Nigel Slater’s kitchen diary: let oats strike the right notes

A bone cold, winter’s afternoon and I’m stirring a pan of oats at the hob. They are cooking in bacon fat, with sweet, nut-brown onions and thyme. As I stir and shake the pan, the kitchen is getting warm at last, the room cosy with the smell of toasting oats and smoked bacon. There is pumpkin in the oven, softening with butter and herbs, one of the seemingly everlasting winter varieties that stay in good condition as long as the cold weather lasts.

The oats are to meet the pumpkin once its glowing orange flesh is soft enough to cut with a spoon. It is a fine accompaniment to a roast pheasant, too, added to the pan about 10 minutes before the bird is ready. (With the game season now drawing to a close, there is barely time to try this with pheasant and partridge, but I recommend it with guinea fowl, roast pork and duck, too.)

I did the same with mackerel once and will do it again, scattering the seasoned oats over the fillets of oily, salty fish as they come from the grill. Oats soak up buttery juices like a sponge.

Early in the day, before much of the world is awake, I will often make porridge. Stirring oats, water and a pinch of salt in a pan is my happy place. I use a spurtle, a gift I treasure, not just for the thistle-shaped head’s ability to get right into the corners of the pan but because it feels comfortable in the hand. It is the right tool for the right job.

I am something of a purist with porridge, but less so with my other oat-based breakfast. My recipe for bircher muesli would no doubt have Dr Bircher turning in his grave, but the creamy gruel of oats and yoghurt feels like a suitable canvas for any number of artistic culinary swooshes: blueberries and honey, chia seeds and toasted almonds, grated apple and cinnamon. Sometimes all three.

I’m still eating brussels sprouts, mostly shredded and stir-fried with grated ginger, garlic and a few chilli flakes. Their strident brassica notes respond to soy sauce and maybe a shot of fish sauce. Another compatible seasoning is pancetta, cut into thick lardons and cooked until the fat has turned golden. I generally cook sprouts without water, preferring them fried in butter, olive oil or duck fat – their cut edges turning a deep, toasty gold. (I am less into the charring habit than some, finding the smell of burnt cabbage just a little too lingering.)

On a sweeter note, this week has seen some prime blood oranges in the kitchen. My first stop is always a salad, incorporating the juice into the dressing. Initially with watercress, then with white or red chicory, sprouted mung beans and some sort of protein. Smoked salmon, sliced thick, works well. Best of all is to use the salad to mop your plate after roast chicken, the sweet-tart ruby citrus juices mingling with those of the bird. One of my favourite plates of the winter months.

Other good things to look out for this week are pomegranates. By all means, scatter the ruby seeds willy-nilly over anything that needs a shot of acidity, but it’s the juice that gets me. I have yet to discover how to squeeze a pomegranate without making a hell of a mess, but clearing up the splatters on the kitchen wall is worth it for the most vibrant juice of all. Use it with a little olive oil, salt and honey to dress a salad of winter leaves or to deglaze the sticky roast from dark and shiny barbecued pork ribs.

Oats, bacon and roast squash

Serves 4. Ready in 1 hour.

The larger winter squashes, such as the blue-skinned Crown Prince and richly nutty Delica have nice firm flesh and are particularly good for roasting. Butternut will do, though generally it tends to have softer flesh and a less intense flavour. It may cook a little more quickly.

For the squash:

orange-fleshed squash such as pumpkinor butternut 1.5kg

olive oil 5 tbsp

butter 50g

For the oats:

smoked streaky bacon 250g

olive oil 2 tbsp

onions 2, medium

garlic cloves 2

thyme leaves 2 tsp

parsley 20g (plus extra to serve, optional)

jumbo oats 100g

vegetable or chicken stock 250ml

Heat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Slice the squash into 4 wedges, removing the seeds and skin as you go. Cut each in half and put them in a large roasting tin.

Pour the olive oil over the squash. Season generously with salt and black pepper.

Cut the butter into 8 and place a piece on each wedge of squash. Roast in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes or until a metal skewer will slide effortlessly through the flesh. If the edges are lightly browned, then all to the good.

While the squash is roasting, cut the bacon into pieces roughly the size of a postage stamp.

Warm the oil in a shallow pan and fry the bacon over a moderate heat for 6-8 minutes until its fat turns golden. Peel and finely chop the onions, then add to the bacon.

Peel and finely slice the garlic and chop the thyme leaves, then stir into the onions together with a generous seasoning of salt and coarsely ground black pepper. Continue cooking for about 15 minutes, stirring regularly until soft and fragrant.

Roughly chop the parsley and stir in. Mix in the oats – they will soak up the bacon fat – and continue cooking for 2 minutes. Then pour in the stock, bring to the boil and let it simmer for another 2 minutes. Set aside until the squash is tender.

Introduce the oat and bacon mixture to the roasting tin, piling it over and around the pieces of squash. Return to the oven and cook for a further 10 minutes until lightly sizzling. Scatter over some extra parsley to finish, if you like.