How to cook oatmeal? Types of dishes, recipes, benefits

The phrase from the television series "We Love Oatmeal" became winged. But in reality, how many Russians eat it with pleasure?

To many, oatmeal seems like a too fresh, boring and tasteless dish. It is eaten for the sake of benefit, and also because of the simplicity of cooking.

Indeed, for breakfast, especially on weekdays, when you rush to work, culinary skills are usually not revealed. Oatmeal will quickly get bored if you steam it from sachets.

However, if you cook it correctly, you get a surprisingly tasty dish. You can add cream, milk, yoghurts, as well as honey and various fruits to it.

In addition to cereal, many dishes can be prepared from this product. Oatmeal is baked, soups and jellies are cooked, cereals are used for casseroles, desserts and toppings.

If you care about your health, you just need to use this product more often. Dishes from it are dietary, which should be noted by those who follow the figure.

What is useful oatmeal

Biologists claim that the birthplace of cereal is Mongolia or China. But oats entered Europe too early to be perceived as an exotic product.

It has become an integral part of the culinary tradition of Scotland, because there, due to the harsh climate, it is difficult to grow wheat and rye. The ancient Slavs also ate oatmeal.

Grinded flour was cooked in both milk and water. Such porridge was called dezhin. Oats contain natural antioxidants that protect the body from an aggressive environment, and methionine has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the nervous system.

Oat grains and cereals are rich in fiber. It helps get rid of toxins, gently envelops the walls of the intestines, eliminates bloating.

Oat breakfast at its low calorie content gives a steady feeling of fullness. The product normalizes blood sugar and prevents the development of cancer.

Oatmeal needs to be eaten more often by people suffering from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and especially ulcers. Calcium and phosphorus contained in the product help build bone.

What is oatmeal

Previously, during the Soviet era, only one type of porridge was available - Hercules. A strong cheeky baby with a spoon in his hand flaunted on a pack. However, now there are a lot of types of oatmeal on sale.

How to understand it, how to understand which product is most useful? The least preliminarily prepared cereal is oat groats.

To obtain whole grains, they are heated, steamed, peeled and ground. Among this type of oatmeal is the highest, first and second grade.

Apart from this, cereals are very popular among the population. They are obtained by cleaning grains, separating the embryos, steaming and, most importantly, passing through the rollers - a special device that flatten the groats, giving it the shape of flat petals with corrugation.

Flakes can be of various thicknesses. The thinner they are, the less time it takes to cook. There are cereals that are enough to fill with hot water or milk and let stand under the lid to make them ready to eat.

In the United States produce mixtures of cereals and oat bran. Such a product is even healthier because it lowers bad cholesterol. Muesli is also worth mentioning. Oatmeal with dried fruits and nuts are already mixed in the pack.

Granola is popular in the West. This delicacy is a little cooked oatmeal, baked with nuts and honey until the caramel state of gozinaki.

Porridge on the water. Traditional cooking method

Due to the variety of types of product, it is impossible to accurately indicate its calorie content. And the cooking time depends on whether you cook porridge or cereal from whole grains. Nutritionists believe that the first type of oatmeal is more preferable.

Whole grains are absorbed more slowly, suppressing hunger. Thin petals of “ready-made” flakes, which you just need to fill with hot liquid, have a higher glycemic index.

The calorie content of a dish depends not only on oats, but on “related” products - milk, butter, nuts, sugar. How to cook oatmeal in water by the traditional method, that is, from whole grains?

Pour cereal with hot water in the evening in the proportion of 2.5 cups of liquid per cereal. The next morning we put the saucepan on the fire.

After the water boils, cook for another hour. We’re trying whether it’s ready. Salt the porridge, season with vegetable or butter. If desired, you can add nuts or dried fruits.

Porridge using kitchen devices

Admittedly, spending more than an hour cooking breakfast is an inadmissible luxury for a modern person. But after all, kitchen assistants were invented for this, in order to facilitate the work of people and save their time.

If you have a slow cooker, just pour soaked groats into its bowl and set the mode to “Porridge”. Do not forget to lower the cover.

Set the timer for half an hour. How to cook oatmeal in water in a double boiler? In a similar way.

Just strain the soaked croup and leave the liquid to form steam. The dish will be ready in 40 minutes.

You should know that salt should be porridge at the end of cooking. But you can cook oatmeal on the broth. This diversifies the taste of the dish.

Porridge in water and milk

1. 150 grams of oatmeal is poured into a pan.
2. Fill it with a glass (250 milliliters) of hot water. We put the pan on the fire.
3. When the liquid boils, we fasten the flame to an average level. Salt and cook the cereals for about 25 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Then we pour the same glass of milk.
5. After boiling again, reduce the heat to a minimum. After stirring once in the pan, cover with a lid.
6. We cook for another half hour. In the finished porridge, add sugar or honey, berries and other fillers.

It will be delicious if you rub an apple in a dish and sprinkle with cinnamon. If you use dried fruits, they must be pre-steamed with hot water.

Whole cereal porridge, unlike cereal, slightly increases in volume. This should be considered when planning portions.

Granola

We have already examined how to cook oatmeal. But cereal can make more than porridge. Granola is a very tasty and healthy snack that can replace dessert.

A dish similar in appearance to kozinaki can consist of oat, wheat, rye or barley groats, but it will be most delicious from a mixture of these cereals. You can add dry and fresh fruits, as well as nuts, to your liking.

1. Mix in a glass of cereals. Moisten them lightly. But the groats should not be wet.
2. Steamed a handful of raisins.
3. Calcine the nuts in a dry frying pan, crush them, but not finely, but so that pieces are felt in the dish.
4. We cut dates, dried apricots, prunes.
5. Mix cereals with nuts and dried fruits.
6. Remove the peel from the apple and pear, take out the seeds. Puree the pulp.
7. Add to the total mass along with three tablespoons of vegetable oil.
8. Regulate the sweetness of granola with honey and maple syrup. Carefully knead. The mixture should be as viscous as thick semolina.
9. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees. We cover the baking sheet with baking paper, grease it with vegetable oil.
10. We lay out the mixture in an even layer and bake for two hours, stirring occasionally. The cooled granola is wrapped in cling film and extruded.

Dietary cookies (without eggs and butter)

There are many desserts in which oatmeal is the main ingredient. How to cook a diet cookie? He won’t even need flour.

1. Oatmeal (350 grams) is poured with two glasses of fat yogurt. We leave it for half an hour.
2. During this time, three finely two apples.
3. Mix the fruit puree with a tablespoon of honey and a pinch of ground cinnamon.
4. We connect both masses.
5. We cover the baking sheet with parchment.
6. With wet hands we spread cookies from a viscous mass.
7. Bake for about 25 minutes at a temperature of 200 degrees.

To diversify the taste of sour cookies, you can mix raisins, chocolate drops or nuts in the dough.

Cherry pie

An interesting biscuit dough is obtained if oatmeal is used together with wheat flour. How to prepare such a base for pies (they can be not only with cherries, but also other berries, as well as pieces of rhubarb, bananas or apples)?

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. We remove the seeds from cherries (300-350 grams).
2. Five eggs separate proteins. We put them in the refrigerator.
3. Rub the yolks white with 150 grams of sugar.
4. Oatmeal (200 g) is mixed with one hundred grams of wheat flour. Beat whites until lush foam.
5. We connect the yolks and the bulk.
6. Add a little vanillin and carefully inject whipped proteins.
7. Lubricate the cake pan with margarine or vegetable oil. Pour the dough.
8. Sprinkle with cherries on top. Do not mix.
9. We put the mold in a hot oven and bake for about an hour. Willingness we try with a toothpick.
10. The cooled cake can be sprinkled with powdered sugar, coconut flakes or almond petals.

Oat drinks. Milkshake or smoothie for breakfast

Hercules can also be added to various soups. But there are also sweet liquid oatmeal dishes. The recipes for such drinks are very simple.

1. For a milkshake, take 25 grams of oatmeal.
2. Fry them in a frying pan for several minutes, until the oatmeal becomes caramel brown.
3. We shift the flakes into the blender bowl.
4. Add 150 grams of fresh strawberries, 450 ml of milk, a spoonful of honey and two - yogurt.
5. Mashed mass. Cool in the fridge.
6. Before pouring into glasses, beat with a mixer until lush foam.

Smoothies can also be prepared in a similar way - a drink in which the proportion of fruit pulp is high. Pour a spoonful of oatmeal twice with a large amount of warm water.

While they swell, finely chop the banana. We shift it into the blender bowl. Add a glass of milk, a teaspoon of honey and swollen flakes there. Beat and serve immediately in glasses with a spoon.

Oatmeal Kissel

This drink is the "know how" of the Slavs. It was prepared in antiquity from Poland to the Russian North. The name of the drink comes from the word "souring." The traditional whole oatmeal recipe is quite complex.

Cooking jelly lasted at least a week. Here's a recipe that uses cereal, not oatmeal. How to cook jelly in a quick way?

1. Flakes (250 grams) pour a glass of cold spring water.
2. Add the crusts of black rye bread (50 g).
3. Cover the dishes with gauze and leave at room temperature for the night, and if you have enough patience - for a day.
4. We get the bread. Grind the remaining mass with a submersible blender or pass through a sieve.
5. Put in a pan and bring to a boil.
6. Do not cook, but then remove from heat. Cool down.
7. The resulting mass will be gelatinous. If it turns out to be too hard, like jelly, we will dilute it with water.
8. Set the absolutely neutral taste of the drink as desired with salt or honey.

Pear Crumble

Here's another dessert that uses oatmeal. How to cook pear crumble?

1. From four large fruits, remove the skin, cut the boxes with seeds, cut the flesh into small cubes. For this reason, it is advisable to take a meaty rather than a juicy variety of pears.
2. Pour fruit slices with two tablespoons of cornmeal 80 grams of sugar and a pinch of cinnamon.
3. The bottom of the baking dish is generously greased with butter. Pour the pear mass.
4. One hundred grams of butter is brought to room temperature.
5. Knead it with 150 g of oatmeal, 100 g of wheat flour and 80 g of granulated sugar.
6. Add a pinch of salt. Grind this mass between the fingers into crumbs.
7. Sprinkle it with pears. Our oven should already be preheated to 200 degrees.
8. We send the form to the oven, cook for about 25 minutes. Serve pear crumble with a ball of ice cream.

Oatmeal for children

Do you want your little caprices to eat porridge in the morning with pleasure and ask for supplements? To do this, you need to know how to cook oatmeal correctly.

1. Bring a glass of water to a boil.
2. Add half the amount of oatmeal and a teaspoon of honey topped there.
3. While the porridge is boiling over low heat, peel a large banana and cut it in half.
4. Mash one half with mashed potatoes and cut the other into small circles.
5. Add a pinch of cinnamon to the boiled porridge.
6. Cook on low heat until the mixture thickens.
7. Remove from the stove and cool a little.
8. Knead with banana puree.
9. We shift to a plate. Garnish with banana slices and pour with syrup or your favorite jam.