You’ll see stories today about everything Irish. Guinness, green beer (or rivers), stew, soda bread and potatoes. But I want to talk about oats. It’s no secret that I love porridge and I make it frequently from various grains. But since I discovered Flahavan’s Progress Oatlets, I’ve developed an obsession, cooking them for breakfast several times last week and even dinner twice. The rolled oats are thinner and smaller than what we’re used to and as a result cook up into the creamiest porridge I’ve ever made. If you make them with milk as I’ve done a couple of times it’s an extraordinary bowl of goodness no matter how you season them. I should say that before my conversion to these unprepossessing flakes I leaned hard into both Irish and Scottish steel cut oatmeal and I still love that toothsome texture of porridge. The Flahavan family has been milling oats for over two centuries and rely on local farmers for the grain.
To give you a small example of how food obsessed I am and how my brain works. I had been doing research on Irish Stew for a Press Play segment and ended up reading Real Irish Food by David Bowers cover to cover. He glowingly mentioned the brand so, of course I went online and bought a bag. The one and a half kilo package is a commitment but I was willing to take it on, a life challenge I could easily meet.
My first bowl was made with milk and a few giant, jammy raisins from K & K Ranch cooked along with the oats, the whole finished with butter and a little bit of homemade brown sugar. It was the apotheosis of the breakfast oatmeal experience. Especially on a rainy day.
But my desire for the oats did not lessen. So the next day I made myself an early dinner of them, this time simmered in water. The result was only mildly less creamy than the bowl made with milk. I added an egg during the last couple minutes of cooking so it could poach in the porridge. I ended up breaking the yolk and stirring it in, then I finished with a drizzle of soy sauce and a healthy spoonful of chile crisp, the original one with the lady on the label. Heaven.
To complete the oat experience did I try making oatmeal cookies with the Progress Oatlets? Yes indeed. The oats absorb more liquid than regular rolled oats so the result is a bit more cakey but I managed to consume one or two.
OKAY, I am joining the party!
Which ones did you purchase/cook?
I found these on Amazon.
Thank you Evan!
FLAHAVAN'S Quick To Cook Irish Steel Cut Oatmeal
Flahavans Flakemeal Progress Oatlets Oatmeal 1.5kg
Flahavan's Irish Porridge Oats 500g Cereal
FLAHAVAN'S Pinhead Oatmeal, 35.27-Ounce Bags (Pack of 6)
Okay... it's time to give soy sauce and chili crisp seasoned oats another go. Sadly, no oatlets at my house - yet. Thanks Evan!