Recipe: Oatmeal with cranberries

Here's a recipe adapted from a Cook's Illustrated magazine recipe. I am craving this right now. Perhaps I'll make it tomorrow, since it's not a school day and we'll have the 20 minutes it takes to simmer it.

1 cup steel-cut or Scottish-style oats (we recommend Bob's Red Mill Scottish Oats)
1 tablespoon butter
3 cups water
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup dried cranberries
Optional: 1/3 cup pecans (toasted for 7 min. at 350 degrees), chopped

Heat the butter in a 2-qt. pot on medium heat, until butter stops foaming. Add the oats. Stir to mix the butter into the oats. Stir every few seconds and cook the oats until they start browning. The mixture will smell like butterscotch.

Add the cinnamon and stir it into the oats to toast it for a few seconds.

Add the three cups of water, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or a whisk to break up any lumps.

Stir in the cup of milk. Stir in the cranberries. After the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat to cook the oatmeal at a simmer for 15 minutes.

Add salt to taste and simmer for another five minutes.

Top with brown sugar and toasted pecans if desired.