Olive Oatmeal

I have not always been much of an oatmeal guy; I mean, it’s oatmeal, right? I did have one great bowl of oatmeal years ago when looking at colleges. The key to that oatmeal was the warm walnut cream poured over the top and mixed in for a swirled, luxurious effect.

Well, we made some dried fruit oatmeal the other morning for some guests. Scottish and rolled oats were cooked together with dried fruits to make a two-textured oatmeal. (In the future, we plan to add Irish oats as well to add another dimension to the oatmeal.) The oatmeal was creamy, earthy, and fruity. I thought it was perfect for some antelope we were working with. I took the oatmeal base and added olive oil and pitted olives to add a background grassy bitterness. I also added green onions and anise hyssop for herbal notes to the oatmeal. I could not have been happier with the olive and dried fruit oatmeal. Many times, we just get lucky. We served the olive oatmeal with slow-cooked olive-brined antelope, buttermilk-smoked maple puree, cranberry olives, and celery.