Now, you all know how much I l.o.v.e my kitchen appliances. You met my new breadmachine yesterday, didn’t you?
Missus Smarty Pants, the style diva, is always talking about Cost Per Wear. Getting your money’s worth out of your clothes. Well today I’m going to show you how to get your money’s worth from your ricecooker.
Of course, you can use it for cooking rice. Basmati rice, jasmine rice, brown rice, brown rice, pearl barley, bulgur wheat, spelt and any other grains you can think of. (My menu plans – every Thursday here on the blog – are my witness.) I’ve even used it for cooking pasta (don’t tell the Italians!!) and boiling potatoes. And if you have a dinky steamer basket, you can steam veggies (maybe some chunked carrots) and fish (salmon fillets) on top of your rice and have an easy meal in 20 minutes flat.
A ricecooker is basically an electric cooking pot (a non-stick one…) with a lid. So you want to start thinking creatively. Here’s DS10’s favourite hot breakfast that he can prepare himself. Røræg (Danish scrambled eggs). Med ketchup. No need for me translate that, right? 😉
To make scrambled eggs (or an omelet) you’ll need:
- eggs
- milk
- salt n’ pepper
- and a ricecooker, obviously
Crack the eggs straight into the ricecooker pot.
Break the yolks up a bit with a wooden spoon (because the ricecooker pot is non-stick). And then add a spot of milk.
Freshly-ground salt n’ pepper. A dash of herbs, if you’re so inclined.
Clamp down the lid, plug in to the wall. Or kitchen worktop in our case 😉
Use either
- a) the rapid cook function for scrambled eggs in 5 minutes
- b) the normal cook function which will take about 15-20 minutes (great if you want to go shower and get dressed or…spend 15 minutes decluttering?)
Stir/break up the egg mixture with a wooden spoon a couple of times whilst cooking, or at least just before you serve.
Or you can be a real lazy bones – don’t stir it at all – and you’re non-efforts will be rewarded with an omelet! 🙂 When making an omelet for lunch, I like to add in some veggies like mushrooms, a handful of fresh spinach or some chopped red pepper. You can fry the veggies in the ricecooker pot in a little olive oil before you add the eggs. Yum! 🙂
Do you now understand why I love my ricecooker so much? Need an extra reason? Hmm, how about easy peasy clean-up thanks to that non-stick bowl?
Yes, I’ll also ‘come clean’… I love my ricecooker so much, I even took it with us on our summer holidays one year. All the way in the car from Denmark to the south of France and back. Oh, la, la… 😉
Hope you have an eggs-tra-special Saturday! 🙂
I totally understand the love affair with these appliances.
I take my crock on R.V. holidays every time. As long as I have an electrical site, I'm all good!
Recently we bought a rice cooker and I can finally get DH and DS to eat the brown and wild rice that I so love. I read that grilled cheese sandwiches can also be made in this cooking machine! Thanks for the show and tell eggs-travaganza!
What a great idea – I have never thought about using my ricecooker that way.
Hi Helen, hope you'll give it a try…super easy!
Oh Jen, you just *know* what I'm going to be attempting this week – a grilled cheese sandwich! Will let you know…thanks for the challenge! ;D
Okay, so my rice cooker is horribly outdated. I don't even use it for rice much. This one looks MUCH more versatile. Perhaps I'll have to research a new one. 😉
But really, my purpose for posting is this: I think I have a bit of envy of your retractable plug-in post. How cool is THAT??!
Hi Amy!
Yes, the plug-in post is pretty snappy…but have you seen my tap/faucet that has an in-built light? Now, *that* is really cooL! ;D
Okay, I'm sold! I need to get a rice cooker! 😀 What size do you all have or recommend to cook all these tasty dishes? Looks like they come anywhere from 3 cup to 10 cup to larger! Any brands you like or should stay away from?