What Did Ya'll Have For Dinner Tonight?

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Was lunch also, minus the rice. It's yellow squash, sweet pepper, jalapeño, habanero, and onion with a jarred curry. Could use more hot pepper. The rice is microwave pouch stuff. I've really been digging it lately. It's expensive and wastefully packaged, but rice is a hassle to cook, and I get in and out of moods for it. I'll buy a bunch, decide I don't want rice for a long time, it gets bugs in it, I throw it out. Rinse, repeat. The microwave stuff is always ready and keeps for a long time.
 
Burnham said:
Rice isn't a hassle to cook if you use a steamer designed for the job.
Click to expand...
I've been mulling this stuff over. I'm not really interested in a new electric appliance, but amazon shows some microwave and stovetop rice steamers. Are you familiar with microwave steamers? This one kind of interests me...

Code: 
https://www.amazon.com/Sistema-BPA-Free-Cooker-Microwave-Container/dp/B08H9MR8K7/ref=sr_1_18?crid=2LAPNV0J8WEPP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.cgydNfDx14WUCQn72ZRGyUBTSbTa-E0jmGknwnOxBTRr7NWs4sU2pNMGBNT5x02tayDzqvpjlPpKR_0YgDXiBWq-ZB6TCJjoiXr3rvG6OR1IxJNAjyafh8PeiSIOv4kZWt3-ftaUmvu-3toZPBUcl3vyTJ3adznYpmNEIKkLF7KYiLg4DI4hGOPlxReRQ59oTheTfYSMwv-gevDqff0Te-nPyPpqyo251PkGvd3bEZc.yKY7BMenjY_9zj1yOOcGrHuODK1ZiFL-kGc0RpyybL4&dib_tag=se&keywords=rice+steamer&qid=1724162936&sprefix=rice+steamer%2Caps%2C405&sr=8-18

I use a little container from this brand to take cheese to work. It's made in NZ(cause frig China, right?), and it's inexpensive. I guess I could put rice in jars and store it in the fridge to prevent bugs. Would be more economical over time and less wasteful of packaging.

I actually do a pretty good job of making stovetop rice, but by the time I get the process refined, I'm tired of rice, and forget how I did it. When the next time comes around, I have to start almost from scratch.
 
We use a stovetop steamer, a Wearever brand that I don't think is made any more. It is also sometimes referred to as a Charleston rice steamer, after Charleston, SC; the economy of that region was based on rice production from back before there was a United States.

We don't own a microwave. We have found that we can reheat leftovers very quickly in the rice steamer. So it is not a single use item in our kitchen.

We always store rice in glass jars, gallon size. Pretty much always use brown rice. Well, except for the wild rice we have sometimes...we add that to the brown in a mixture. Very good.
 
I'll do some more reading/comparing. I'm leaning towards the microwave set, but I may end up going with stovetop. I know it works for you, and doesn't require computer controlled nonsense to work well, so that's a good endorsement.
 
The great thing about a rice steamer is, you set it up, turn it on, when it starts to boil turn it down to a solid simmer, set a timer and forget about it. If you want or need to, turn it off when the timer goes off and leave it until you are ready to eat it, turn the heat back on and let it hit a boil and the rice will reheat perfectly in a couple of minutes.

No fiddling about at all, stirring and being careful not to let it boil dry like when you cook rice in a saucepan.
 
Fly in the ointment... The microwave unit I was interested in is too tall for my machine. I have a bigger one in the basement, but I don't use the microwave much, so I prefer the smaller footprint. There's other Chinese units listed that'll fit if I can trust the posted dimensions, but I'm not super enthused about cooking in Chinese plastic. I think I'll see what I have laying around, and maybe I can just use what I already have. There's some kind of crappy rice in the fridge I can practice on, and if it doesn't workout, the critters outside can eat it.

edit:
Food tonight was similar to the previous I pictured, but wasn't as good. I used a jarred harissa, and hatch chili instead of jalapeño and habanero. I didn't fry the hots quite long enough, and the sauce was too mild. The chili stomped all over it. I liked it ok, but it isn't something I'd serve to others. It was nutritious, and tasted acceptably well enough, but meh...
 
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Nutball said:
Have you tried Melinda's ghost pepper sauce? It's pretty good flavor wise, and not quite as spicy as a fresh habenero.
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Now that search is working and I could find this post, I have now officially tried the Melindas. I had it for awhile before trying, cause the ghost pepper sauces I have/had will take your eyebrows off, and that wasn't what I was in the mood for, but this is remarkably subdued. Just about perfect for stuff like cheese & crackers. I'm a fan!
 
IMG_1203.jpeg IMG_1204.jpeg IMG_1206.jpeg
Today my daughter and I walked in the evening through the center of St. Petersburg, and at the end of the walk we visited a restaurant of Russian homemade cuisine. I ordered a vinaigrette (beetroot salad), fried quails in lingonberry sauce stuffed with potatoes and cheese (interestingly, there were baked pears as a side dish), homemade thin pancakes with baked porcini mushrooms with sour cream and tea with jasmine. There is also Siberian ice cream with pine nuts and cranberry juice. Oh, I also forgot to mention horseradish tincture (32%). IMG_1163.jpeg IMG_1208.jpeg
 
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lxskllr said:
Fly in the ointment... The microwave unit I was interested in is too tall for my machine. I have a bigger one in the basement, but I don't use the microwave much, so I prefer the smaller footprint. There's other Chinese units listed that'll fit if I can trust the posted dimensions, but I'm not super enthused about cooking in Chinese plastic. I think I'll see what I have laying around, and maybe I can just use what I already have. There's some kind of crappy rice in the fridge I can practice on, and if it doesn't workout, the critters outside can eat it.
Click to expand...
Update on my rice dilemma... I just tried making microwave rice in a large plastic takeout container, and it worked acceptably well. I used a cheap long grain white rice I had in my fridge. When that's gone, I may have to adjust a bit for my preferred basmati. There's room for improvement, and I doubt it'll ever be award winning, but it turned out well enough that this is what I'm gonna do going forward. Saves money, reduces disposable plastic crap, and I get to reuse the plastic crap I already have instead of buying more.

This is the "recipe"...

½C dry rice spread evenly in the bottom of a large takeout container.
1C water.
Put lid on, nuke for 8:88 The lid will blow off at some point(maybe vented lids are better?)
Take it out, test rice. Put lid back on loose, and hit [instant minute] twice
Done!

My microwave's low power. Probably 700W, but I don't feel like hunting it down. Adjust as necessary. We aren't building a watch here :^D
 
lxskllr said:
Update on my rice dilemma... I just tried making microwave rice in a large plastic takeout container, and it worked acceptably well. I used a cheap long grain white rice I had in my fridge. When that's gone, I may have to adjust a bit for my preferred basmati. There's room for improvement, and I doubt it'll ever be award winning, but it turned out well enough that this is what I'm gonna do going forward. Saves money, reduces disposable plastic crap, and I get to reuse the plastic crap I already have instead of buying more.

This is the "recipe"...

½C dry rice spread evenly in the bottom of a large takeout container.
1C water.
Put lid on, nuke for 8:88 The lid will blow off at some point(maybe vented lids are better?)
Take it out, test rice. Put lid back on loose, and hit [instant minute] twice
Done!

My microwave's low power. Probably 700W, but I don't feel like hunting it down. Adjust as necessary. We aren't building a watch here :^D
Click to expand...
No worries, just some more micro plastics in the microwave take out dish. 😁
 
Yea, cooking in plastic doesn't give me the warm fuzzies, but there isn't much point in getting precious over the rice with all the other plastic in my life. I am keeping my eyes open for another container now that I know the concept works.
 
If you are not aware, then the secret of khinkali is that you need to take it by the tail, turn it over, pour delicious sauces, take a bite and drink the broth that is inside the khinkali. After that, you can safely eat! :) If you've never eaten khinkali, you've lost a lot! :)
 
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