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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Wednesday, February 2, 2005

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Steel-cut oats tasty, healthy

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

The new federal dietary guidelines' emphasis on the importance of switching from refined carbohydrates to whole grains reminds me of a great favorite at our house — one of the few "good-for-you" things that my husband and I actually crave.

This is a big bowl of steel-cut oats for breakfast.

Sharon Tyler Herbst explains in her excellent food dictionary, "The New Food Lover's Companion," that steel-cut oats are a relatively unprocessed form of oats in which groats — cleaned, hulled and toasted-oat kernels — are simply cut into 3 to 4 pieces.

In contrast, the old-fashioned oats (or rolled oats) most of us know are groats that have been steamed and flattened by large rollers. Quick-cooking oats are cut, steamed and rolled. Instant oats are cut, precooked and dried.

Steel-cut oats have an irresistibly wholesome nutty aroma and flavor. Once you've had a bowl of these with a little brown sugar and milk (or cream or soy milk), you will never feel the same about those instant packets.

Steel-cut oats (aka Scotch oats and Irish oatmeal) have been a weekend treat for us because the oats take about 30 minutes to cook on the stovetop, and neither of us have that kind of time before work. The formula is: Boil 4 cups water, stir in 1 cup oats, turn heat down to medium low and cook 25 to 30 minutes, until water is absorbed, stirring occasionally. The oats should be tender-chewy with a little liquid around them.

However, I've recently learned a number of time-saving options.

• Toast oats: Enhance flavor and cut cooking time in half by toasting the oats in a 300-degree oven for 20 minutes, then cooling them and returning them to the can for future use. To prepare, use the 4-to-1 ratio as above, but oats should cook in less than 15 minutes.

• Precook oats: Boil the 4 cups of water, pour in the 1 cup of oats and leave the pot off the heat, covered, overnight. In the morning, all you have to do is place the oats over medium-low until heated through, stirring occasionally.

• Microwave oats: Place 1/2 cup oats and 2 cups water in an 8-cup bowl; seal with plastic wrap and microwave 5 minutes on HIGH. Stir and cook another 5 minutes on HIGH. Check for doneness and continue cooking 1 minute at a time, until done.

We buy McCann's brand Irish Oatmeal at Foodland, which comes in nifty cans that resist bug infestation (but also in boxes, if you prefer). All their oats are grown in County Kildare and County Meath in Ireland.

Oats offer B vitamins, calcium, protein and fiber, are low in salt and unsaturated fat and help to reduce "bad" cholesterol and plaque. One cup of steel-cut oatmeal contains more fiber than a bran muffin and twice as much as a bowl of Cream of Wheat. A quarter-cup dry, which makes an average-size bowl of cereal, cooked, contains 150 calories, 4 grams fat (2 saturated), no cholesterol or sodium, 26 grams carbohydrate (4 fiber, 25 starch) and 4 grams protein.