..hear the porridge bubblin' ...

The time is right to pay respect to my Irish family roots, many of whom were from the land around Donegal County.

Jim McKee performing Homes Of Donegal (http://www.jimmckee.ie)
Adapted from lyrics by Seán MacBride around 1955.
Melody much older - 150 years or so.
Paul Brady performs this as well and he's wonderful, but I rather like this young man Jim McKee, who also plays in the White Hare Band.



Missing verse:
To see your homes at parting day of that I never tire,
And hear the porridge bubblin' in a big pot on the fire.
The lamp alight, the dresser bright, the big clock on the wall,
O, a sight serene, celestial scene, in the homes of Donegal.

Over across the sea, they eat a dish called porridge. I am pretty sure it’s a general catch-all term for hot cereal, but I could be wrong. Porridge is a word we see in books (Jane Austin’s characters eat porridge) and stories (Goldilocks ate porridge) and in old nursery rhymes (please porridge hot, please porridge cold) originating from England. But porridge is just never ever used in American English language. If I asked my sons if they would like a bowl of porridge, they would look at me sideways and say I was taking my interest in the old country a bit too far. And I would be hard pressed to disagree. Americans use the phrase a bowl of oatmeal, or bowl of Cream of Wheat.

In the American South they eat a hot cereal called grits or hominy. Grits are coarse grains of dried corn kernels. The texture is well....gritty, but the taste is somewhat palatable if you doctor it up. The First Americans made grits and taught the recipe to the settlers. Grits are only marketed in the South. California was once 'owned' by Mexico so we have a lot of Mexican heritage/culture. Grits are pretty much the same thing as masa, with masa being ground a bit finer. Tortillas and tamales are made from masa, which in my opinion is how grits should be used. On a side note, if someone tells you to “kiss my grits” it’s not a good thing. After commenting on their hot cereal of choice, some Southerner might just say such to me! :)

By whatever name, it’s a perfect rainy day meal regardless of which side of the sea one calls home. I would be very interested in learning how the Scottish and Irish cook their porridge. There are many variations, but here’s my basic recipe for one serving.

Cook your oats or Cream of Wheat in a bit less water, or milk than usual. Personally I think runny oats are kinda yucky and the butter some people add is completely unnecessary. Use whatever type of oats you have in the cupboard (rolled, stone cut...).

I keep a bag of unsweetened blueberries (grown up in Washington State) in my freezer. Some people prefer the pretty little wild blueberries, but the larger sized blueberries are just fine. We have a warehouse store called Costco and they sell everything in large quantities and at very low prices. Take some blueberries (1/2 cup or so) and nuke them until they are warm and juicy. Don’t fret about the berries if a few turn to liquid. Remember, you decreased the amount of liquid used in cooking the oats. Blueberries have the best antioxidant properties, but of course you could use blackberries or raspberries. Wild blackberries grow locally along the moist riparian zones and are best eaten right off the vine. :)

I like to add just a smidgen of raw organic blue agave nectar. Yes, from the same agave plant as tequila but without the kick. I visited a tequila “factory” in Mexico years ago. Factory just meant a shed with a fire pit and a press. They heat/cook the huge heart of the plant in the fire, and then extract the pulp in the press, which then gets fermented. The floor was all sticky from the agave juice. The whole process from harvest to finished product is very labor intensive. The agave sweetener is somewhat similar to honey, but is thinner and does not crystallize. It's very nice in a cup of tea. There are different strengths; the dark amber is the most flavorful. It is much sweeter than syrup or sugar so less is needed. Always buy the raw organic. I don’t know if it is available overseas. If anyone wants some, I would be happy to slow-boat over a bottle.

Add a couple tablespoons of unsalted sunflower seeds, or almonds or walnuts. You could roast the nuts first in the oven for a few minutes, but it's not necessary. If you don’t have berries, put in a couple tablespoons of raisins and skip the sweetener.

A word about almonds (actually a seed, but known as a nut). Surrounding my community in addition to rice fields and olive orchards are acres and acres and acres of nut tree orchards – mostly walnuts and almonds. It’s big business and vital to our economy. In the Spring when the orchards are in full pink and white blossom, it's a wonderful site to experience. And the fragrance is so sweet. Harvesting is done by shaking the living daylights out of the tree, until the nuts fall off. Poor little trees, they get quite a beating from the shaker machine. I mention the shaking because it is very significant when one speaks the word almond. Once the nut is shaken off the tree, the letter L is removed or "shaken off" the word. So, one might have an almond tree, but one eats amonds (pronounced with a short a), not almonds. :) I kid you not. It is a surefire way to spot a local from a transplant. Those good-old-boy-growers will give you no respect if you pronounce the L.

Stir it all together. I suppose you could add some milk but the blueberries have plenty of juice for my taste. For a treat, add a tablespoon of dark chocolate chips to your bowl. Yum!