Porridge

Chef Tory McPhail writes: "I was 19 years old and just out of culinary school when I first started at Commander's Palace. Despite my training, nothing prepared me for the pressures of working in a fast-paced kitchen, or in a restaurant of such high quality. I think my success came down to sheer effort and a lifelong passion for cooking. Even as a kid I loved playing with cookie and pie dough. "After a seven-year absence, which I spent working abroad and opening a new Commander's Palace restaurant in Las Vegas, I came back to New Orleans last year. Since returning I've enjoyed cooking for my friends. On the weekends we'll go fishing, and then I'll grill our catch and serve it along with a fresh salad. That meal combines the two best things about living in the South — lots of fishing and great fresh produce." Serve these creamy grits with fried eggs for a southern-style breakfast. Andouille, a spicy pork sausage, is available at specialty foods stores and some supermarkets.

Serve a nice bottle of Merlot alongside.

Use this hands-off mushroom congee as a completely customizable canvas for all your cozy winter dreams. 

This creamy, comforting khichdi is ready for any lentil in your pantry. Frozen spinach and fresh herbs keep it bright and perky.

This deeply comforting Korean chicken-and-rice porridge makes a quick and cozy meal any time of day. 

This warm and cozy baked oatmeal studded with carrots, apples, and raisins is the make-ahead breakfast situation your busy mornings need.

This 5-ingredient rice porridge is pure cold-weather comfort in a bowl. (Did we mention it’s cheesy? It’s cheesy.)

Since congee can take hours to make on the stovetop, we came up with a clever trick: Rinse the rice and freeze it overnight. 

A steamed-then-mashed sweet potato adds creamy sweetness and extra nutrients to this cozy oatmeal that can be easily customized to fit dietary preferences. 

Instant dashi powder gives so much savory umami flavor to the oats that this porridge can easily be served for dinner. 

Hot tip: Make porridge on the weekend. Reheat this in the time it takes to make instant.

If you don’t want to make the chicken stock from scratch for this congee recipe, simmering some store-bought broth with a few slices of bacon and ginger for 20 minutes or so will give you a huge head-start on flavor.

This chicken and rice soup has everything we're craving, plus a big handful of crushed peanuts on top.

Garlic and collard greens make a healthy addition to this porridge recipe, but you can use any leftover greens you have on hand.

Yes, savory porridge is a thing. And if you bolster this creamy bowl of grains with lots of surprising toppings, it’ll also be a thing you crave for any meal of the day.

One way to break up the monotony of morning oatmeal is to play around with different whole grains. Here, we lean on a pre-cooked big batch of barley to make a toothsome porridge.

This recipe will convince you that a savory breakfast can be a wonderful thing.