This Winter, Gruel Is So Again

I’m calling it: Gruel is coming again in an enormous means. You would chalk it as much as a collective nostalgia, the rising price of substances, or the recognition of all issues entire and prime quality grains. There’s even a stone mill and whole grain bakery slotted to open up proper right here in Brooklyn. Regardless of the purpose, 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 reality, I’ve simply revealed a recipe for Savory Miso Oatmeal, served with charred kale and a tender 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 Lost Bread Bakery. For lunch on the weekends, I might slink out of labor with my very own metallic bowl in tow, as Misplaced Bread admirably didn’t provide to-go containers, and go see what was fascinating on the lunch menu. At some point, I used to be served a sizzling bowl of entire 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. If you happen to’re on the fence, it’d simply persuade you to go salty over candy the subsequent time you crack open the oats.