Fermented breakfast cereal -- are you kidding?

This sounds like something you would do with kefir.....

Anne Barfield
www.chickenparadise.com

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Years ago I read about the benefits of fermenting cereals prior to
cooking
them. I didn't feel terribly motivated to try it for obvious reasons.
But
when someone recently posted about it on the list, some inner curiousity
possessed me & I decided to try it.

I put a cup of water, 1/4 cup uncooked GF cereal & 2 tablespoons of
kefir in
a bowl & left it sit on the counter for 24 hours. The next morning I
cooked
it on the stove as usual. I was immediately impressed with the
pleasant,
bread-like aroma. The flavor & texture was less "grainy" with a slight
tartness, much like sourdough bread. I've made it several times since &
I'm
getting hooked on it. Now when I don't ferment my breakfast cereal
ahead of
time, I'm disappointed with the taste of plain cooked cereal. It just
doesn't taste properly cooked anymore if I haven't at least soaked it
overnight with that little dab of kefir added.

I don't know why I reacted so negatively to trying this at first. After
all, it's basically doing the same thing as raising bread with baker's
yeast
or sourdough starter.

Fermenting grains is supposed to make them more digestible & enhance
certain
nutritional components. I can't say I can tell any difference this soon
after trying it, but I can say it makes my cooked breakfast cereal
yummier.

If you don't have kefir, you could duplicate this by adding a couple
table
spoons of plain yogurt & a pinch or two of baker's yeast for overnight
soaking. (Kefir contains lactobacillis & various kinds of beneficial
yeasts.)

Valerie in Tacoma