Skirlie

This recipe puts me in mind of a traditional Scottish kind of gomasio. A crunchy and salty topping and snack food with plenty of flavor. It's good on all sorts of things but lends itself particularly well to Rumpledethumps.

¼ cup (2oz/58gr) butter (or bacon fat or beef suet)

1 onion (6oz/170gr) finely chopped

4 oz pinhead (synonyms: medium or steel cut) oats 

¼  to ½ tsp salt, or to taste

Pepper, to taste

1. Melt the butter over medium heat and sauté the onion until lightly browned.
2. Add the oatmeal and stir slowly until all the fat is absorbed; the onion should become dark and just crispy, about 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Types of Oats

I'm starting to experiment with recipes based on oats, inspired by the discovery that a little oatmeal in split pea soup makes for a smooth, unctuous texture (with no oatey flavour or texture). Turns out there are loads of grinds for oats that make a big impact on what you can do with them. I need a list of definitions to refer to until I become more familiar with the different kinds.

Oat groats are simply the whole grain, unprocessed except to have the tough outer skin removed. Think of brown rice.

Pinhead oats, Steel-cut oats, Coarse oatmeal, or Irish oatmeal, cracked groats, milled to varying coarseness: Pinhead (coarse or rough oatmeal, Low GI); Medium (most common in Scottland, 1 to 2mm in diameter, Low GI); Fine oatmeal or Oatmeal flour (not exactly interchangeable as the former still has the bran, Medium GI).

Rolled Oats, Jumbo, Old fashioned, Porridge oats, Flaked oats, (sometimes Quick oats or Quick Cook), where the groat is steamed then rolled flat to make a flake. Medium GI.

Instant Oats have been cooked longer and, because of the extra processing, is considered High GI.