Take it away, Bad Horse’s Filly:
The weather is nice, the days are longer, so something simple and fresh appealed to me. I was in the store this last weekend and saw that once again they were carrying flavored tortillas: sun dried tomato basil; jalapeno cheddar; garlic herb; and spinach. These are extra large and I really like the flavors. So all of that is what inspired me to put together this menu.
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On the board tonight:
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Santa Fe Wraps
Salad w/Creamy Cucumber Dressing
Grapes
Recipes and shopping list over at What’s For Dinner Solutions.
(P.S. from Anne Laurie: I am an inattentive cook, and tonight’s menu reminds me that a nice Japanese rice cooker is not strictly “essential”, but owning one has improved my success rate considerably. You may now point and jeer.)
srv
I haven’t screwed up rice since I got a stainless rice ball.
Just got back from the corner store with a kitchen timer though. Reached the age where I burn everything from inattention. But I see the whippersnappers doing that too, so I’ll blame it on interon attention deficit syndrome.
Corner Stone
Are you kidding me? If anyone says ary a word against the venerable rice cooker they are a damn fool.
Crockpot, rice cooker, mini chopper/processor for vegetables – these are essentials.
ETA – cooking is a passion of mine and one day I WILL spend the money to take the courses and be semi-trained in all the little tricks pro chefs know.
For now, I’ll take the easy things that make life better.
Mark S.
I have one of those. Is there any shame in it?
WereBear
We have a rice button on the microwave that does well. I do not care for rice, so if there is a no-rice stretch, I can forget other, vital things, like the fact that rice and water is not supposed to be a 1 to 1 ratio.
J.W. Hamner
There is certainly no shame in a rice cooker… though we went for a pressure cooker as our way to cook grains more sure fire… seemed more versatile for a small urban apartment. Not totally sold on the choice yet.
For personal cooking: made osso buco for my first veal experience. Still not entirely sure how I feel about whole thing… a bit rich for my blood… but I’m glad I made it and tried it.
PeakVT
Count me as another rice cooker fan. Why watch a pot when a rice cooker does a good job with minimal fuss? (Protip: if you don’t like super-sticky rice, rinse it before dumping it into the cooker.)
RedKitten
I got an awesome deal today at the grocery store. They had big honkin’ slabs of boneless pork loin & rib for $1.99/lb. I bought an 8lb. slab and divvied it in two. One 4lb portion is going to get roasted next week. The other one? I’m thinking of cutting it up into some obscenely thick chops.
WereBear
@RedKitten: Any tricks for pork? I’ve tried it a number of ways in a number of recipes, and all I wind up with is flavorless leather.
Something shreddy-BBQ for the slow cooker would be ideal.
PurpleGirl
Rice cookers are good. I don’t have one but a friend did and I loved using it. If I made rice more often I might get one.
RedKitten
I’m sure there are better recipes out there, but I cheat and use the Club House slow cooker pulled pork seasoning. You just mix it with ketchup, brown sugar and some apple cider vinegar, and pour it over your pork in the slow cooker. It makes for kickass sandwiches.
WereBear
@RedKitten: Thanks! It’s not that I can’t make some nice things, I just can’t predict when I’ll do that.
wmd
Rice cookers are a convenience.
Cooking rice on the stove is very simple. 2 parts water, 1 part rice. Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer. DO NOT STIR.
Crockpots/slow cookers are about the same – a convenience, not a necessity. I don’t own either. Crock pot is something I suspect I will own someday.
KRK
Woo-hoo! I love the bonus points in the bball tourney. I’ll be on the bottom by the championship, but sentimental favorites and grudge picks are paying off tonight!
Bad Horse's Filly
@J.W. Hamner: I’m in love with my pressure cooker and probably would make rice 1/2 as often without it. At this altitude it’s the only way to cook dry beans and potatoes in 10 minutes. I could go on, but I’ll stop here.
Anne Laurie – no shame in a rice cooker! Anything that makes rice foolproof is a necessity.
Bad Horse's Filly
@WereBear: My friend Alton (not that Alton) does some amazing stuff with a crockpot and pork – I’ll try and get a recipe out of him and link to it.
Ms. Wankerl
All the Japanese people I know use rice cookers. Why not?
debit
@WereBear: I have a recipe from a french cookbook were the pork is always moist; you put a tied roast in a heavy pot, chop up some carrots and onion, cover with water, throw in some herbs (fresh tied up in a bundle of cheesecloth), simmer for an hour, then put the roast in a roasting pan in a 350 oven for 45 minutes or so (don’t take my word for it, however, always use a meat thermometer) until nicely browned.
Or: take about three pounds of blade steaks (or chops, whatever’s on sale) cube, put in a heavy pan, add fresh herbs of choice tied in a cheesecloth bag, cover with water, barely simmer for about three hours. It’s done when the water is just about gone and the pork shreds easily with a fork (add more water if needed). Let any remaining water cook off, shred all the meat with a fork, put several cloves of garlic thru a press, toss with the shredded pork and do one of two things: eat while warm on crackers or buns (or straight from the pot if you’re my daughter) or put in a terrine or bowl, press firmly and cover with foil, chill and serve sliced.
jeffreyw
@J.W. Hamner: Looks great! That’s the main thing. (don’t tell anyone)
schrodinger's cat
@wmd: Actually 1 cup rice to 1 1/2 cups water works even better, especially if you like the grains to stay separate, but you do have to wash the rice several times, I use a colander to do that.
Basic rice recipe
I onion
1 cup rice
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp oil
1 1/2 cups water
Heat the oil in a pan with a tight fitting lid, when the oil is hot add the cumin, then rice (washed several times in water), toast the rice for a min or so, then add water, when the water comes to a boil lower the heat to low, cover the rice, and cook for about 17 to 20 min.
HRA
Rice cooker is a good idea if you get good use out of it.
I love rice. He hates it. Everyone else has left the homestead.
My rice problem is not being able to find real long grain rice. I am always looking for it.
jeffreyw
I like my rice cooker, but my jasmine risotto is some great eatin.
Corner Stone
@wmd: Lots of things are a convenience.
Not sure what you’re saying here.
I received my rice cooker as a gift and have used it countless times in the last 4 years or so.
But I love rice, especially Basmati.
schrodinger's cat
@Corner Stone: Me too, especially aged basmati.
schrodinger's cat
@schrodinger’s cat:
I left out what to do with the onion in the recipe, it should be added after the cumin and before the rice, and the onion should be sliced.
CADoc
One of the first things I did pre-nuptial with my Japanese American husband was go buy a rice cooker for our new hapa household. Being brought up on potatoes, I do get a little weary of rice, but I’ve got to admit that having your starch ready in about 20 minutes makes for very easy weeknight dinners. We use California short grain rice to make a sticky Japanese style rice, your times may vary.
Corner Stone
Speaking of food, just made a nice half-pot of Texas Red chili.
That should get me through the next couple days of this blasted tourney.
Made it mild so my mom could have a bowl when she comes by. But still, damn tasty as I say so myself.
Corner Stone
@schrodinger’s cat: Tell me more. Is this a special category or do you buy it and do something with it to age it?
What happens to it as it ages?
delosgatos
I’ve used a rice cooker for years, while you can get good results on the stove the advantages of consistent heat and not having to watch it (for those who’ve not used one, they automatically pop over into “keep warm” mode when the rice is done) are worth the extra gadget.
The exact ratio of water to rice will vary with:
– The particular style (and maybe even brand) of rice used.
– How mushy or firm you like your rice.
– Whether you drain it thoroughly after washing.
(Different rice cookers could, I guess, also make a difference, if it cooks hotter/colder?)
I wash Botan Calrose rice by the traditional “swirl two or three changes of cold water around with the rice in the cooker bowl insert”, then drain it through a strainer so I don’t (i) spill rice or (ii) leave behind any water.
I use the rice/water ratio on the bag, which is 1.5 level Cups rice to 2 Cups water (scale as needed), except I always make the last cup a little scant. Comes out well cooked but not mushy. After two or three batches you’ll find the ratio that works for you. And to this day I still sometimes look at the bag to confirm I remember the basic ratio right. :)
Elie
@Corner Stone:
I totally agree — want to have the time to explore and understand ingredients… I appreciate the way of life to mix vegetables, herbs with rice and other stuff and to enjoy fruit and other veggies
My hubbie and I just returned from a trip to Vietnam…It was so wonderful to mix simple lotus rice with veggies ( bean sprouts and herbs and ginger and a little pepper and a little soy sauce and herbs to make good accompaniement to stir fried chicken, beef, pork or tofu…
Like great Italian food, always about fresh ingredients as the source
I also want to take a good cooking course
Elie
@Corner Stone:
You have to get that nuclear hot sauce from New Orleans. I can’t eat the shit — just get hiccoughs and runny eyes and nose and my tongue goes numb. For hot sauce addicts though, nothing else will do
Yutsano
@jeffreyw: I gave in and bought some arborio rice from Amazon a couple of weeks ago, but I’ve now decided I no longer have the patience for traditional risotto. I discovered a fantastic recipe for baked risotto that is MUCH simpler and a lot more difficult to mess up. It produces fantastic results.
asiangrrlMN
I have a rice cooker, and you will have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers to get it away from me. It makes perfect rice every damn time.
@Yutsano: Hi, hon!
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: I would call you a cheater, but considering that fuzzy logic rice cookers are given at Japanese weddings like we give fine china I can’t say I’m surprised. I have had the perfect stove top rice recipe for decades thanks to my mom (1 2/3 cup liquid to one cup of rice) so I’ve never felt motivated enough to own one. They is nifty however.
RedKitten
@Bad Horse’s Filly:
Yeah, ’cause if you were friends with Alton Brown, I would have to immediately die of envy over here. I adore that man.
RedKitten
And as discussed on a previous thread, the rice cooker can multitask as a steel-cut oatmeal cooker, so there is that.
Yutsano
@RedKitten: I did a snap take when I read that comment. Even though I know he resides in the Atlanta area, it is still possible since they’re both culinarians that they had crossed paths before. That would have upped the coolness factor of BHF by quite a few orders of magnitude. Alton Brown ricks my existence. Did you watch the 10th Anniversary special? It was a riot!
bob h
Another nice Japanese appliance is the water heater which keeps water at a constant green-tea temperature if you consume it frequently ($70-100).
The better ones have two temperatures, one for ordinary tea and one slightly lower for green tea.
RobNYNY1957
Before I got my rice cooker, I had a Chinese friend over to cook (I play scullion, she’s the cook). It turns out she didn’t know how to make rice without a cooker. Most of my Asian friends confirm that. Several friends urged me to get a rice cooker, and I use it all the time now, for rice, for risotto (now a simple school night meal instead of most of an hour standing over a stove) and a wonderful pina colada tapioca pudding for dessert.