Not all oats are created equal
A new year and a new promise to use your gym membership aren't the only reasons why January marks a time of hope.
It's also National Oatmeal Month.
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More oatmeal will be consumed this month than any other, according to the Quaker Oats Co., which naturally has a vested interest in celebrating that fact.
Oatmeal isn't landing just in cereal bowls and cookies anymore. Jill Barron, chef at vegetarian hot spot MANA food bar, 1742 W. Division, makes mushroom and brown rice "sliders" that are bound with egg, oatmeal and seasonings, grilled and served on a bun with spicy mayonnaise ($3 each).
HB Home Bistro, 3404 N. Halsted, serves a pan-roasted veal chop on an oatmeal and brown sugar risotto cake, with wilted chard and topped with whiskey marmalade ($32). And at Blackbird, 619 W. Randolph, an oatmeal panna cotta accompanies the Cable Farms country-fried rabbit leg with roasted sunchokes and brussels sprouts ($33).
That doesn't mean oatmeal isn't for breakfast anymore (check out a recipe for Oatmeal-Buttermilk Pancakes at www.suntimes.com).
Oatmeal is one of the best sources of soluble fiber, which helps reduce cholesterol along with LDL or "bad" cholesterol, according to the American Dietetic Association. It can help reduce the risk of heart disease and aid in controlling blood sugar, too.
Most of the oats produced in this country start out as a cereal grass grown in the upper Midwest.
The grains are refined into three basic types: rolled or old-fashioned, quick-cooking and instant. The more the oats are processed, the less time they take to cook -- and, some say, the more nutrients are lost.
To coax oats into a form suitable for cooking, the grains are cleaned twice, toasted and hulled into what are called oat groats. Oat groats can be cooked up as a cereal on their own.
The groats also may be steamed and flattened to produce old-fashioned or rolled oats that cook in about five minutes, according to Quaker and The New Food Lover's Companion.
The groats can be further refined to produce quick-cooking rolled oats, which cook in about one minute and, like old-fashioned oats, are ideal for cereal and baking.
For "instant" cereals, groats are steamed, sliced, then steamed again and rolled. This process softens the oats so much that cooking time essentially involves adding hot water.
While oats are great in anything from cookies to pancakes, most recipes won't call for instant oats because of the way they're processed with salt, sugar and other additives.
Scotch oats, Irish oatmeal and steel-cut oats are one and the same: groats that are cut in two or three pieces and never rolled, making for a thicker, chewy oatmeal, rather than the traditional mush.
Curious about an unusual edible or kitchen tool? Want to share some mysteries in your own cabinets? E-mail the Food Detective at ldonovan@suntimes.com.