Rice Cooker Jambalaya

I received a rice cooker as a birthday gift several weeks ago - a gadget I'd been wanting for a while.  Not only will it make cooking rice much easier, but most rice cookers now also double as steamers and can cook a whole range of things.  I got my first use out of my new toy this week, making a big pot of jambalaya.

I searched around for recipes, and a few suggested that one could just dump all of the ingredients into the pot, hit "cook," and call it a day.  I wasn't quite that brave, so I did some pan cooking to prep the ingredients, but the rice cooker did the great share of the work - and did so admirably.  This meal ended up great - rich and meaty and flavorful and spicy.  It was a great use for a new gadget and a meal I'll definitely make again.

Here's what I used: medium-grain rice, shrimp, kielbasa sausage (not pictured - oops!), sweet onion, green peppers, garlic, chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, worcestershire sauce, cajun seasoning, salt, and pepper.

You can use just about any protein you like - I used shrimp and kielbasa, but you could use just one or the other.  Chicken and andouille sausage are also fairly common in jambalaya and worth considering.

First, chop up the vegetables.  I like a fairly large, rough chop on the onion and bell pepper to make sure that they maintain just a bit of crunch in the mixture.

Many jambalaya recipes also involve celery.  Kristin and I aren't celery fans, but if you are, feel free to chop some up and add it into the mix.

Saute the onion, bell pepper, and garlic over medium heat until they're just a bit tender and the onions are starting to get translucent.  Don't overcook them, as they'll cook a bit more in with the rice.

In the rice cooker, combine the rice, crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, worcestershire sauce, the sauted vegetables, plenty of cajun seasoning, and some salt and pepper.  Turn it on to cook and it will let you know when it's done.  You may need to add some more liquid and set it back to cook a bit longer after the first time the cooker stops cooking - taste and make sure the texture is to your liking.

While the rice cooker does its magic, give the shrimp and sausage a quick chop, then throw them into a pan together with a dash of seasoning and saute just until the shrimp are evenly pink - don't overcook the shrimp or they'll get tough.

When the rice cooker is finished, stir in the shrimp and sausage, taste to check and adjust the seasoning, and serve up some hot jambalaya!

Recipe: Rice Cooker Jambalaya
Prep Time: 10 Minutes | Cook Time: 1 Hour | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 10-12

Ingredients

• 3 cups medium grain White Rice
• 1 pound Shrimp
• 1-2 pounds Kielbasa Sausage
• 1 large Sweet Onion
• 2-3 medium Green Bell Peppers
• 2-4 cloves Garlic
• 1 large can (28 oz) Crushed Tomatoes
• 2 cans low-sodium Chicken Broth
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 3 tbsp Cajun Seasoning
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Chop onion and bell pepper into large pieces.  Mince garlic.  Saute over medium heat until just tender.
2. In rice cooker, combine rice, chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, sauteed vegetables, worcestershire sauce, cajun seasoning, salt, and pepper.  Set to cook.
3. Shell shrimp if necessary.  Roughly chop shrimp and sausage.  Saute over medium-high heat until shrimp are pink.  Do not overcook.
4. When rice cooker is finished (check doneness and add liquid if necessary), stir in shrimp and sausage. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.
5. Serve hot.

Fried Rice

Fried rice is so often overlooked.  That's not to say that people don't like it, but in my experience, it's generally relegated to the position of side-dish to more exciting menu options when we order Chinese.  This is an injustice!  Fried rice is fully capable of being a meal all by itself, not just a side dish or vehicle for leftovers.  This is a home-made fried rice dish with plenty of stuff in it to keep it interesting, filling, and delicious.

The most important base ingredient is pre-cooked rice.  If you try to make fried rice out of freshly-cooked rice, you'll end up with a big pile of moosh - no good.  You need to give the rice at least a couple of hours to release all of its excess moisture, preferably overnight in the fridge.

I marinated my chicken in a simple mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, and lime juice, and the flavor was great.  Since you'll be cooking rice and throwing it in the fridge the night before, why not chop the chicken and marinate it at the same time?

As for the rest, you'll need some eggs, plenty of frozen vegetables, some pineapple, garlic, soy (or Tamari) sauce, and cooking oil.

I use a cast-iron skillet throughout this recipe - there are a number of reasons you might do otherwise.  First, if you have a good gas stove and own a wok, that's the ideal way to do fried rice.  My little electric stove just can't keep a wok hot enough to do it right, so I went for the cast iron.

Second, if your cast iron isn't sufficiently well-seasoned, eggs will stick to it like glue - you might consider a nonstick pan for the eggs.

Start by cooking your eggs.  Add lightly-beaten eggs to a skillet over medium heat, add a bit of salt and pepper, and let cook a minute or two undisturbed.  Set finished eggs aside for later.

Scramble the eggs and cook until done, taking care not to overcook.

Increase heat to medium-high, add a bit of cooking oil, and saute the chicken with some minced garlic until cooked through.  If you marinated it, there's no need to add anything more than a dash of salt and pepper at this stage.  If you're starting from plain chicken, you'll want to add some soy sauce at this point.

Set cooked chicken aside.

You probably still have plenty of oil in the pan from the chicken - if not, make sure there's 1-2 tablespoons in the bottom of the pan, then add just enough rice to form a single, thin layer.  Take care not to overcrowd the pan - you'll end up repeating this step and the next several times until you're out of rice.

Let cook 2-3 minutes, then stir and continue cooking an additional couple of minutes until the rice has crisped up somewhat and taken on some color.

Add some frozen vegetables and some soy sauce to the rice.  Continue cooking, stirring often, until the vegetables are hot and tender.  Remove everything from the pan into a serving dish, add fresh oil to the pan, and continue frying the rice and adding vegetables until you've used everything up.

Once all of the rice is fried, drain your pineapple well and add it to a hot pan.  Keep it moving to make sure it doesn't burn, and cook until you've put some color on it.  This will take care of some of that "canned" flavor.  You can use fresh pineapple, too, of course - but chances are there's some canned pineapple in your pantry right now, and that will work just fine.

Finally, mix everything together!  If things have been sitting for a while because you're making a lot, add things back to the pan to heat back up as you mix.

Serve hot - all by itself.  The dish can be a fine side or addition to another meal, but come on - isn't it time to give fried rice the spotlight for once?  It's tasty enough to do the job.

Recipe: Fried Rice
Prep Time: 10 Minutes | Cook Time: 20-30 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 lb Chicken Breast, chopped
• 6 cups Cooked Rice
• 1 bag Frozen Mixed Vegetables (Carrots, corn, green beans)
• 1 bag Frozen Broccoli
• 1 can Pineapple Tidbits, drained
• 2 Eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• Vegetable Oil for frying
• Soy Sauce to taste
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Optional: Marinate chicken overnight in soy sauce, sesame oil, and lime juice.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, scramble eggs.  Set aside.
3. Add 2 tbsp vegetable oil to pan and increase to medium-high heat.  Saute chicken with minced garlic until cooked through.  Set aside.
4. Add rice to oiled pan no more than 2 cups at a time in a single layer.  Cook 2-3 minutes, stir, and cook 2-3 more minutes.
5. Add 1-2 cups frozen vegetables to rice.  Add soy sauce to taste.  Continue to cook, stirring often, until vegetables are hot and tender.
6. Set aside finished rice.  Repeat steps 4-5 until all rice and vegetables are cooked.
7. Add pineapple to hot pan and saute 4-5 minutes until hot and slightly charred.  Set aside.
8. Combine rice mixture, cooked chicken, eggs, and pineapple.  Mix well and add additional soy sauce, salt, and pepper to taste.  Serve hot.

Soy-Honey Chicken

This meal began as an attempt to replicate one of my favorite elements of Chinese take-out: Sesame Chicken.  And then, well...I sort of forgot about the "sesame" bit and ended up just making some tasty chicken.  Next time I'll put those poor, neglected sesame seeds in my cabinet to good use, I swear!  In the meantime, I'll just have to content myself with a tasty dish of lightly fried chicken breast and broccoli in sweet, tangy, and slightly-hot sauce.  Gee, life is tough.

Marinating is good.  I highly recommend it.  So long as you're not making this dish completely last-minute, make a quick marinade of soy sauce, sesame oil, white wine, sugar, salt, and pepper.

Marinade the chicken for at least an hour and you'll get extra-flavorful results.

Here's what you'll need for the sauce.  This is sort of a silly array of bottles, isn't it?  Clearly the sauce isn't exactly "from scratch."  However, this array of tasty, Asian ingredients (...and Ketchup) are all easy to find and mix into a really fantastic, sweet-tangy-hot sauce.

Mix together all of the sauce ingredients above with a bit of water in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer over low until the sauce has reduced a bit.  Later, we'll cover everything in saucy tastiness.

Now back to that chicken!  The "breading" we'll fry in is a mixture of flour and cornstarch.  The cornstarch crisps up nicely, and the flour gives that classic golden-brown color.  It's a good pairing.

Drain off the excess marinade from the chicken, then toss it in the flour/cornstarch until coated. Set aside for a few minutes to make sure the coating will stick around.

In the meantime, it's the perfect opportunity to steam some broccoli!

Once you've rested the chicken for a few minutes, heat some oil in a wok or other high-walled pan. Don't use too much - just about a quarter-inch is more than plenty.

Now fry that chicken!  Use nice small batches, taking care not to overcrowd the pan.  A couple of minutes per side will result in wonderful, golden-brown color.

Once the chicken is golden-brown, carefully (carefully!) remove from the pan and transfer onto a plate covered in paper towels to absorb excess oil.  Keep frying chicken in small batches until it's all cooked.

And now, the grand combination!  Combine the broccoli, chicken, and sauce and mix well until everything is covered in deliciousness.

Serve hot over rice.  Devour promptly.

Recipe: Soy-Honey Chicken
Prep Time: 10 Minutes | Cook Time: 30 Minutes | Difficulty: Medium | Servings: 6-8

Ingredients
Chicken

• 1 1/2 lbs Chicken Breast
• 1/4 cup Flour
• 2 tbsp Cornstarch

Marinade

• 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 2 tbsp White Wine
• 2 tsp Sesame Oil
• 1 tbsp White Sugar
• Salt and Pepper to Taste

Sauce

• 3 crowns Broccoli
• 1/4 cup Chili Sauce
• 2 tbsp Honey
• 2 tbsp Ketchup
• 1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
• 1-2 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce (to taste)
• 1/2 cup Water

Instructions

Chop chicken into bite-sized pieces.  

Combine all marinade ingredients in a gallon zip-loc bag.  Add chicken and marinade at least 1 hour.

Combine all sauce ingredients in a small saucepan.  Bring to boil, then simmer over low heat 10 minutes or until reduced slightly.

Dredge chicken in flour and cornstarch.  Set aside 2-3 minutes.

Chop broccoli into bite-sized florettes.  Steam until tender.

Heat 1/4 inch of frying oil in wok over medium-high heat.  Fry chicken approx. 2 minutes per side until golden brown.  Remove and pat dry on paper towels.

Combine chicken, broccoli, and sauce and mix thoroughly.

Serve hot over steamed rice.