I want to explore making pilaf with steel-cut oats. Pilaf makers seem to like it fluffy, usually so done by fluffing with a fork before serving, and they like the grains to be as separate as possible, which seems difficult with oats. Many buckwheat kasha recipes toss the buckwheat first with egg, cooking it dry, and then adding it to the liquid; that's the approach I'll try this time.

Ingredients

• 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 10.5 oz can of beef consommé
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 jalapeños, seeded, diced small
• 2 large cloves of garlic, peeled, crushed
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp turmeric, guesstimated
• 1/2 tsp cumin, guesstimated
• 1 egg
• 1 cup steel-cut oats
• vegetable oil

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350° with an empty covered pyrex dish in it.
2. In a pan put vegetable oil, onion, garlic, & jalapeños. Saute a bit. Add cumin & turmeric. Keep sautéing until onion is soft.
3. While onions are softening, toss oats with egg so that each grain is covered. Cook over medium heat in a non-stick pan, stirring constantly, so that the grains separate as much as possible.
4. Add tomatoes, consommé and oats into the pan with the onions. Heat until bubbling.
5. Remove pyrex dish from oven. Put onion/oat mixture in it. Cover and return to oven. Cook for 30 minutes covered. Remove cover and cook ten more minutes. Remove from oven. Let sit uncovered for a bit.

Results

This turned out pretty good. The grains were not a mucilaginous mass; they were easily separable. The jalapeños gave it a nice bite. I think serranos would be good in it as well.