Oat Loaf is a meal by the slice

Chris Ross

Rosie Daykin says she realized she loved to cook at an early age. Her after-school “baking bonanzas” attracted all the neighborhood kids, and it was a win/win situation. “Their desire to eat cookies worked very nicely with my desire to bake them,” she says in the introduction of her new cookbook, “Let Me Feed You.”

Daykin owns a bakery called Butter Baked Goods in Vancouver, Canada, and has two other cookbooks, “Butter Baked Goods” and “Butter Celebrates.”

The new cookbook is less about baking and more about feeding a family. It’s filled with recipes that are both simple and appealing, including Fried Chicken for Impatient People Like Me, Old-School Potato Salad, D.G.M. (Damn Good Meatloaf) and Pineapple Honey Ribs. With so many recipes that I wanted to try, it was tough to choose one to share, but this Great Oat Loaf immediately struck me as an excellent idea.

THE GREAT OAT LOAF

Makes 1 (8-inch) loaf

6 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups steel-cut oats

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Place the water and salt in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the steel-cut oats and stir vigorously to combine. Bring back to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the oats are cooked through (they should be nice and thick). Lift the lid every 5 minutes or so to give them a good stir. Add the ground cinnamon and stir again.

Remove from the heat and gently pour the oat mixture into an 8-inch loaf pan. The top of the loaf will be slightly domed, but you can use a spatula to smooth it over. Cover with plastic wrap and let set in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Once set, turn the loaf out onto a plate or small platter. Cut off a nice thick slice, heat in the microwave for about 1 minute, and top with your favorite oatmeal fixings. I like a big scoop of Strawberry Rhubarb Compote and a little brown sugar.

Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Excerpted with permission from “Let Me Feed You: Everyday Recipes Offering the Comfort of Home” by Rosie Daykin. Published by Appetite by Random House, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. All rights reserved.

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