Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal

This baked steel cut oatmeal is irresistible. The whole thing can be assembled the night before or it can be assembled and baked immediately. It is infinitely customizable to your preferences — you can make it dairy-free, vegan, with or without nuts, and with any fruit your heart desires 🙂

Inspired by a recipe for baked oatmeal using rolled oats, I made a variation using steel cut oats instead. What I love about using steel cut oasts is that it allows the entire dish — egg, milk, melted butter, baking powder and all — to be assembled the night before baking.

When these oats bake, the mixture separates into distinct layers, the nuts forming a crisp-like topping, the berries bobbing underneath, the creamy oats and custard forming the foundation. Flavored with cinnamon and maple, the oats remain firm and chewy and offer the loveliest texture throughout. I could eat the whole pan in one sitting.

I love these oats with berries. I love them without. I love them freshly baked. I love them cold, straight from the fridge. I like them with walnuts. I love them with almonds. I could eat them at every meal. I like them so much that when Ben tells me he can’t make it home for dinner, I think, “Yes, I get to eat my oats!”

And while these oats are the perfect kind of thing to make for a crowd, at the moment I’m not at all upset that my children don’t like them. This is the kind of dish I hope so very much you will all whisk up tonight before hitting the hay, so you, too, have something to savor, with friends or without, all Saturday morning long.

PS: Favorite Blueberry-Almond Smoothie

PPS: Apple-Pie Overnight Oats

You can make these oats with or without berries:

I like my Pyrex 8-inch square baking dish for this one:

By mid morning the pan usually looks like this:

By noon:

By early afternoon:

Individual bowls of steel cut oats:

This is also delicious with apples:

Description

Inspired by Heidi Swanson’s recipe in Super Natural Every Day via Orangette

I like my Pyrex 8-inch square baking dish for this one. You can also use six 6-oz ramekins.

If you are mixing this at night and baking in the morning, follow the recipe through step 2, omitting the fruit. Store mixture in baking vessel or in a Tupperware. In the morning, give the mixture a stir. Scatter berries (if using) into an 8-inch baking dish. Pour milk-oat mixture over the berries; then proceed with recipe.

As I noted, I like these baked oats both with berries or other fruit and without, so don’t hesitate to make them if you don’t have any berries on hand — they are so good on their own. I have used both almonds and walnuts. I do toast the walnuts. I don’t toast the almonds — it doesn’t seem to matter. The mixture can be assembled the night before, though it doesn’t have to be.

Update, Oct 2014: Almonds are my preference. Peeled, sliced apples are also my preference. I omit the cinnamon. I also now do 1/4 cup maple syrup as opposed to 1/3 cup.

If you are making individual portions, I think the easiest method is this: mix dry ingredients as instructed in step 1; spoon about three tablespoon of the dry ingredients into six 6-oz ramekins; then pour liquid over top. The liquid will reach the top of each ramekin. To prevent a catastrophe, I suggest lining a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper and placing the filled ramekins in the dish to bake.

• 3/4 cup steel cut oatmeal
• ½ cup ( 60 g ) almonds (sliced, untoasted are great) or walnuts halves, toasted and chopped
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, optional
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or kosher salt
• ¾ to 1 ½ cups ( 90 to 185 g) blueberries, optional—I like using 1 peeled, sliced apple
• 2 cups ( 475 ml) milk, 2% or whole
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup ( 80 ml) maple syrup, I find 1/4 cup to be sweet enough
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons ( 45 grams ) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. See notes if you are refrigerating this overnight. Otherwise, preheat the oven to 375ºF. In an 8- or 9-inch baking pan, mix together the oats, the nuts, baking powder, cinnamon, if using, and salt. Place the sliced apples or berries on top.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, maple syrup, egg, butter, and vanilla. Pour the milk mixture over the oat mixture, and shake the pan to distribute.
3. Transfer pan to the oven and bake for 55 to 60 minutes (Note: Several commenters have had issues with browning too quickly, so I advise checking after 30 minutes, and if it looks as though it is browning quickly, turn oven down to 350 and check periodically for doneness), or until the top is golden and the oat mixture has set. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 55 minutes
• Category: Breakfast
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

This baked steel cut oatmeal is irresistible. The whole thing can be assembled the night before or it can be assembled and baked immediately. It is infinitely customizable to your preferences — you can make it dairy-free, vegan, with or without nuts, and with any fruit your heart desires 🙂

Inspired by a recipe for baked oatmeal using rolled oats, I made a variation using steel cut oats instead. What I love about using steel cut oasts is that it allows the entire dish — egg, milk, melted butter, baking powder and all — to be assembled the night before baking.

When these oats bake, the mixture separates into distinct layers, the nuts forming a crisp-like topping, the berries bobbing underneath, the creamy oats and custard forming the foundation. Flavored with cinnamon and maple, the oats remain firm and chewy and offer the loveliest texture throughout. I could eat the whole pan in one sitting.

I love these oats with berries. I love them without. I love them freshly baked. I love them cold, straight from the fridge. I like them with walnuts. I love them with almonds. I could eat them at every meal. I like them so much that when Ben tells me he can’t make it home for dinner, I think, “Yes, I get to eat my oats!”

And while these oats are the perfect kind of thing to make for a crowd, at the moment I’m not at all upset that my children don’t like them. This is the kind of dish I hope so very much you will all whisk up tonight before hitting the hay, so you, too, have something to savor, with friends or without, all Saturday morning long.

PS: Favorite Blueberry-Almond Smoothie

PPS: Apple-Pie Overnight Oats

You can make these oats with or without berries:

I like my Pyrex 8-inch square baking dish for this one:

By mid morning the pan usually looks like this:

By noon:

By early afternoon:

Individual bowls of steel cut oats:

This is also delicious with apples:

Description

Inspired by Heidi Swanson’s recipe in Super Natural Every Day via Orangette

I like my Pyrex 8-inch square baking dish for this one. You can also use six 6-oz ramekins.

If you are mixing this at night and baking in the morning, follow the recipe through step 2, omitting the fruit. Store mixture in baking vessel or in a Tupperware. In the morning, give the mixture a stir. Scatter berries (if using) into an 8-inch baking dish. Pour milk-oat mixture over the berries; then proceed with recipe.

As I noted, I like these baked oats both with berries or other fruit and without, so don’t hesitate to make them if you don’t have any berries on hand — they are so good on their own. I have used both almonds and walnuts. I do toast the walnuts. I don’t toast the almonds — it doesn’t seem to matter. The mixture can be assembled the night before, though it doesn’t have to be.

Update, Oct 2014: Almonds are my preference. Peeled, sliced apples are also my preference. I omit the cinnamon. I also now do 1/4 cup maple syrup as opposed to 1/3 cup.

If you are making individual portions, I think the easiest method is this: mix dry ingredients as instructed in step 1; spoon about three tablespoon of the dry ingredients into six 6-oz ramekins; then pour liquid over top. The liquid will reach the top of each ramekin. To prevent a catastrophe, I suggest lining a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper and placing the filled ramekins in the dish to bake.

• 3/4 cup steel cut oatmeal
• ½ cup ( 60 g ) almonds (sliced, untoasted are great) or walnuts halves, toasted and chopped
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, optional
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or kosher salt
• ¾ to 1 ½ cups ( 90 to 185 g) blueberries, optional—I like using 1 peeled, sliced apple
• 2 cups ( 475 ml) milk, 2% or whole
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup ( 80 ml) maple syrup, I find 1/4 cup to be sweet enough
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons ( 45 grams ) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. See notes if you are refrigerating this overnight. Otherwise, preheat the oven to 375ºF. In an 8- or 9-inch baking pan, mix together the oats, the nuts, baking powder, cinnamon, if using, and salt. Place the sliced apples or berries on top.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, maple syrup, egg, butter, and vanilla. Pour the milk mixture over the oat mixture, and shake the pan to distribute.
3. Transfer pan to the oven and bake for 55 to 60 minutes (Note: Several commenters have had issues with browning too quickly, so I advise checking after 30 minutes, and if it looks as though it is browning quickly, turn oven down to 350 and check periodically for doneness), or until the top is golden and the oat mixture has set. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 55 minutes
• Category: Breakfast
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

This baked steel cut oatmeal is irresistible. The whole thing can be assembled the night before or it can be assembled and baked immediately. It is infinitely customizable to your preferences — you can make it dairy-free, vegan, with or without nuts, and with any fruit your heart desires 🙂

Inspired by a recipe for baked oatmeal using rolled oats, I made a variation using steel cut oats instead. What I love about using steel cut oasts is that it allows the entire dish — egg, milk, melted butter, baking powder and all — to be assembled the night before baking.

When these oats bake, the mixture separates into distinct layers, the nuts forming a crisp-like topping, the berries bobbing underneath, the creamy oats and custard forming the foundation. Flavored with cinnamon and maple, the oats remain firm and chewy and offer the loveliest texture throughout. I could eat the whole pan in one sitting.

I love these oats with berries. I love them without. I love them freshly baked. I love them cold, straight from the fridge. I like them with walnuts. I love them with almonds. I could eat them at every meal. I like them so much that when Ben tells me he can’t make it home for dinner, I think, “Yes, I get to eat my oats!”

And while these oats are the perfect kind of thing to make for a crowd, at the moment I’m not at all upset that my children don’t like them. This is the kind of dish I hope so very much you will all whisk up tonight before hitting the hay, so you, too, have something to savor, with friends or without, all Saturday morning long.

PS: Favorite Blueberry-Almond Smoothie

PPS: Apple-Pie Overnight Oats

You can make these oats with or without berries:

I like my Pyrex 8-inch square baking dish for this one:

By mid morning the pan usually looks like this:

By noon:

By early afternoon:

Individual bowls of steel cut oats:

This is also delicious with apples:

Description

Inspired by Heidi Swanson’s recipe in Super Natural Every Day via Orangette

I like my Pyrex 8-inch square baking dish for this one. You can also use six 6-oz ramekins.

If you are mixing this at night and baking in the morning, follow the recipe through step 2, omitting the fruit. Store mixture in baking vessel or in a Tupperware. In the morning, give the mixture a stir. Scatter berries (if using) into an 8-inch baking dish. Pour milk-oat mixture over the berries; then proceed with recipe.

As I noted, I like these baked oats both with berries or other fruit and without, so don’t hesitate to make them if you don’t have any berries on hand — they are so good on their own. I have used both almonds and walnuts. I do toast the walnuts. I don’t toast the almonds — it doesn’t seem to matter. The mixture can be assembled the night before, though it doesn’t have to be.

Update, Oct 2014: Almonds are my preference. Peeled, sliced apples are also my preference. I omit the cinnamon. I also now do 1/4 cup maple syrup as opposed to 1/3 cup.

If you are making individual portions, I think the easiest method is this: mix dry ingredients as instructed in step 1; spoon about three tablespoon of the dry ingredients into six 6-oz ramekins; then pour liquid over top. The liquid will reach the top of each ramekin. To prevent a catastrophe, I suggest lining a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper and placing the filled ramekins in the dish to bake.

• 3/4 cup steel cut oatmeal
• ½ cup ( 60 g ) almonds (sliced, untoasted are great) or walnuts halves, toasted and chopped
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, optional
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or kosher salt
• ¾ to 1 ½ cups ( 90 to 185 g) blueberries, optional—I like using 1 peeled, sliced apple
• 2 cups ( 475 ml) milk, 2% or whole
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup ( 80 ml) maple syrup, I find 1/4 cup to be sweet enough
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons ( 45 grams ) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. See notes if you are refrigerating this overnight. Otherwise, preheat the oven to 375ºF. In an 8- or 9-inch baking pan, mix together the oats, the nuts, baking powder, cinnamon, if using, and salt. Place the sliced apples or berries on top.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, maple syrup, egg, butter, and vanilla. Pour the milk mixture over the oat mixture, and shake the pan to distribute.
3. Transfer pan to the oven and bake for 55 to 60 minutes (Note: Several commenters have had issues with browning too quickly, so I advise checking after 30 minutes, and if it looks as though it is browning quickly, turn oven down to 350 and check periodically for doneness), or until the top is golden and the oat mixture has set. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 55 minutes
• Category: Breakfast
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

This baked steel cut oatmeal is irresistible. The whole thing can be assembled the night before or it can be assembled and baked immediately. It is infinitely customizable to your preferences — you can make it dairy-free, vegan, with or without nuts, and with any fruit your heart desires 🙂

Inspired by a recipe for baked oatmeal using rolled oats, I made a variation using steel cut oats instead. What I love about using steel cut oasts is that it allows the entire dish — egg, milk, melted butter, baking powder and all — to be assembled the night before baking.

When these oats bake, the mixture separates into distinct layers, the nuts forming a crisp-like topping, the berries bobbing underneath, the creamy oats and custard forming the foundation. Flavored with cinnamon and maple, the oats remain firm and chewy and offer the loveliest texture throughout. I could eat the whole pan in one sitting.

I love these oats with berries. I love them without. I love them freshly baked. I love them cold, straight from the fridge. I like them with walnuts. I love them with almonds. I could eat them at every meal. I like them so much that when Ben tells me he can’t make it home for dinner, I think, “Yes, I get to eat my oats!”

And while these oats are the perfect kind of thing to make for a crowd, at the moment I’m not at all upset that my children don’t like them. This is the kind of dish I hope so very much you will all whisk up tonight before hitting the hay, so you, too, have something to savor, with friends or without, all Saturday morning long.

PS: Favorite Blueberry-Almond Smoothie

PPS: Apple-Pie Overnight Oats

You can make these oats with or without berries:

I like my Pyrex 8-inch square baking dish for this one:

By mid morning the pan usually looks like this:

By noon:

By early afternoon:

Individual bowls of steel cut oats:

This is also delicious with apples:

Description

Inspired by Heidi Swanson’s recipe in Super Natural Every Day via Orangette

I like my Pyrex 8-inch square baking dish for this one. You can also use six 6-oz ramekins.

If you are mixing this at night and baking in the morning, follow the recipe through step 2, omitting the fruit. Store mixture in baking vessel or in a Tupperware. In the morning, give the mixture a stir. Scatter berries (if using) into an 8-inch baking dish. Pour milk-oat mixture over the berries; then proceed with recipe.

As I noted, I like these baked oats both with berries or other fruit and without, so don’t hesitate to make them if you don’t have any berries on hand — they are so good on their own. I have used both almonds and walnuts. I do toast the walnuts. I don’t toast the almonds — it doesn’t seem to matter. The mixture can be assembled the night before, though it doesn’t have to be.

Update, Oct 2014: Almonds are my preference. Peeled, sliced apples are also my preference. I omit the cinnamon. I also now do 1/4 cup maple syrup as opposed to 1/3 cup.

If you are making individual portions, I think the easiest method is this: mix dry ingredients as instructed in step 1; spoon about three tablespoon of the dry ingredients into six 6-oz ramekins; then pour liquid over top. The liquid will reach the top of each ramekin. To prevent a catastrophe, I suggest lining a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper and placing the filled ramekins in the dish to bake.

• 3/4 cup steel cut oatmeal
• ½ cup ( 60 g ) almonds (sliced, untoasted are great) or walnuts halves, toasted and chopped
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, optional
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or kosher salt
• ¾ to 1 ½ cups ( 90 to 185 g) blueberries, optional—I like using 1 peeled, sliced apple
• 2 cups ( 475 ml) milk, 2% or whole
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup ( 80 ml) maple syrup, I find 1/4 cup to be sweet enough
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons ( 45 grams ) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. See notes if you are refrigerating this overnight. Otherwise, preheat the oven to 375ºF. In an 8- or 9-inch baking pan, mix together the oats, the nuts, baking powder, cinnamon, if using, and salt. Place the sliced apples or berries on top.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, maple syrup, egg, butter, and vanilla. Pour the milk mixture over the oat mixture, and shake the pan to distribute.
3. Transfer pan to the oven and bake for 55 to 60 minutes (Note: Several commenters have had issues with browning too quickly, so I advise checking after 30 minutes, and if it looks as though it is browning quickly, turn oven down to 350 and check periodically for doneness), or until the top is golden and the oat mixture has set. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 55 minutes
• Category: Breakfast
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

Description

Inspired by Heidi Swanson’s recipe in Super Natural Every Day via Orangette

I like my Pyrex 8-inch square baking dish for this one. You can also use six 6-oz ramekins.

If you are mixing this at night and baking in the morning, follow the recipe through step 2, omitting the fruit. Store mixture in baking vessel or in a Tupperware. In the morning, give the mixture a stir. Scatter berries (if using) into an 8-inch baking dish. Pour milk-oat mixture over the berries; then proceed with recipe.

As I noted, I like these baked oats both with berries or other fruit and without, so don’t hesitate to make them if you don’t have any berries on hand — they are so good on their own. I have used both almonds and walnuts. I do toast the walnuts. I don’t toast the almonds — it doesn’t seem to matter. The mixture can be assembled the night before, though it doesn’t have to be.

Update, Oct 2014: Almonds are my preference. Peeled, sliced apples are also my preference. I omit the cinnamon. I also now do 1/4 cup maple syrup as opposed to 1/3 cup.

If you are making individual portions, I think the easiest method is this: mix dry ingredients as instructed in step 1; spoon about three tablespoon of the dry ingredients into six 6-oz ramekins; then pour liquid over top. The liquid will reach the top of each ramekin. To prevent a catastrophe, I suggest lining a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper and placing the filled ramekins in the dish to bake.

• 3/4 cup steel cut oatmeal
• ½ cup ( 60 g ) almonds (sliced, untoasted are great) or walnuts halves, toasted and chopped
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, optional
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or kosher salt
• ¾ to 1 ½ cups ( 90 to 185 g) blueberries, optional—I like using 1 peeled, sliced apple
• 2 cups ( 475 ml) milk, 2% or whole
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup ( 80 ml) maple syrup, I find 1/4 cup to be sweet enough
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons ( 45 grams ) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. See notes if you are refrigerating this overnight. Otherwise, preheat the oven to 375ºF. In an 8- or 9-inch baking pan, mix together the oats, the nuts, baking powder, cinnamon, if using, and salt. Place the sliced apples or berries on top.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, maple syrup, egg, butter, and vanilla. Pour the milk mixture over the oat mixture, and shake the pan to distribute.
3. Transfer pan to the oven and bake for 55 to 60 minutes (Note: Several commenters have had issues with browning too quickly, so I advise checking after 30 minutes, and if it looks as though it is browning quickly, turn oven down to 350 and check periodically for doneness), or until the top is golden and the oat mixture has set. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 55 minutes
• Category: Breakfast
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

Find it online : https://alexandracooks.com/2013/08/09/baked-steel-cut-oatmeal/

So, the funny thing about blogging for what now feels like a long time is that I feel I have to tell you everything. I can’t just say, “Hey, I’ve moved to Schenectady! And I have a kitchen with a teensy strip of pegboard and cabinets with awesome blue knobs. And in my corner cupboard I have a lazy Susan on top of which sits ANOTHER lazy Susan. And I have a pear and an apple tree bearing fruit in my backyard. And I have a landlord that advises me to get a cat because the mice and squirrels sometimes take over the house. I love her.”

I can’t just mention these things without offering any explanation. If you don’t want to listen, just scroll down to the olive oil toast. It’s a particularly handy thing to know how to make if, say, you’ve misplaced your toaster or are considering downsizing. It’s also about my favorite thing to eat these days.

OK, so, when I was a freshman in college, there was a boy, Ewan, who lived on the first floor of my entryway. Several times a week when I passed his room, I would spot him on the floor of his room in his dark green sweats and t-shirt doing push-ups and sit-ups. The scene always struck me as odd but I never gave it much thought. “Ewan’s intense,” I would think, as I, without a worry in the world, would skip up my steps heading to my room, hoping perhaps to find my roommates and maybe convince them it was time to go get some fro-yo.

It pains me to admit how clueless I was in the fall of 1999. The dark green getup should have been a giveaway. I would later learn that Ewan was in training to be a Marine Corps Officer, and even later learn that shortly after college Ewan would lead a platoon of Marines to Iraq.

The truth is that I couldn’t have told you a thing about the military until the fall of 2006, when Ben decided to withdraw from medical school and join the Marines himself. In January 2007, I drove Ben from Philadelphia to Quantico, where we said the first of many goodbyes and where Ben began Officer Candidate School, the first phase of a year-long training regimen to becoming an infantry officer.

During that year while Ben moved from OCS to TBS to IOC, in addition to learning a lot of acronyms, I continued working in Philadelphia, I started blogging, I stayed busy. It wasn’t so bad. I so looked forward to jumping on that Chinatown bus every few weekends to meet Ben in DC, to eat at 2Amys , to visit my grandmother in McLean, and to eventually return to Philadelphia.

And then things got really exciting. An assignment to Camp Pendleton meant a cross-country drive. We bought Roadfood and planned our itinerary accordingly. Some of you might remember this 10-day drive , highlights being Mahnomin porridge at Hell’s Kitchen in Minneapolis and everything we ordered at Cafe Pasqual’s in Santa Fe. And some of you might remember the day we arrived in southern California and ultimately San Clemente , where we lived for three years.

It has been a wonderful journey. The Marine Corps has taken us to the land of avocados, lemons, fish tacos and breakfast burritos, where we bought wetsuits and booties and pretended to surf, where Ben deployed and returned twice, where Ella was born. The Marine Corps then brought us back to the east coast, closer to family, closer to what felt like home.

And it’s now time to move on. I’m sad my children will never remember Ben as a Marine, but we are happy with all of the decisions we have made these past few years and feel particularly at home, though it has only been one week, being back in the northeast. Now, before I get too sappy on you, I just want to share a few phrases I have learned over the years. I don’t know that they are specific to the Marine Corps, but I think about them often and think you might enjoy them, too.

One is none, two is one. This is my favorite. I like to use it on Ben when he questions why we have a dozen bottles of dishwasher detergent stashed under the sink and 16 rolls of paper towels in the hallway closet.

Adapt and overcome. Self explanatory.

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Ella likes to use this one on me when I’m having a freakout while strapping her into her carseat.

As fast as you can, as slow as you must. I think about this while I’m chopping onions.

Go big. I love this one, too. It means “be bold,” but not in the sense that you should do daring things. For example, say you’re going to be late. Instead of just telling your friend you’ll be there in 15 minutes when you know realistically it will be 30 minutes, just go big: Tell your friend you need at least 30 to 45 minutes. It will be better for both of you.

Time spent on reconnaissance is never wasted. Raise your hand if you’ve ever found yourself experiencing extreme buyer’s remorse while dining in a tourist trap. It takes no time to do a little research, and the upshot is almost always worth it.

Last Friday, my mother and I found ourselves famished at 10pm. It had been a long day of driving (for me), greeting the movers (for my mother), and unpacking (for both of us), and about 10 seconds after we threw the children in their rooms, we decided it was time for some beer and food. We soon discovered we could find neither the bottle opener nor the toaster and would thus have to, wait for it, “adapt and overcome.” We jammed the bottles into a latch plate to pry them open and fried the bread in olive oil in a cast iron skillet stovetop. Beer and bread have never tasted so good. We made several batches of the olive oil toast that evening, and I have continued to make it every day since even after locating my toaster. I have been using a jalapeño oil from the Temecula Olive Oil Company, which offers a nice kick, so feel free to season with some crushed red pepper flakes if you like that sort of thing.

• a few slices of stale bread
• olive oil
• nice salt, such as Maldon or Fleur de Sel
• crushed red pepper flakes, optional

Note: If you want to doll this toast up a bit, spread it with a soft cheese (goat is nice) and top with arugula. No need to dress the arugula.

1. Coat a cast iron skillet with a nice layer (go big) of oil. Place bread slices in a single layer over top. Heat over medium heat until bread is golden, about five to eight minutes. Flip. Season with nice salt (and chili flakes if using). Heat until second side is golden.
2. Remove from heat. Eat.

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes