Old World English Porridge

Saturday mornings are for leisurely meals—those made while dancing to some sick tunes. Enter: Brunch Beats.

British chef April Bloomfield knows how to do the “Old World” thing. Two of her three New York restaurants, The Breslin and The Spotted Pig, are studies in patinaed leather and weathered Black Watch plaid.

And Bloomfield’s porridge recipe below is juuuuust the right kind of storybook Saturday breakfast: it contains a mere six ingredients, it takes 20 minutes of simmering (just enough time to get your coffee buzz on while lazily flipping a few pages of P.G. Wodehouse), and it pairs well with that tweed jacket you’ve been eyeing. You know, for that traditional English hunt in your near future.

April Bloomfield’s English Porridge
from Food52

1 1/2 cup whole milk, plus a few generous splashes
1 1/2 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoon Maldon, or other flaky sea salt (if using finer salt, start with 1/2 teaspoon and add to taste)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup steel-cut oats
About 2 tablespoons sugar (maple, brown, or white) or maple syrup

1. Combine the milk, water, and salt in a medium pot (a 2-quart pot should do it) and set over high heat. As soon as the liquid comes to a gentle simmer, add both kinds of oats and lower the heat to medium.

2. Cook the oats at a steady simmer, stirring frequently and lowering the heat as necessary to maintain the simmer.

3. After about 20 minutes at the simmer, the rolled oats will have turned a bit mushy, while the steel-cut oats will be just tender and pop when you bite them.

4. Taste for seasoning—it should be on the salty side. Add sugar or syrup. Spoon the porridge into warm bowls and let it sit for a minute. Then carefully pour a little cold milk around the edges of each bowl, so it pools all the way round. Sprinkle a five-fingered pinch of sugar or drizzle the syrup in the center of each and let it melt, then serve right away.