January | 2018 | HASTY TASTY MEALS BLOG

Monthly Archives: January 2018

January 14, 2018 · 11:20 am

Mix Things Up

I blog often about my cooking tools, like the Instant Pot, air fryer, pressure cooker, Vitamix, and Cuisinart Food Processor. Another tool I love is my KitchenAid stand mixer. It’s 30 years old and still going strong. I updated it with a new five quart glass bowl and a newer paddle with scraper. Through the years I’ve bought attachments for it, like the pasta extruder and the meat grinder. Mostly, though, I use it as a mixer.

I’m not much of a baker, but there’s much more you can do than mix batter with a KitchenAid. I use low speed to whip potatoes, high speed to make whipped cream (SO much better than from a can!), and medium speed to shred cooked chicken for burritos or chicken salad. Use the dough hook to knead pizza dough. These are just a few applications. And especially if you’re a baker, the KitchenAid stand mixer is a must-have.

For more information about the KitchenAid mixer (Still assembled in the USA. Yay!), read this review.

Pressure Cooker Brown Rice

Happy New Year!

Do you know the difference between brown rice and white? White rice is refined. It’s had the brown coating removed. So brown rice is actually rice. White rice is refined rice, like whole wheat flour and refined flour. Because I try to keep my carbs complex, I prefer brown rice to white. It also has more taste. But it takes a lot longer to cook than regular rice.

There are a number of recipes available for cooking brown rice. There are a number of recipes available for cooking brown rice in the pressure cooker. I’ve tried most of them. But it annoys me that my new Instant Pot comes with a rice setting that works only for white (refined) rice. The Power Pressure Cooker XL and a few other models have settings for brown rice, but many don’t. Here’s my work around:

Take 1 cup brown rice and rinse. Cover with 1 1/4 cups water and soak for one hour. Set a timer. Do other stuff. Check Facebook. Whatever. After an hour, add salt or other flavorings, seal the Instant Pot (or other brand multi-cooker you use), and select Rice. (Soaking brown rice also shortens cooking time in a stovetop pressure cooker, too. ) At the end of the cooking time, hit cancel and allow pressure to drop on its own 10 minutes. Release any remaining pressure. Carefully open the pot and fluff rice with a fork. You have 4 servings of perfectly cooked brown rice.

This has worked every time for me. If it’s too much trouble to soak ahead of time, just cook the rice for 22 minutes followed by the 10 minute pressure release. (For stovetop, I cook 15 minutes under pressure followed by 10 minutes before releasing pressure.)

I like using the special rice cooking setting because it’s convenient. However, if you use the manual method, you have the opportunity to sauté the brown rice a couple of minutes first to develop flavor. It’s up to you.

Add more whole grains to your diet as you begin the new year. You’ll be healthier for it!