Hello.
My microwave died in spectacular fashion today. It was the lifeblood of my kitchen. I’ve had it so long I’ve forgotten how to cook without one. And I can’t afford to buy a new one. I was going to post in eatcheapandhealthy but that place looks as dead as my microwave. I don’t know what I’m going to do.
Jamie Oliver often went on about cheap recipes… that required 30 ingredients and a bunch of equipment I don’t have. These are not helpful. I need recipes that are cheap to shop for, cheap on electricity usage, easy to prepare with limited equipment, and it would be a bonus if they are healthy and tasty. I know I’m being picky, but I don’t have much to work with.
I figured this would be the community to ask because to cook well, you need to know stuff that a bad cook wouldn’t know. I hope I can get a few useful ideas. Thanks.
I recommend a rice cooker, they are fairly cheap and very handy. Rice is really cheap in bulk and neutral enough to work with almost any dish. With a cooker you can make quick low effort carbs (filling) to accompany whatever else you have at hand. Dump it in a pan with some veggies, heat and stir. Perhaps add an egg or two, seasoning of course. A quite healthy and cheap meal, which is also very easy to make and can be adjusted to your tastes no problem.
Yeah I used the microwave mainly for rice. It exploded today as I was trying to cook rice. I cooked it on stovetop, it turned out not too bad. I got really sick of rice because it never tasted any good. I guess that’s about herbs and spices and stuff. I will see if I can find an affordable rice cooker. Thanks for the suggestion.
My unpopular cooking opinion is that a rice cooker is not nearly as critical as many people make it out to be. Making it on the stovetop (or in the oven) results in perfectly acceptable rice especially if you are on a budget and could use that money for other equpment. I eat a fair amount of rice and my rice cooker was the last of the small appliances I bought.
I agree. I used one for the microwave, but I think saucepan on stove (or hob) is just as easy as a rice cooker. But I’m no authority on the subject.
The secret to cooking good rice is to soak it in water (even 5 minutes will do) and then rinse it to remove the excess starch. Then add fresh water and cook it. Don’t take the lid off the pan so the steam cooks it properly. A rice cooker will simplify this process but all you really need is a pan with a lid.
I’ve heard that and tried it once. I couldn’t taste the difference. I’ll try it again. I cooked rice in a saucepan today and it was ok so I’ll try the rinsing method again once I’ve finished my current batch of rice. Cheers.
You could also try if you like it better with some butter, just add a little after it’s finished. It’s not for me, but I know other people like it :)
I’ve been adding margarine and yes, butter would be much better. Butter chicken curry! 😲
You can also saute an onion before adding the rice and water, and add a bullion cube, to improve the flavor.
Is a bullion cube a stock cube?
Yes, I meant a bouillon or stock cube, sorry for the typo. Or you can use stock or a broth instead of water.
Stock is also pretty easy to make. You can buy a whole chicken and then throw the leftover carcass, skins, bones, with onions, carrots, celery and some herbs into a pot and simmer it for 2 hours.
What kind of rice are you using? Can’t go wrong with jasmine rice.
I use white rice. I don’t like rice that tastes perfume-y.
Rice cookers are a waste of space and money, plus they’re largely a unitasker. For that money I could add to my general kitchen utensil collection that could be used for many things.
While I don’t fully agree with Alton Brown’s “no unitaskers in kitchen”, it’s a great starting point, especially for new cooks with few tools. Today I tolerate a few unitaskers because I already have a full complement of general purpose tools.
I can make rice in one of my pots in the same time a rice cooker takes - there’s no magic bullet, rice takes the time it takes. And for a new cook, learning to pay attention instead of offloading to a tool makes for great practice.
Simply put water and rice in a pan, turn on the heat, and set a timer. Of course, I had to figure out the heat and time, but that only took watching it a couple times.
I made some last night, while the rest of dinner was in the oven - because I saw the recipe had a 45 minute oven time, I knew that would be the perfect time to make the rice. Easy-peasy.