2015 recipe goal, recipe 1: Oatmeal and Fruit Stew

One of my resolutions for 2015 is to make better use of my cookbook collection by selecting one recipe I haven't cooked before each week, trying to hit as man of the cookbooks as possible.  The point is to get away from the regular recipes I have in databases on my computer, and to use what I have in the house instead of Googling. Computers will fit into my meal planning at times, but I will need to dig through my books for some ideas as well.

I have a pretty decent collection of cookbooks, many of which are older books I've picked up second hand. The earliest dedicated cookbooks I have show original publishing dates in the early 1940s. I have a reprint of the New Galt Cookbook from 1898. I have a few Girls' Own Annuals that date back to the mid-1800s which do contain recipes amongst their articles... I'm hoping to hit some of those as well.

I also have cookbooks from the 60s and 70s. To be honest, those are the ones that really scare me. Food during that period was... odd. I know I have a variety of recipes for various food items in gelatine, and at least one fro deep fried parsley. None of these will feature in my cooking this year or, hopefully, ever.

I'm starting today with breakfast. My husband is down with a bad bug, and an oatmeal dish sounded like a good idea. This recipe for Oatmeal and Fruit Stew is from Best Quebec Recipes of Bygone Days by Suzette Couillard and Roseline Normand (Editions Suzette Couillard, copyright 1986).

This seems to be a pretty straightforward oatmeal recipe. Changes I made were mostly around what ingredients I have on hand regularly. I used almond milk, and white sugar with a drizzle of molasses instead of brown sugar for the main recipe. I did without the toppings out of personal preference more than anything else.

"Uncooked oatmeal" is always one of those challenging ingredient translations for me. What kind of oatmeal? It's a traditional recipe, so is it steel cut? The book was published in the 80s, so should it be rolled oats? I have both, but decided to go with rolled because the cooking times seemed to favour it.

End result? A very pleasant and rich oatmeal, nicely flavoured, without the soupiness of porridge. Substituting white sugar and molasses instead of brown sugar gives it a nice little kick of flavour as well.

Oatmeal and Fruit Stew
2 cups milk
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 cup uncooked oatmeal
1 cup seeded, dark raisins
2 Tbsps brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Place the first 6 ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Cook until  milk comes to a boil and mix.

Add other ingredients. Cook until it begins to bubble. Pour into a 1-qt size greased casserole. Bake in the oven at 350F for 15 mins. Mix the whole and bake another 15 mins.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with a generous amount of brown sugar and dab with butter.

Return to moderate oven for 3 mins before serving.