Yes, I'm back on the savory oatmeal bandwagon again. Last time, I made a fairly simple preparation with some parmesan cheese on top. This time, I decided to amp up the flavors a little bit, and go even a little further into savory land with mushrooms.
This could be made with chicken stock, but I decided to use one of my pantry staples, instead - Better than Bouillon. It's a thick paste rather than a powder, and it comes in a lot of stock-like flavors. I use the chicken most often. Like regular bouillon, it's salty, so you need to watch that. You'll note that I didn't add much salt to this.
As usual, I made this in my rice cooker.
This reheats well, but you'll need to add a bit of water when you reheat to thin the ris-oat-o a little bit.
Mushroom Ris-Oat-O
1 rice-cooker-cup steel cut oats (I used Flahavan's)
Water to "porridge" line on rice cooker
1 teaspoon Better than Bouillon chicken flavor
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch of saffron
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
Cheese, grated, as needed - I suggest parmesan or Gruyere
Creme Fraiche
Put the oats in the rice cooker, then add the water to the proper line. Add the Better than Bouillon, salt, and saffron.
Melt the butter in a small saute pan. Cook the mushrooms until the lose their water, then reabsorb it, and then the mushrooms brown a little bit. Add the mushrooms to the rice cooker pot and give the mixture a stir.
Set the rice cooker for brown rice, soft. Press the button and wait, tapping toe impatiently.
Serve with the grated cheese on top, as desired. A dollop of creme fraiche is also very nice, if you like. Some chopped fresh herbs would also be nice, in season. I'd choose thyme or chives.