Kitchen

[Mothertrucker]

Maybe it won't but it did with me..i think the short grain is ""starchier"" so it doesn't bubble up as readily...

[Gokat]

On 3/2/2015 betteb said:

On 3/2/2015 Mothertrucker said:

Did you use short grain rice as it calls for? i didn't the first time and it really made difference when I did...Don;t rinse, you need the rice starch to thicken the pudding...

Oh, no I used medium grain..I couldn't find short grain at the store. Silly me, I thought it wouldn't make a difference.

Not to confuse the issue further, but I used medium grain white rice without a problem, betteb...just the store brand, nothing special. Something else that I've seen might help. Try adding a little butter or olive oil. Supposedly the fat rises to the top preventing the foam from overflowing. Washing the rice doesn't prevent the pudding from thickening. You're just washing off the excess starch that can cause the foaming and it prevents the rice from clumping .

[CWS22]

I made the baked pepperoni ziti from the cookbook last night and it was very good. I used turkey pepperoni (to cut down on the fat) and I also added some chopped fresh spinach into it. So it was like a florentine ziti. I got the idea from another recipe in the cookbook that's basically the same as the ziti but has chopped kale added in. So I used the spinach I have on hand and it tasted great.

After about 10 minutes it clicked to Warm but I knew it couldn't be done yet - not with raw pasta in it. So I waited 3-4 minutes like the cookbook says, before switching it back to Cook. Then it cooked like another 10 minutes and clicked to Warm. It was done then.

Probably the only tweaking I would do with this recipe is maybe add a little more sauce. I like it saucier. And also, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese is quite a bit for a dish that I ate in one sitting. I had planned on splitting it into 2 servings but then it didn't seem like enough for that so I just finished it. I guess that tells you I liked it! But again, I might try like 1 or 2 tablespoons of Parmesan next time, instead of 1/4 cup.

[nomless]

I made beef stew last night. It was good but took 2 hours to cook insread of the stated 40 minutes. Yes, I did cut the beef into small pieces. Next time, I will use a more tender cut instead of stew meat, and I will let the beef cook for a cycle before I add the veg.

[Lisa now in AZ]

I made a tuna casserole in it this afternoon and it makes just enough for dinner for me tonight and lunch and dinner tomorrow. I was surprised that the noodles cooked so quickly, but when it was done, it seemed a little soupy, so I added another handful of noodles, flipped the switch back to cook and let it go again. Yummy. (And no boil-over!)

[MissKlynn]

On 3/8/2015 Lisa now in AZ said:

I made a tuna casserole in it this afternoon and it makes just enough for dinner for me tonight and lunch and dinner tomorrow. I was surprised that the noodles cooked so quickly, but when it was done, it seemed a little soupy, so I added another handful of noodles, flipped the switch back to cook and let it go again. Yummy. (And no boil-over!)

Sounds yummmy! Can you share the recipe you used!? I bought tuna yesterday thinking I'd try to make a tuna casserole too

[MissKlynn]

Here's another successful recipe to share!

This is a Lemon Chicken and Rice dish, one I've made in the oven many times over the last few years so thought I'd try it in the rice cooker, with some adjustments. It sounds and looks so simple (it is!) but it really does taste very good!

I'll credit the original recipe with this link:
http://www.food.com/recipe/solo-baked-chicken-breast-and-lemon-rice-5450
but I've posted the recipe below with the adjustments I made in the rice cooker, mainly it required a lot less liquid and I added some artichokes and goat cheese... but it tastes great without those too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lemon Chicken and Rice

Ingredients:

1 boneless skinless chicken breast (or 2-3 chicken tenderloins)

1 lemon (or lemon concentrate)

2 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons basil (dried works just fine)

1/2 cup rice, un-cooked

1/2 cup dry white wine (chicken stock is OK too, not as good in my experience though)

*4-6 canned artichoke hearts (optional)

*Goat Cheese (optional. Feta would be good too).

Directions:

Put 2 tablespoon butter into rice cooker, turn on until butter is melted (I did this with the lid off on Warm setting).

Take out approx 1 tablespoon of the melted butter and put on a dish/bowl. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice from half the lemon (or about 1-2 tsp of lemon concentrate) into the dish with melted butter, and add the basil. Coat the chicken in this lemon-basil butter sauce.

Add the rice to the rice cooker, stir in with the butter you left in there until all the grains are coated.

Add the wine.

Place the chicken on top of the rice and wine. *I also added about 4 of the canned artichokes hearts on top here. Pour any remaining lemon-basil butter sauce on top.

Slice the remaining half of the lemon into thin rounds and place on top of the chicken.

Cover and cook until all the liquid is absorbed and the chicken is done. I didn't reset the rice cooker to "Cook" at all during the cooking time, but instead just let it be. It switched to "Warm" at some point, I checked on it after about 30 mins and it was done perfectly. I like my rice to have a bit of a crust on it for this dish, so I switched it back to "Cook" with the lid off for just a few minutes.

After moving to a plate, sprinkle goat cheese or feta on top.

Salt and pepper to taste.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SOOOOO GOOD!

[ChiliPepper]

Hi Ladies, I started reading your posts & remembered I had a rice cooker hidden in the corner of my bedroom - brand new, still in the box (sigh!) LOL! Your excitement made me dig it out last night & fire it up.

It is actually a steamer with rice attachment. I washed it up last night & made some basic rice which came out great.

Now I need to go back & read all your posts & see if I can modify the recipes to work in this thing. It has a 7 cup rice bowl insert. It has a dial timer (60+ minutes maybe).

I have a hankering for mac & cheese - I want to try that tonight. Does 7 cups sound anywhere near the size of the new one you all bought?

Thanks for your help!

[Nightowlz]

On 3/10/2015 ChiliPepper said:

Hi Ladies, I started reading your posts & remembered I had a rice cooker hidden in the corner of my bedroom - brand new, still in the box (sigh!) LOL! Your excitement made me dig it out last night & fire it up.

It is actually a steamer with rice attachment. I washed it up last night & made some basic rice which came out great.

Now I need to go back & read all your posts & see if I can modify the recipes to work in this thing. It has a 7 cup rice bowl insert. It has a dial timer (60+ minutes maybe).

I have a hankering for mac & cheese - I want to try that tonight. Does 7 cups sound anywhere near the size of the new one you all bought?

Thanks for your help!

I think most posts are referring to the Wolfgang Puck Mini 1.5 Cup Rice Cooker. The recipes I posted are for that size. The cookbook I bought with it has recipes in it for a 1.5 cup, 3 cup & 5 cup rice cookers. The recipe below is for a 5 cup rice cooker. The recipe for the 1.5 cup cooker is on another page on this thread. Guess you could make either depending on how much you want to make. When I made it I used extra sharp cheddar & some Colby jack cheese. I did use a little extra cheese.

Mac & Cheese Recipe (5 Cup Rice Cooker)

2 1/4 c Elbow Macaroni, Uncooked

1 T chicken flavored base

2 1/4 c water

1 1/2 c heavy cream

3/4 c Cheddar cheese, shredded

3/4 c Mozzarella cheese

3 T Parmesan cheese

Combine all ingredients, except all cheeses, in the rice cooker & stir.

Close lid & press Cook.

When rice cooker switches to Warm (about 20-25 mins), stir in the cheeses thoroughly.

Close lid & press Cook again (this is where the brown crust forms on the bottom).

When rice cooker switches to Warm again, remove, garnish as desired & serve.

[ChiliPepper]

Thank you Nightowlz. I am going to try the mac & cheese tonight after work.