The Ultimate Rice Cooker (78 page)
3. Heat a wok over medium-high heat and add the oil and salt. When hot, add the garlic; stir-fry until light golden brown, about 30 seconds. Increase the heat to high and add the shrimp and chicken; stir-fry until the shrimp are bright orange-pink, about 1 minute.
4. Make a well in the center of the hot wok; crack the eggs into it. With the spatula, break up the egg yolks, but do not scramble. Let the eggs fry without stirring until the whites turn opaque, about 1 minute. Add the crab paste and ketchup, stir once or twice, then add the green onions, rice, and fish sauce. Toss quickly to warm the rice and incorporate the seasonings, about 2 minutes.
5. Add the reserved pineapple; toss and stir to heat, about 1 minute. Spoon the rice into the pineapple shells and garnish with the cilantro leaves, crabmeat, and shallot flakes, if using. Serve immediately.
Julie’s friend Feng-Chih “Lucy” Wuchen, who is from Taiwan, is the source of this glamorous recipe, so named because it has two smoked ingredients. If you live near a Chinese deli, you can find the crowning touch, smoked cuttlefish. If not, don’t worry; it’s good without it, too. Fish balls are sold refrigerated and frozen in Asian markets. Look for them in the meat, deli, or freezer case. You can freeze any leftover fish balls until next time. And if you can’t find fish balls or smoked cuttlefish, just toss in a few more shrimp. Lucy is a health-conscious cook who made this with medium-grain brown rice, but you could use white rice, too.
YIELD: Serves 3 to 4
3 green onions, white and green parts, sliced, 1 teaspoon green parts reserved for garnish
1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, minced
2 slices bacon, cut into 2-inch squares
4 fish balls, cut into quarters
6 to 8 medium-size shrimp, shelled and deveined
¼ cup sliced smoked cuttlefish (optional)
1 cup finely shredded cabbage or bokchoy
1 tablespoon water
2½ cups cold cooked rice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
¼ teaspoon salt (optional)
1. Coat a 12-inch nonstick skillet with nonstick cooking spray twice. Heat the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the green onions (except the reserved green parts) and garlic and stir-fry until the onions soften a bit; don’t let the garlic burn. Add the bacon and continue to stir-fry. When the bacon begins to look cooked, add the fish balls and shrimp; stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the cuttlefish, if using, and cabbage; sprinkle the water over the cabbage and stir-fry until the cabbage begins to soften and lose volume, a minute or so.
2. Add the rice, breaking up any clumps; stir-fry until it is warm and fragrant. Add the soy sauce and salt, if using; stir-fry to combine. Serve immediately, garnished with the reserved green onions.
sauté of corn, brown rice, and fresh basil
Just when you thought you knew all there was to know about fried rice, here is a fried rice from a different part of the world using the same techniques, but different ingredients. Here fresh vegetables and basil are cooked with leftover rice. This is a rice Beth makes as a side dish for catering sit-down dinner parties and it is a smash hit with everyone. Originally fashioned by food writer James McNair after a dish at one of Beth’s favorite hangouts, Christy Hill Restaurant in Lake Tahoe, it has had a few transmutations over the years. Make it with equal amounts of wild rice and long-grain brown rice, or cook up one of the brown rice blends from Lundberg Family Farms; you want a hearty-flavored rice, not white rice. Make this immediately!
YIELD: Serves 4
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons minced shallots
Corn kernels from 6 to 7 medium-size ears fresh white corn or one 12-ounce bag frozen baby white corn kernels, thawed (3 to 3½ cups)
2 cups cold cooked blend of wild rice and long-grain brown rice
3 tablespoons drained and minced oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
⅓ cup minced fresh basil leaves
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1. In a 10- or 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat the butter and oil over medium-high heat. When the butter melts, add the shallots and sauté for a minute or two, until softened. Add the corn and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Add the rice, breaking up any clumps with your fingers, if necessary. Sauté for 2 minutes, allowing the rice to heat up and grow fragrant. Add the tomatoes and basil; keep stirring. Cook for another few minutes to heat all the ingredients through, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately.
RICE AND GRAIN SALADS
A well-made salad is an irresistible delight. It is healthy eating at its best. Inspiration runs wild, whether it be a simple or more elaborate combination of rice and grains mixed with fruits, vegetables, shreds of poultry or ham, or beans and tossed with a variety of superb dressings.
If you are making a fair amount of rice in your cooker, you will inevitably have leftovers and can use them here, if you’d like. Rice salads, while not a commonplace dish in most households, are an absolute delight; they are fantastic as well as filling. You can make a small salad from whatever leftovers you have, or freeze your leftover rice in plastic storage bags and collect enough for a salad, or make rice especially for your salad (which is what we do). Rice doesn’t spoil at room temperature after it is cooked, so you can leave it at room temperature, covered, as long as overnight, then assemble your salad with tender rice. Always refrigerate any salad containing meat or dairy ingredients.
You can make your reputation as a cook on distinctive salads and here is a selection of some of our most requested favorites—the best of the best. Black Bean, Corn, and Rice Salad (at right), Curried Rice Salad, and Wild Rice Salad with Cranberries and Berry Vinaigrette come from Beth’s catering files and have been made to feed up to a hundred people (just scale up all the ingredients proportion-ally). The others are served for small gatherings at home. Remember that once you have assembled the salad, refrigerate it, and the rice will absorb the flavors you have added.
French dining has a meal known as
déjeuner sur l’herbe
, the veritable
picque-nicque
, our outdoor midday meal known as a picnic or barbecue. Some wine or lemonade, bread and cheese, cornichons, fresh fruit, a wonderful cake or some cookies, and a hearty salad are all that are needed for a feast. Carry salads in a cooler to keep them chilled until serving.
black bean,corn, and rice salad with green chile vinaigrette
This is a dynamite combination of beans, rice, and veggies. The vinaigrette is not too spicy, so it appeals to all sorts of diners. This is a great picnic salad since it is best at room temperature.
MACHINE: Medium-size (6-cup) rice
cooker; fuzzy logic or on/of f
CYCLE: Regular
YIELD: Serves 10
RICE
2 cups converted rice
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
VINAIGRETTE
⅔ cup corn or vegetable oil
¼ cup fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons firmly packed light brown sugar
One 4-ounce can minced roasted green chiles, drained
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
SALAD
Three 16-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
Two 12-ounce packages frozen baby corn kernels, thawed
1 bunch green onions, white parts and some of the green parts, chopped
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1.
Prepare the rice:
Place the rice in the rice cooker bowl. Add the water and salt; swirl to combine. Close the cover and set for the regular cycle.
2. When the machine switches to the Keep Warm cycle, let the rice steam for 10 minutes. Fluff the rice with a wooden or plastic rice paddle or wooden spoon. Keep the cover open and let the rice cool to room temperature right in the cooker bowl.
3.
Make the vinaigrette:
In a food processor, combine all the vinaigrette ingredients. Process, pulsing, until mostly smooth and emulsified. It is okay to have some chunks of chile.
4.
Assemble the salad:
In a large bowl, combine the rice, beans, corn, green onions, and cilantro and mix to combine well. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad. Toss to combine and evenly coat. Let stand at room temperature for up to 4 hours, or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days before serving. Serve the salad at room temperature.
This is Beth’s version of Waldorf salad. The rice makes it more filling. You can use a bit more dried cherries and almonds if you like a lot of these. We say this serves four, but be prepared: It has often been totally consumed by two. Serve cold with roast turkey breast and steamed vegetables.
YIELD: Serves 4
SALAD
3 firm eating apples, such as Fuji or Red Delicious, cored and diced
Juice of 1 small lemon
2 cups room temperature cooked rice, such as basmati, Jasmati, or long-grain brown (or use half wild rice)
2 to 3 stalks celery, sliced
½ cup slivered blanched almonds
½ cup dried tart cherries
DRESSING
½ cup mayonnaise
⅓ cup plain yogurt
1.
Make the salad:
Combine the apples and lemon juice in a large bowl (we use one with a snap-on lid). Add the rice, celery, almonds, and cherries; toss together.
2.
Make the dressing:
In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise and yogurt. Pour over the salad and stir with a large rubber spatula to combine and coat evenly with the dressing. Store the salad in the refrigerator until ready to serve. This is best eaten the day it is made.
When Chez Panisse restaurant opened a café upstairs from the main dining room, it quickly became one of Beth’s watering holes whenever she went to shop or visit friends in Berkeley. Since it was always so jammed, it was best to show up for lunch just after the doors opened at 11 A.M. Her favorite lunch was a lentil salad with soft fresh goat cheese crumbled on top, peasant French bread and sweet butter, and a Perrier mineral water, all for about five dollars. The café switched to taking reservations to relieve the crowds, so it is difficult to get in for a casual spur-of-the-moment lunch anymore. Here is Beth’s version of her favorite salad with the addition of brown rice.
MACHINE: Medium (6-cup) rice cooker ;
fuzzy logic or on/off
CYCLE: Regular
YIELD: Serves 8
LENTILS
1 cup dried petite French lentils or green lentils
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1½ teaspoons dried thyme