Recipe Hunting 101 - Raspberry Risotto & Steel Cut Oatmeal

I found this oatmeal recipe as I was browsing through the recipe index on a blog called Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  Oatmeal makes me think of my Mom.  She loves oatmeal and will order it whenever she goes out for breakfast.  I have never been much of an oatmeal eater, I was always more of a cream of wheat girl, but the picture I saw of this dish drew me in and after reading all the ingredients for it I just knew I had to give it a try. 

Raspberry Risotto & Steel Cut Oatmeal - recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:
1/2 cup steel cut ground oatmeal
1 cup arborio (risotto) rice
1/2 cup heavy cream
6 cups water
1 tsp vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean, scraped
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 bag frozen raspberries
strawberries, for garnish if desired

Directions:
1.  Place all ingredients, except the raspberries, in a large pot.  Bring to a quick boil, then decrease the heat to low and allow to simmer, covered, for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  (Note: you can used a rice cooker if you have one instead for this part)
2.  Add frozen berries when ready to eat. Stir until the risotto turns a nice red color and the raspberries fall apart a bit.  Garnish with strawberries.  (Note: Don't add the berries to the entire pot of oatmeal unless you plan on eating it all right away. Just toss in a handful of raspberries to each bowl otherwise.)
3.  Experiement with your leftovers.  The raspberries were amazing in this dish and you can't go wrong with just sticking to them but I am going to try adding Nutella to it tomorrow because I just love Nutella!