beautiful in a hearty, rustic way though, and I do believe I will be making it this way from now on.

The only other change I made was to the yeast content. I used 2 packets of yeast, which are slightly different in size. One claims to be especially for whole grains, but that just means there is 25% more of it. I don't think this difference would change the character of the bread very much. This bread will always be fairly dense, but for me that's much of the appeal.

For those of you watching at home, the final recipe is this:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup bulgur (cracked) wheat
1/2 cup flax seed
2 cups water
2 packets of yeast; "whole grain" or non

Dissolve the yeast in half a cup of the water. Mix it all up, cover it, and let it rise for 12 hours before baking in a covered, pre-heated baking container at 500 degrees for 30 minutes. YUM.

Edit: This is a very moist bread. You can experiment with the baking time, if you would prefer it to be less so. Personally, I think it is best toasted and lightly buttered.

In pursuit of the full whole-grain experience, I am also interested in replacing either some flour or some oats with brown rice - previously cooked, of course. While flax is arguably one of the healthiest possible bread ingredients, and is already featured prominently in this bread, I love the idea of a fully-loaded multigrain bread that uses just enough (wheat!) flour to keep everything together.

Quote of the Day: “If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.” ~ Robert Browning

Bread & Butter

My memories of my parents' kitchen are largely centered around two things: Family dinnertime, and baking bread with my mom. My mom took a couple of years off of teaching when my sister and I were kids, and we had a lot of happy days at home. One of our main - and I must say, dearest favorite - activities was baking bread. Really, it was an opportunity for us as kids to make a huge mess, get to eat raw bread dough (something I am still known for, in my family) and get to eat something warm and delicious when it was all over.

The first time that I baked a loaf of bread on my own, I felt like the guy that discovered fire: Proud, powerful, and a little bit afraid of what this new-found power may have on the rest of my life. I think it is such a cool and empowering feeling to bake something as basic as a dense, hearty bread. Cool in cavemanish way, I guess. If cavemen can be cool.

My mom was (and is - and I hope she is reading!) amazing. I can picture her throwing ingredients together and kneading bread with a cheerful abandon. So after a long break from regular baking - a break filled with the bulk of her busy career, taking care of everyone else, and lets not forget, the dreaded teenage years - I was thrilled that about a year and a half ago, she made it her mission to invent and craft a delicious, simple, and healthful multi-grain bread recipe. She is not one of those crazy recipe-hoarding non-sharers (what is the deal with that, anyway?) so I feel perfectly justified in sharing what I will call Mom's Multigrain Bread:

Note: This recipe is for a LARGE loaf. I almost never bake the full size. Halve everything (which I've done below) for a reasonably sized loaf. Also, this recipe requires a covered baking container made of terra cotta (like hers) or cast iron (like mine). My dutch oven is a hefty 5 qts but this dough is very thick, and if you mold it into a loaf with your hands, it will keep its shape.

2.5 (1.25) c. wheat flour

3.5 (1.75) c. white

1 (.5) c. flax seed (scant)

1 (.5) c. bulgur (cracked) wheat (scant)

1 (.5) Tablespoon salt

2 scant (1 scant) Tablespoons yeast  (2 packages)

4 (2) c. H20

Dissolve 2 packages yeast in ½ cup water (for half batch, 1 packet in ¼ cup)

Mix, cover tightly.  Let 12 hours elapse.

Preheat oven to 500 (or more) with dutch oven or ceramic bake container in the oven.

Bake about 30 min for single loaf/loaves, 60 for one large loaf.

You can also pop it out of the container(s) and compete baking right on the oven shelf.

If you don't believe me that this is a recipe for a huge loaf...

                            ...Sorry for the crummy quality, this picture was taken with Photobooth.

This is a great recipe. Like, really great. But since I am inclined to tinker with just about anything I can get my hands on, I've tried a couple of adaptations.

Want to use ALL whole wheat flour, no white? Go ahead - just double the yeast.

I've made oatmeal breads in the past, and they have been great, but I have never attempted to introduce oats to Mom's Multigrain Bread. It is my hope to cut out a cup of flour, replacing it with 3/4 of a cup of rolled oats, and use only whole-wheat flour for the rest of it. That is, 3/4 cup of oats (which will expand), and 2 cups of whole wheat flour. For more on this experiment, tune in tomorrow! I'll be mixing it early and baking it late.