Now it's time to try the next round of oat pilaf. This time I'm experimenting with not using egg on the oats, but rather frying them up first in oil, as many rice pilaf recipes do. I'll include chicken this time as well, so I'll have to use a larger casserole dish. I don't have one that is both big enough and has a lid, so this time I'll increase the liquid a bit and put it in the oven uncovered. I'm bummed: I forgot the jalapenos this time.

Ingredients

• 7 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 1 onion, chopped coarsely
• 1/2 onion, chopped small but not fine
• olive oil
• canola oil
• 1 cup of steel-cut oats
• 1/2 cup grated carrot
• 14.5 oz can of stewed tomatoes
• 2.25 oz can of sliced black olives, juice included
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black peppercorns, ground

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Put casserole dish in.
2. Pour some olive oil in a frying pan. Put thighs in pan in a circle with the 1/2 onion in the middle. Fry the thighs until you get some browning and crisping on the thighs and then flip. Flip the onions at the same time. Remove the chicken. Reserve the fond. Chop the chicken.
3. Pour canola oil into a pan. Add oats. Make sure each grain is coated with oil. Toast oats until they slightly change color. They will have a slightly toast smell. Remove from pan and set aside.
4. Begin frying remaining onions in olive oil.
5. After they have softened and reduced in size a bit, add cumin and turmeric. Cook for a bit. Add carrots. Cook a while longer.
6. To the onion mixture add stewed tomatoes, the olives with juice, salt, pepper, and two cups of chicken broth. (I actually just used water plus a tablespoon of Whole Foods vegetarian chicken broth powder.) Bring to a boil. Add oats and fond. Bring to a boil.
7. Remove casserole dish from oven. Add oat mixture; yes, it will bubble up at first. Even the mixture out and add the chopped chicken on top. Place the casserole back in the oven.
8. Cook for 55 minutes uncovered

Results

This turned out fine, though maybe not as good as last time. The frying of the oats effectively kept the grains all separate at the end of cooking. I forgot the jalapenos, so it was milder than I like, but it had a flavor I think my niece and nephew would eat. The extra liquid mean it took longer than it had to. A cup less liquid would have taken less time and maybe left the oats a bit firmer.

For next time

I think I will try sauteing the onions and then adding the oats to that mixture to see if the grains become sufficiently coated with oil without using a separate pan.