Twice a year, I decide to start eating porrdige. It usually lasts for, oh, about a quarter of the bowl. It’s just so stodgy! And gloopy. Most recently, I gave it a go in the Cake Cafe with hazelnuts, honey, and orange peel, but I couldn’t get through more than half.
That’s why I won’t be entering Flahavan’s All-Ireland Porridge Making Challenge. There’s two categories: firstly, create the perfect porridge dish and, secondly, develop the most innovative recipe using Flahavan’s Irish porridge oat range.
The overall winner in each category will receive a top prize of €1,500, with the runners up winning €500 each.
Recipe entries, along with preparation methods and photos, can be submitted via www.flahavans.com or sent by post to E. Flahavan & Sons Ltd. Porridge Making Challenge, Kilnagrange Mills, Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford. Multiple entries can be submitted, and there are no age limits. Closing date is January 31 2010. Let me know if you redeem porridge!
Friday 11 December, 2009 at 11:59 am
I add dried cranberries to mine and it rocks.
Aldi do a fantastic golden syrup microwave one that is gorgeous.
Friday 11 December, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Possidge soaked overnight with water. Cook next morning and add flaked almonds, maple syrup and cold milk- comfort in a bowl!
Friday 11 December, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Ditch the porridge for Ready Brek. You’ll feel like a kid but it’s the same idea, just a lot more yummy! Add some blueberries before you heat it – delicious!
Friday 11 December, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Mash a half a ripe banana in with the oats before adding milk and cooking. Adds a lovely sweetness. Or else sliced pears and cinnamon. mmmmmm.
Friday 11 December, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Porridge, my ideal diet food!! As soon as I lift a spoonful to my mouth, my stomach shrinks, I lose my appetite, the texture, the taste – gag – bleuch!!! Problem is, it’s good for you – so I now cook it with a dash of mixed spice, half milk, half water (in a pot) til soft then mash in half a banana and a teaspoon of honey. Result is – I can eat it…enjoy might be too strong a word. Bonus – kids love it, so I’m pleased! They also love Ready Brek (Tesco version), with raisins…
Cooked oats are for flapjacks … 🙂
Friday 11 December, 2009 at 3:08 pm
How could anybody not like porridge?!! I love it so much I sometimes eat it three times a day!
Friday 11 December, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Ready Brek FTW!
Friday 11 December, 2009 at 4:11 pm
I have a love/hate relationship with porridge. I like it, have made so many variations of it over the years that I never had the same bowl twice (cooked with water, soaked overnight with grated apple, soaked and cooked with water then cream added, with fruits, cocoa, nuts, honey, maple syrup….). But I still find it deeply unsatisfaying. I like chewing my food. The gloopy texture is more suited to a nostalgy of childhood than anything else.
Friday 11 December, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Im going to add another +1 to readybrek. I find you have to soak and cook porridge oats for months to make them squidgy enough to eat. Best alternative use is flapjacks or decorating the tops of fibery brown breads
Friday 11 December, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Typical Peter, trying to make things too complicated! Porridge is delicious as it is. Milk and sugar (or maple syrup..yum!) is all you need. Done.
Tuesday 15 December, 2009 at 5:17 pm
actually, the best way to eat ready brek is made with milk and a handful of o’connaill’s chocolate drops stirred in before you eat it
Tuesday 15 December, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Porridge is the meaning of life – literally. Half a bowl of water, three to four heaped teaspoons of oats and a little salt. Microwave on full 1,45 mins and more if necessary. Milk, and sugar or honey or mapple syrup etc – heaven.
Tuesday 12 January, 2010 at 1:54 pm
My friend Roisin may have redeemed porridge for me. She mixed it with water and milk, then added a spoon of honey and a big serving of fruit including pineapple, berries, and grapes. It woke me up instantly and was delicious.