Coconut Date Porridge

I've been on a coconut kick lately, if you haven't noticed by my past few posts. These days I use coconut oil more than I do olive oil, because it's such a creamy, silken oil to work with. I like it better for high-heat cooking, more than any other oil.

This morning, I was in the mood for porridge. I'd recently gotten some bulk medjool dates for a pie crust I'll be making soon, so I thought I'd try this out.

Now, normally I work recipes from scratch, but I had to showcase this hot cereal mix. Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal is just amazing. I was gifted it by a friend awhile back, and I fell completely in love. Not only is it a easy mix to prepare, but the mix of brown rice, corn, buckwheat and sorghum gives the bowl a rich, gooey feel on the tongue. Paired with coconut oil and dates, I think I might just be in porridge heaven.

Coconut Date Porridge

1 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal
3 1/4 c. water
2 Tb. coconut oil
2 Tb. dark maple syrup (B grade, or No. 2)
12 pitted medjool dates, chopped, 1 Tb. reserved
1 1/2 cups coconut water
1/4 tsp. cinnamon, for garnish
pinch salt

In a pot, bring water and salt to a boil. Add cereal and mix in, then immediately turn the heat down to low. Cover, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. It should make about 2 1/2 cups.

Add coconut oil, maple syrup, dates, and coconut water into pot, and incorporate thoroughly. Divide into two bowls, and garnish with reserved dates and cinnamon.

--
I actually made this as one serving for myself, so I did the mixing in my own bowl. As I pushed the tablespoons of coconut oil and maple syrup into my porridgey mass, I found this:

Coco-maple love! :D

When I showed this picture to Jeremy, he gave me a funny look and asked me if it was an egg! It kinda does look like a teeny quail egg or something, I have to admit. :) Too bad it was a couple days late for Valentine's Day. It would have been so perfect.

As a side note: Last time I made this hot cereal, I made a HUGE batch of it plain, and put the leftover bits in the fridge. That night, I was feeling like having polenta, but I had all of that ready-made, so I scooped spoonfuls out (it was quite firm) onto a cookie sheet and drizzled them with olive oil, and baked until they turned golden. I served them with a hearty red wine and herb marinara, and it was delicious! A great alternative to normal polenta, and spooning them out rather than cutting chunks or rounds gave them an extra rustic feel. Perhaps I should make that again tonight and post it here... Hmm...

Also! I joined another blogroll the "Great Cooks!" Blogroll from Simple Daily Recipes. I've been going through the other blogs, and I'm getting SO many ideas for new recipes! I'm very excited. I love Blogrolls! :D

Update!

As you've probably noticed, I've added a lot of new things to my blog in the past few days. I can now do email subscriptions, joined a couple affiliate sites, added a feature where you can rate my blog, and am now part of a few (really) fun Blogrolls. I'm particularly happy about the Blogrolls, because it connects me to so many other food geeks and brings more people to my page. After putting them on this morning, I came home tonight and had three new comments from Blogroll people! Yay!

The Foodie Blogroll is going to be quite exciting because they do a "Royal Foodie Joust" (run by the Queen of Leftover Foods) which is a monthly contest for all the foodies out there who want to participate. The idea is, everyone gets three ingredients to work with, chosen by the previous month's winner, and whoever gets the most votes as "best dish" wins a Royal Foodie Joust apron! I'm SO excited for this!


This month's ingredients are:

pork (I'm using tofu instead)
citrus
pink or white peppercorns

I'll be making my dish tomorrow for an early Valentine's Day dinner, then going out to an undisclosed (by Jeremy) location for drinks to watch the sunset over Vancouver Island. Watching the sun set over those high peaks is just breathtaking.


If you scroll down through all those icons on my right-hand side, make sure to rate my blog, and leave me a comment to tell me what you think of the new updates. I'd love to get some more comments and feedback on my recipes, too! *nudgenudge* ;)


Blessings!
Lyra