Steel Cut Oatmeal with Fresh Ripened Pear

This morning was looking a but chilly out.  A storm is apparently due to come through, bringing our first winter's snow.  So, I decided to make a comfort food dish that would warm our insides up for the day ahead. Now the real star of this meal was the pear.  I think it is of the utmost importance to use a well ripened, good quality pear.  Now with steel cut oats a common complaint is that it takes too long to cook; but with a little forethought you can cook the oats the night before, so that when you are blow drying your hair, putting on your socks, looking for your keys, and packing your lunch with no time to spare, you can still eat an amazing breakfast.  Now I know that this dish is not a huge departure from the classic bowl of oatmeal, but using high quality fresh ingredients can make an otherwise overlooked breakfast into something quite memorable.

Steel Cut Oatmeal with Fresh Ripened Pear

serves 3

3 cups Filtered Water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup Steel Cut Oats (Bob's Red Mill)

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

3 pats Butter

1 Ripened Pear, sliced into sticks

1/2 cup Golden Raisins

1/2 cup Walnuts

pinch Ground Cinnamon

To cook the oats, bring the water to a boil in a medium sauce pan.  Add the salt and oats. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool to room tempereature if storing overnight.  If you are eating it right away, remove from heat, stir in the brown sugar and serve into bowls.  Top each serving with 1 pat of butter, pear, raisins, walnuts and ground cinnamon to garnish.  Eat!