Rice Cooker Mac & Cheese  (Serves 4-6) Prep Time: 5 mins,

  Cook Time: 35 mins,

  Rating: 

I don't know many kids who don't like macaroni and cheese. Come on, cheese and pasta, what's not to like? I love making my own mac and cheese, but even for someone like me who wants to make everything homemade, it's not always easy. Between cooking the...Ingredients

2 cups pasta (i used macaroni, but you could also use rotini, faralle or bite size pasta) 1 1/2 cups chicken stock (i use low sodium stock) 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup whole milk 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese ( i use a 3 cheese blend of cheddar, mozzarella and

monterey jack)Preparation

1. 1. Place the first 3 ingredients in the rice cooker and cook for 15 minutes.2. 2. Open the lid, add the milk and cheese, stir to combine, close the lid and cook for an

additional 20 minutes (25 minutes if you want it to have a crust on the bottom).3. *Rice cookers can cook at different heats, so make sure to check the mac & cheese

after if cooks for 30 minutes once or twice.4. 3. Serve.5.6. * Option: You can also add a cup of finely chopped broccoli, cauliflower, carrots,

butternut squash or frozen peas. Do so in step #2.

RECIPE: NO-FUSS RICE COOKER BANANA BREAD

By Amy FrascaIf you love baking, the lack of a conventional oven in a Japanese apartment can be frustrating. But all is not lost! Many sweet treats can be made at home in your rice cooker. This recipe for banana bread is simple and only takes about an hour and a half.

INGREDIENTS: 1 1/2 cups enriched white flour 3/4 cups white sugar 2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda* 1/2 tsp. salt 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 to 3 medium to large bananas) 1/3 cups softened butter 1/4 cups milk 1 egg Cooking oil

Mixed Nuts (Almond, Chashew dll)* Baking soda may not be available everywhere in Japan. If you can’t find it, don’t worry; extra baking powder can be added as a substitute without a noticeable difference. I’ve found that an extra teaspoon of baking powder works well in this case.

For extra sweetness, substitute a portion of white sugar for an equal amount of packed brown sugar. Or, add 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract along with the wet ingredients.

DIRECTIONS: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and

salt. Whisk until the ingredients are well mixed. Next, add the bananas, butter, milk, and egg. These should be mixed until the

batter has a uniform and thick, creamy consistency. If you own an electric mixer, let it do the work (low setting recommended). If not, the bananas and butter may give you some difficulty when hand-mixing it. To make things easier, make sure you let the butter soften long enough beforehand. Also, if you put the bananas into a plastic freezer bag, you can make sure they’re well-mashed without making a huge mess.

At this point, you can stir in any other ingredient you may want, like chopped nuts or a bit of dried fruit. Feel free to try out your own variations on the recipe!

Before pouring the batter into the rice cooker’s pot, remember the most important step! Coat the inside of the pot lightly with cooking oil. Paper towels help to spread it properly. Otherwise, the banana bread will stick to the inside as it cooks.

Now simply pour the batter evenly into the pot and start the cooker. I use the same settings as when I make rice. On my rice cooker, the bread isn’t done after just one cycle, so I let it run twice, though this could vary based on your rice cooker. With mine, I have to allow the cooker to cool down for a few minutes in between cycles, as it won’t start again right away.

That’s it! After it’s done, pop the bread out onto a serving tray or plate and enjoy!

T h u r s d a y , N o v e m b e r 3 , 2 0 1 1

Banana Pudding with Caramel Sauce – made in a rice cooker!

This is yum!  The caramel sauce is addictive; I was such a piggy that I licked the leftover off the plate!  I was interested in this recipe as it is made in the rice cooker and the only thing I have tried making in the rice cooker before apart from rice has been a risotto, not exactly adventurous.  You do need to check the rice cooker every now and then to ensure it is on the right setting as specified in the recipe.

Ingredients:Banana Pudding:30g butter, melted, plus 60g extra2 tablespoons brown sugar, plus ⅓ cup extra1 small banana sliced, plus 2 extra, mashed1 egg, lightly whisked½ teaspoon ground cinnamon2 tablespoons milk1 cup self raising flour

Caramel Sauce:300ml cream½ cup firmly packed brown sugar80g butter

Method:Grease and line the base of a rice cooker bowl with baking paper.  Drizzle the 30g of melted butter over the paper in the base of the bowl and sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of brown sugar evenly over the top.  Layer the sliced banana on top of the sugar and set aside.Combine the extra melted butter, extra brown sugar, egg, cinnamon, extra mashed banana and milk in a medium bowl.  Sift in the flour and fold it into the banana mixture gently.  Spoon the mixture over the bananas in the prepared rice cooker bowl.Carefully level the top and cover.  Press the rice cooker to ‘cook’ and cook for 5 minutes.  Switch the cooker to ‘warm’ and stand for 10 minutes.  Put the rice cooker back on to ‘cook’ and cook for a further 3 minutes.  Switch it back to ‘warm’ and stand for 10 minutes.  Do not remove the lid during this process.  Repeat the process twice more or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out cleanly.  Turn the pudding onto a serving plate.  Remove and discard the baking paper.

To make the caramel sauce:Wipe the rice cooker bowl clean.  Add the cream, sugar and butter to the bowl and stir well.  Press ‘cook’ and bring to the boil.  Cook and stir for 5 minutes or until  the sugar dissolves and the mixture has thickened slightly.  Transfer the sauce to a heatproof jug.

To serve, drizzle slices of the pudding with the caramel sauce and plate with ice cream or whipped cream.

Rice cooker frittata with summer vegetables28 Jun 2010 by maki

Here’s the first recipe from my minimal non-kitchen kitchen (see previously). This recipe has proved itself to be a keeper already - I’ve made it 3 times in the past couple of weeks. It is basically a vegetable frittata that is cooked in a rice cooker. I even use the rice cooker bowl as a mixing bowl. It doesn’t get browned and crusty on the outside as with an oven-baked or stovetop fritatta, but turns out really nice and fluffy-creamy in texture. It’s a great all-in-one recipe that has protein, carbs and vegetables.

One of these will make 2 to 4 servings, so in our house that means a breakfast and a lunch for two people. It’s great on its own, but really makes a fantastic sandwich, put in the middle of a crusty loaf of bread. Add some fresh fruit and you’re all set.

Recipe: Rice Cooker Frittata With Summer VegetablesMakes 2 to 4 servings

The vegetables:

1 whole garlic clove, peeled 1 small red or yellow pepper, cut into small dice 1 small potato, peeled and finely julienned 1 small zucchini, sliced into thin rounds salt and pepper 1 Tbs. olive oil

The egg mixture: * 6 large eggs * 2 Tbs. grated cheese of any kind (optional) * salt and pepper * 1 Tbs. olive oil

Equipment needed:

Rice cooker Frying pan Burner or stove (see Notes for what to do if you don’t have a burner or stove) chopsticks or fork to mix the eggs spatula or chopsticks to stir the vegetables around

Heat up the frying pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the garlic clove, and let the oil heat up until the garlic is lightly brown. Discard the garlic clove.

Add the vegetables. The key with the vegetables is to cut them up as small and thinly is you can, so that they cook fast. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Put 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the rice cooker bowl. Spread it around the bottom and about 2 inches /5 cm up the sides, using a paper towel. Add the eggs, grated cheese, salt and pepper, and beat the eggs in the bowl (take care not to scratch the surface if you’re using a metal fork for this). Add the vegetables and distribute them evenly in the egg mixture.

Put the bowl in the rice cooker and switch on, using the regular rice setting. When the cooking cycle finishes, the frittata is done! Here’s how it looks straight out of the cooker:

Let cool completely before cutting into wedges and packing up for a bento. Optionally add a little ketchup or tomato sauce before eating.

Notes

This will keep, well wrapped, in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

The vegetables can be cooked in advance and kept in the refrigerator, well covered, for 3-4 days, then added to the egg mixture before cooking. You can also use any leftover cooked vegetables you have around instead.

If you don’t have a cooker or burner: If you have a microwave, you can put the chopped up vegetables on a plate, drizzle with a little olive oil and salt and pepper, cover with plastic film, and microwave on the high setting for 5-6 minutes.

About my minimal kitchen so farI’m slowly getting back to regular cooking in my not-a-kitchen kitchen. In my quest to assemble a minimalist, functional not-kitchen kitchen, so far I have acquired the following equipment:

a small half-height refrigerator (cost: 150 Euros (about US $185)) an electric hotplate (cost: 49 Euros (about US $60))

Besides these things, I already have my old, trusty, slightly beat up 5-cup Zojirushi rice cooker. It’s more than 15 years old already but still going strong. It’s similar to this newer Zojirushi rice cooker , so a new one would cost $185, but I could probably get by with a cheaper model too. Besides the rice cooker, I have the following cooking equipment and such:

2 non-stick frying pans; one small (7 inches / 20cm), one large (10 inches / 24 cm). a pressure cooker that doubles as a regular boiling pot a silicone spatula/spoon thing small chopping knife vegetable peeler microplane grater plastic cutting board long bamboo cooking chopsticks minimal cutlery and dinnerware, because eating off plastic plates made us feel sad (our regular

dinnerware and such is still in storage)

I am still procrastinating about getting a microwave oven, since I’m not sure if we are going to go for the built-in type of microwave for our final kitchen in the house or a standalone. I’m also waffling over whether or not to get a tabletop grill, a George Foreman type grill, an electric barbeque, and other things. I have been spending hours wandering around stores like Boulangerand Darty, the French equivalents of Best Buy or the appliance department at Sears, taking notes and muttering to myself while the store attendants eye me suspiciously. But in the meantime, we have been surviving fine with the minimal equipment for most of our meals. (I suppose that the pressure cooker may seem unusual to have, but we’ve been carrying it around for a full year, and I mainly use it as a regular pot for boiling pasta and such.)

In any case, I’ll be posting more of my minimal-kitchen recipes here or on Just Hungry, depending on how bento-friendly they are of course!

‹ Quinoa,