Palatable? Palatable? I consider it tasty.
I spent years in search of the good oatmeal. I hated the glop that passes for oatmeal with most people I wanted something lighter and flakier. So my final recipe is.
I get a saucepan, a wire strainer made of steel with a handle that just fits into the sauce pan, a dish, a 1 cup measure, and a spoon, raisins and Quaker Old Fashioned Oatmeal.
First I put the strainer in the saucepan and I take a handful of the raisins and spread them in a single layer on the bottom of the strainer. (If you have kids, you can arrange the raisins into smiley faces etc.)Then I pour out a cup of oatmeal into the measuring cup.
I want to keep the oatmeal dust from getting into the boiling water so starch won't become a problem. I move the strainer to the bowl and pour in the oatmeal on top of the raisins. I rinse out the measuring cup and fill it with one cup of water. I put the water in the saucepan and put the saucepan on the stove, cover it and turn the burner on high.
With the sauce pan heating, I put the bowl into the sink and fill it full of cool water. Then, taking the strainer and the spoon, I plunge the strainer into the water, and use the spoon to push all the oatmeal under the water. I pull the strainer up and let the water drain. When most of the water has drained, I lower the strainer back down to just above the bowl and pull it up quickly to get all the water out. I usually repeat that several times till the dripping stops. This removes the dust and makes sure that all the oatmeal is wet for best heat conduction.
Then I take the lid off the sauce pan, put the strainer into the sauce pan so it's supported by the rim of the saucepan above the water and put the cover back on. So all the oatmeal dust is now in the bowl. I pour out the water in the bowl, rinse it and have it and the spoon ready for use.
I let the water boil, until its almost completely boiled away. You can check by lifting the strainer handle and seeing how much water is left in the sauce pan. While this is going on, I usually make my lunch and pack it and eat a banana. It just takes a few minutes to cook.
When the water is almost gone, I remove the strainer and run the spoon around the edge of the oatmeal to free it. Then I turn the strainer over the bowl and the oatmeal falls out into the bowl with the raisins on top. I like it this way, the oatmeal is light and flaky and the raisins complement the oatmeal, but you can add whatever you want.
As an added benefit, the steam has broken down the raisins enough that they don't cause any unpleasant noises later on.
Take the sauce pan and strainer, fill the saucepan with soapy water and put the strainer in and let them soak while you eat.
When you are done eating and ready to clean up. You can keep the strainer in the water, turn it 90 degrees so one edge is deep and one is out of the water and use a scrub pad to gently fan the oatmeal under water out of the strainer and to the bottom of the sauce pan. Then work around the strainer, fanning the oatmeal under water into the pan. Rinse off the strainer and then clean the sauce pan.