Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume 01

OATS

COMPOSITION AND VARIETIES

67. As an article of food, OATS are used very extensively. In Scotland, this cereal formed the principal article of diet for many years, and as the hardiness of the Scotch people is usually attributed to their diet the value of oats as a food cannot be overestimated. This grain, or cereal, grows very much like wheat and yields an abundant crop in fairly good soil; but it is unlike wheat in composition, for it contains very little protein and considerable fat. In fact, it contains more fat than any other cereal. Because of its lack of protein, it will not make raised bread, and when it must serve the purpose of bread it is made into flat cakes and baked. Although it is used to some extent in this way, its greatest use for food, particularly in the United States, is in the form of oatmeal and rolled oats. In the preparation of oatmeal for the market, the oat grains are crushed or cut into very small pieces, while in the preparation of rolled oats they are crushed flat between large rollers.

RECIPES FOR OATS

68. The same methods of cooking can be applied to both oatmeal and rolled oats. Therefore, while the recipes here given are for rolled oats, it will be well to note that they can be used for oatmeal by merely substituting this cereal wherever rolled oats are mentioned.

69. ROLLED OATS.--Because of the high food value of rolled oats, this cereal is excellent for cold weather, especially when it is served with hot cream or milk and sugar. It can be prepared very easily, as the accompanying recipe shows.

ROLLED OATS
(Sufficient to Serve Six)

• 1 c. rolled oats
• 3 c. boiling water
• 1 tsp. salt

Stir the oats into the boiling water to which the salt has been added. Boil 2 minutes, stirring them occasionally to keep them from sticking. Then cook them in a double boiler for 2 to 4 hours. During this time, stir the oats as little as possible, so as to prevent them from becoming mushy. Serve hot.

70. ROLLED OATS WITH APPLES.--The combination of rolled oats and apples is rather unusual, still it makes a dish that lends variety to a breakfast or a luncheon. Such a dish is easily digested, because the apples supply to it a considerable quantity of cellulose and mineral salts.

ROLLED OATS WITH APPLES
(Sufficient to Serve Six)

• 2/3 c. rolled oats
• 2 c. boiling water
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 6 medium-sized apples
• 1 c. water
• 1/2 c. sugar

Stir the rolled oats into the boiling salted water and cook them until they set; then place them in a double boiler and cook for 2 to 4 hours. Pare and core the apples, and then cook them whole in a sirup made of 1 cupful of water and 1/2 cupful of sugar until they are soft, but not soft enough to fall apart. To serve the food, place it in six cereal dishes. Put a large spoonful of the cooked oats in each dish, arrange an apple on top of the oats, and then fill the hole left by the core with rolled oats. Over each portion, pour some of the sirup left from cooking the apples, and serve hot with cream.

71. ROLLED-OATS JELLY WITH PRUNES.--If an appetizing dish for warm weather is desired, rolled oats may be cooked to form a jelly and then have stewed prunes added to it. Such a dish is illustrated in Fig. 4. When served with cream, this combination of rolled oats and prunes is high in food value and consequently may be made the important dish in the meal for which it is used.

ROLLED-OATS JELLY WITH PRUNES
(Sufficient to Serve Six)

• 1 c. rolled oats
• 3 c. water
• 1 tsp. salt
• 12 stewed prunes

Cook the rolled oats according to the directions already given, and then force them through a fine sieve. Remove the seeds from the prunes that have been stewed by cooking them very slowly until they are soft in a sufficient quantity of water to cover them well, drain off all the juice, and place two prunes in the bottom of each of six cups, or molds, that have been moistened with cold water. Fill each with the rolled-oats jelly and set them aside to chill. When ready to serve, turn the food out of each mold into a cereal dish and serve with cream and sugar.