Crofter's porridge

No time to eat your porridge before you leave? No problem, take it with you!

I thought I’d invented something new here by making regular porridge and letting it cool before cutting it into tasty slabs but I was just told by a friend that the crofters in wildest Scotland got there before me.

They used to line a wooden drawer and tip the porridge into it to cool overnight, then cut a slab off each day to take to out into the wild and woolly highlands!

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: Cool overnight in fridge

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients

100g porridge oats (half jumbo, half regular)
600ml whole milk
good squeeze of honey or maple syrup (to your taste)
pinch of sea salt flakes
Optional: A few nuts, seeds, raisins, sultanas, chopped apricots – you choose.

Instructions

Heat the oats, milk, salt and honey or maple syrup in a saucepan, stirring all the time until the porridge thickens and becomes a thick creamy eating consistency. It’ll only take a few minutes but you shouldn’t be able to see the milk, it should all be absorbed.

Lightly butter a shallow dish and pour the hot porridge into it, it should be a fairly shallow layer but it doesn’t matter you can make a thicker slab if you like.

If you’re using nuts, seeds or dried fruit sprinkle them over the top now and press them in very slightly so they stays where they are.

Leave the porridge to cool, you can do this in the fridge overnight or on the worktop for an hour or two. Whichever way you choose it tastes better eaten at room temperature.

Cut it into squares, wrap in greaseproof paper and take with you to enjoy! You can eat it on its own or with Greek yoghurt, whole milk or even a dash of cream on the odd occasion.

Nutrition Info

Oats

Oats are particularly high in manganese which is great for healthy bone formation, healthy skin and helping to control blood sugar. Oats are a wholegrain, that means the good stuff hasn’t been removed. Wholegrains are an important source of B vitamins and fibre.

Oats are a great source of the soluble fibre called beta-glucan. That’s what makes porridge kinda viscous and it stays quite viscous as it passes through you, sweeping up any excess cholesterol as it goes. A happy gut is at the heart of good health!

Oats do a special thing – as they pass through your intestine their bulk presses against its muscly walls. It presses back in response and by doing so its muscles get stronger. Oats are literally like a sparring partner for your digestive tract!

Find your new natural

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The descent to Camusféarna is so steep that neither the house nor its islands are visible from the road above. And that paradise within a paradise remains, to the casual road user, unguessed.

Gavin Maxwell. Ring of Bright Water.

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