Is there any pleasure in life like real porridge?

[Onestepmore]

I also get sleepy if I eat Anzacs (I don't eat porridge)
Apparently Oats are rich in maletonin which can make you sleepy.

From a google search - "drowsy eating oats"
"Grains in oatmeal trigger insulin production much like whole-grain bread," "They raise your blood sugar naturally and make you feel sleepy. Oats are also rich in melatonin, which relaxes the body and helps you fall asleep."

Well obviously I've got it all *&%$#! about then. I should be eating my breakfast before I go to bed.

The Scots have got it right then - haggis has oats as it's carbohydrate component.
A wee drop of whiskey would help too

If we're eating oats for breakfast maybe we should down a stiff measure as well?

When I was a student I spent one holiday in the northern territory on a cattle station for 6 weeks. Out on cattle camp we'd make fresh bread - damper, and use it as plates for a steak (meant no washing up) .Lots of hot tea (with yuk powdered milk that didn't quite remove the tang of diesel for the water) Fortifying breakfast for a cold dark 5 am start of a full day on horses.
I'm going to have a go at baking a small soda bread next time we're out. I'll post some pics, success or failure as it may be

And yes, we have porridge for breakfast when we camp. Happy days

[Moondog55]

I'm remembering Colin Fletchers description of oatmeal porridge "The worlds only grey food"
I like porridge, rolled oat, milled or steel cut but after weeks in the bush I'd kill my mother-in-law for a bacon sanger and sell my children into slavery for steak egg and tomatoes

[Orion]

I'm remembering Colin Fletchers description of oatmeal porridge "The worlds only grey food"
I like porridge, rolled oat, milled or steel cut but after weeks in the bush I'd kill my mother-in-law for a bacon sanger and sell my children into slavery for steak egg and tomatoes

For those even more inclined towards masochism there is another greyish soupy nightmare of a cereal called Cream of Wheat, aka Cream of Punishment.

[Rob A]

... for a bacon sanger and sell my children into slavery for steak egg and tomatoes

God invented aluminium foil for a reason Moondog.
And He invented porridge and nine inch nails to those inclined for punishment.

[Onestepmore]

"he invented nine inch nails to those inclined for punishment"

Nine Inch Nails - Hurt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htmKZKR7oyc

Covered well by Johnny Cash
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go

NIN have some great songs (language warning on Closer)

[Rob A]

Not sure the sheilas in nine inch do that one anymore. I recall they reckoned it was lost to them now.
Discovered glen campbell / greenday foofighters yet?

[andrewa]

What about "bush Bircher muesli" - your favourite muesli with milk powder soaked overnight. Warm up if preferred.

I've been fortunate enough to find that a common Woolies round container just happens to perfectly fit my Evernew billy. This protects my billy from dents ( not that I'm fussed), keeps the charcoal on my billy from other items in my pack, and allows me a further receptacle for soaking muesli overnight, so I can boil my water for coffee in the morning. It also provides a crush proof container for carrying lunch if needed, although this obviously undoes point 1 and 2.

Within billy is 2mm foam pot cosy, stove, spondiliacles (?sp), lighters, folding spoon, pocket knife, detergent, pot scourer, and also room for coffee/sugar/ tea bags , so it's all together.

[Son of a Beach]

I've made Bircher muesli at home then dehydrated it. Rehydrates very nicely out bush and none of that revolting powdered milk flavour. I dried strawberries separately to stir in at the last minute. Well worth the effort.

[andrewa]

Fortunately I don't like strawberries in my Bircher, and don't mind dried milk flavour ( are you mixing it right? ). It'd be fun to play with a food drier, but how much moisture would you pull from muesli?

A

[Son of a Beach]

I guess there are a lot of different recipes for Bircher museli. There's a huge amount of moisture in the recipe I use. Mostly apple juice and yoghurt but also fresh grated apple. No actual milk in mine.

And yes I have figured out how to mix powdered milk.

[Moondog55]

What about "bush Bircher muesli" - your favourite muesli with milk powder soaked overnight. Warm up if preferred.

I've been fortunate enough to find that a common Woolies round container just happens to perfectly fit my Evernew billy. This protects my billy from dents ( not that I'm fussed), keeps the charcoal on my billy from other items in my pack, and allows me a further receptacle for soaking muesli overnight, so I can boil my water for coffee in the morning. It also provides a crush proof container for carrying lunch if needed, although this obviously undoes point 1 and 2.

Within billy is 2mm foam pot cosy, stove, spondiliacles (?sp), lighters, folding spoon, pocket knife, detergent, pot scourer, and also room for coffee/sugar/ tea bags , so it's all together.

Spondonikles is how I have always spelled it

As I understand it the original Bircher muesli was fresh yoghurt, sliced fresh fruit and tree nuts with a little toasted flaked grains on top for texture, not the rolled oat based factory concoction we buy at the supermarket

[matagi]

After doing a search on Google and looking at several websites, the consensus seems to be that the original Bircher muesli recipe was:

1 tablespoon rolled oats
3 tablespoons water
1–2 apples, grated (including skin, core and pips)
juice of ½ a lemon
1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon nuts (almonds, hazelnuts or walnuts, or a combination), ground

The oats were soaked in water overnight and then the other stuff was added.

[Moondog55]

I'm not sure Bircher-Benner would have used sweetened condensed milk as he was early proponents of natural and unprocessed foods. I only know what I learned at catering college during my food history and theory classes

I'm not sure my teachers would have agreed with the Wikipedia entry on the subject

[matagi]

I agree, the inclusion of condensed milk does seem unusual, although Wikipedia mentions cream. I didn't actually look at Wikipedia in the first instance but looked at a whole bunch of other websites, including SBS, and the recipe everybody quoted as being the original had condensed milk as one of its ingredients.

I reckon I'd prefer to add cream rather than condensed milk - although in the real world I add yoghurt and a dash of milk to my muesli.

But enough of this muesli talk! This is a thread about porridge - which I had for brekky this morning with a splash of maple syrup.
Does anyone else use a spurtle to stir their porridge?

[corvus]

muesli.

But enough of this muesli talk! This is a thread about porridge - which I had for brekky this morning with a splash of maple syrup.
Does anyone else use a spurtle to stir their porridge?

Spurtle ?
No I don't have one but have childhood memories of getting a good skelp with the spurtle even with good porridge on it if I was being cheeky.
We use Lowans wholegrain rolled oats and soak them overnight for a nice result

[matagi]

I prefer Carmen's oats which have a slightly chewy texture. Soaked overnight in milk and then cooked on the stove while being stirred by my trusty spurtle.

[Moondog55]

OK you got me; What's a spurtle??
I usually just use a small wooden spoon or a shaved stick in the bush.
And i like my oats porridge with black sugar and cream. I don't like other grains made into breakfast gruel although I have tried adding other grains such as flaked wheat or barley they don't taste "right" to my morning palate.

[Moondog55]

Googling tells me I have lots of wooden instruments of torture similar but not quite the same LOL

[matagi]

Googling tells me I have lots of wooden instruments of torture similar but not quite the same LOL

It's actually pretty neat. I got it as a Christmas present years ago from a family friend (a Scot). I prefer it to a wooden spoon for stirring porridge and it works equally well when you are cooking polenta.

[walk2wineries]

I was surprised to find Dwarf Oats listed as an optional extra with the last "Club" offer from Bruny Island cheeses. Not sure, I think it was the Ellesmere oats described here https://acommonground.myfoodlink.com/category/bakery but certainly the Bruny people, who make fantastic cheeses, were enthusiastic about the porridge made with it.
I have also heard of Scots walkers carrying nothing but oatmeal, moistened with water ("Brose", see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brose) perhaps with onion added for some meals. In fact I thought the Brose-and-onion was described in one of Warren Bonython' books, but I've handed it on & can't check. I did recall that the writer said it was good, but he thought that the water from the Scottish Burns was an important part of it.

[matagi]

That's the thing about oats - they have a fairly neutral flavour and lend themselves equally well to being eaten as a sweet or savoury dish.

I have always eaten my porridge sweet, and although I find the concept of eating porridge with salt and other savoury accompaniments interesting, my mind just won't make that leap into actually trying it.

[+dj_hansen+]

I love Porridge.... grew up on it (weetbix aswell...) but have been experimenting lately for the sake of it.

Add a touch of Vanilla Essence (i reckon a small slosh) and a good pinch of Cinnamon & Nutmeg removes my need for a sprinkle of Brown Sugar or dash of honey.

I do the soak overnight method at home, with a small handfull of Sultanas too mmm luxury....!

[icefest]

I've tried porridge, crackers, fresh bread, crispbread, muesli and sesame snaps.
Muesli and porridge were light and tasty but had lots of cleaning up and cooking, and the bread was always bulky.
In family trips we end up with bread and a hot coffee.

When I'm by myself I just end up going back to sesame snaps and 100mg of caffeine. I'm not that much of a morning person and then I can sleep for longer and have breakfast while packing up.
I really miss coffee though.

[Jason L]

I make my porridge out of almond meal, flax meal, almond milk, cinnamon , maple syrup and some blueberries. It tastes delicious .

[icefest]

I make my porridge out of almond meal, flax meal, almond milk, cinnamon , maple syrup and some blueberries. It tastes delicious .

No oats? Wow. I like the sound of the blueberries and cinnamon though.

[Jason L]

I am a paleo eater so no grains.

[Onestepmore]

Paleolithic diet - where do you get your mammoth meat? lol sorry couldn't help it.....

From an evolutionary point of view I can understand a pre-agricultural diet

i myself have recently converted to basically a fructose free diet and avoid polyunsaturated seed oils. Dextrose and glucose are OK, olive oil/animal fats OK, as our bodies have evolved to deal with them. Fructose and the seed oils have pretty much only been added to our diets in large amounts since WWII, with dire consequences regarding heart disease, obesity, type II diabetes and cancer.

David Gillespie, an Australian lawyer, has written some good books which actually analyse scientific evidence, rather than the diet machine and national guidelines hype we have rammed down our throats

Porridge - mmmmm (just no brown sugar any more for me!) Blueberries and cream are fine

[dplanet]

Fruit variety for me - Berries, apples, and cinnamon. They are great with honey. The flavoured sachets are really good for pack carrying trips.

[Orion]

Paleo... Does anyone have a recipe for meat porridge? I'd go for that over oats.

[Moondog55]

"Little blue bowl of Happyness"