Scottish Oatmeal Breakfast with Teff Grain and Flax Seeds

By Fairmount_market • May 23, 2012 • 0 Comments

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Author Notes: This is a breakfast I created to use the Scottish oats from my bean and grain CSA. Scottish oats are whole oat groats that have been flattened in a slow grinding process, producing something like rolled oats, but retaining all the nutritional value of the whole grain. They take longer to cook than rolled oats but would get too mushy if cooked overnight in a slow cooker like steel cut oats. To make these work for a quick weekday breakfast, I was inspired by a recipe from Heidi Swanson of toasting rolled cereal the evening before. i found that toasting these in some butter and then soaking them in boiling water made them easy to finish off the next morning. Then I experimented with other grains and liked including some nutty teff grain for body and flax seeds for texture. I've also made this with a mixture of rolled and steel cut oats, and I've swapped in chia seeds for the teff grain, all with good results. This hot cereal is delicious with lots of different toppings. I suggest dried apricots, hazelnuts and a drizzle of maple syrup. - Fairmount_market

Serves 1

1/4 cup Scottish oats
1 scant tablespoon teff grain
1 scant tablespoon flax seeds
1 cup boiling water (divided)
pinches salt
dried fruit, nuts, maple syrup, and a splash of milk for toppings

The evening before, heat a small saucepan and set a kettle with 2/3 cups water. When the pan is warm, melt the butter. Then add the grains, and cook, stirring, for about five minutes, until they are toasted and very fragrant. Turn off the heat. Carefully add 2/3 cups boiling water (it will splatter), stir, and cover.
The next morning, add 1/3 cup water to the pan and reheat (for a richer porridge, use 1/3 cup milk). Let the oatmeal and teff mixture simmer for about five to eight minutes until it is the desired tenderness and thickness. Serve warm, sprinkled with the toppings and a splash of cold milk.
Note: For a family of two adults and two kids, I triple the recipe: 3/4 cups oats 1/8 cup teff grain 1/8 cup flax seeds 1 Tbsp butter pinch salt 3 cups boiling water You can of course cook this all at once if you have more time in the morning. Simply add all of the boiling water to the toasted grains and cook for about 15 minutes.