This Winter, Gruel Is So Again

I’m calling it: Gruel is coming again in a giant means. You can chalk it as much as a collective nostalgia, the rising price of components, or the recognition of all issues complete and prime quality grains. There’s even a stone mill and complete grain bakery slotted to open up proper right here in Brooklyn. Regardless of the motive, a savory bowl of soppy and starchy cooked grain is beginning to sound fairly good to me in any respect hours of the day. In truth, I’ve simply printed a recipe for Savory Miso Oatmeal, served with charred kale and a delicate boiled egg.

As somebody who grew up considerably ambivalent in the direction of oatmeal, my first “aha second” with the cereal grain got here once I had a savory model. I used to be working as a baker at a commissary kitchen within the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia, not removed from Misplaced Bread Bakery. For lunch on the weekends, I might slink out of labor with my very own steel bowl in tow, as Misplaced Bread admirably didn’t provide to-go containers, and go see what was attention-grabbing on the lunch menu. In the future, I used to be served a sizzling bowl of complete oat groats, cooked in a surprisingly savory broth and served with a marinated egg. It was much like the Ginger Fried Oat Bowl featured in one of many bakery’s stellar grain zines.

That dish served because the inspiration for my very own recipe, which requires steel-cut oats and miso as a taste base. For those who’re on the fence, it would simply persuade you to go salty over candy the following time you crack open the oats.