Fried Oatmeal... FRIED.

Several years back, the hubs, my BFF/cousin, and I stopped off at a chic breakfast joint in a chic part of town. On the menu I saw something that piqued my interest: Fried Oatmeal. I'm fat, remember? Therefore it's like a law that I flock to Fried things.

Even so, I bypassed it because it was "oatmeal" and opted for an amazing stuffed french toast submerged in chai latte instead. And even though I always get that french toast dish, the Fried Oatmeal always echos in my head.

One day, a couple months after seeing this on the menu, I decided to google "fried oatmeal" and found some interesting recipes and ideas and tried it out- and it was like my life had instantly changed.

Fried Oatmeal is just... in the tone of DJ Lance

from Yo Gabba Gabba... AWESOME!

It's been years since I've made it though because, well, it's a bit time consuming (for my lazy, fat ass). But then, over the weekend, the hubs inadvertently picked up the key ingredient to making Fried Oatmeal (I asked for Old Fashioned to make apple crisp, he comes home with this stuff which is, like, NOT Old Fashioned oatmeal in the sense of that Quaker shit) so the other night, I went to town and have absolutely, without any doubt, perfected the most awesomest Fried Oatmeal dish. Really!

First you gotta go out and get yourself some STEEL CUT OATMEAL.

I'm not 100% sure, but I do believe the STEEL CUT part is of key importance with this dish. So do it. Find some Steel Cut Oatmeal and follow the instructions on the can and get to boiling 4 cups of water and/or milk (I highly suggest at least getting 1 cup of milk in there as the more milk you use, the creamier the oats will become... mmmmm!). After your liquid gets to a good boil, slowly sift in 1 cup of the oatmeal and stir, stir, stir. Once that gets added and the mixture thickens a bit and is blended well, drop your heat down so that the goods are left to simmer... for 30 minutes! Stir occasionally.

After your 30 minutes are up, you should have a thicker consistency... like... oatmeal! Aha, yes indeed, you've just made oatmeal!

This next part is not on the can (well, not really) and is what makes my Fried Oatmeal so AWESOME!

Get a good tablespoon of beautiful butter (feel free to add as much as you want, but I really don't suggest skimping out on this) and add it to the hot mixture.

Then add about 1/2 a cup to a full cup of brown sugar, about a teaspoon or two of salt, and mix well. The butter, brown sugar, and salt will melt nicely into the oatmeal.

Next, get a baking dish/pan and spray with cooking spray and add the warm oatmeal so that it lays flat and even- kinda like rice crispie treats!

Cover (when cool) and let sit overnight in the fridge.

The next morning, noon, or night (or days later), cut into the oatmeal which has solidified into the pan and add it to a hot pan with some melted butter and fry.

Just let it sit and fry in the hot pan for several minutes.

Flip and fry the other side... the longer you fry, the more caramelized* the brown sugar and butter become (making the dish so dang AWESOME!).

Even if it falls apart, keep on frying.

Plate and serve warm.

Mmmm, Awesome Fried Oatmeal.

*I am not a Cook so it's more than possible my terminology here (and throughout) is incorrect.