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My rice cookers (both Black and Decker) are very basic. I find that I need to be on the spot when they are finishing, or the "keep warm" feature ends up drying out the rice at the bottom, which may be how the small cooker came to be scratched. If I were to replace it, I would try to find one where that would not be an issue. I know that rice cookers come with many settings, and those tend to be the expensive ones. I thought that I was on the safe side with my minimalist rice cooker; I never expected the bowl to be what broke.
I have thought of finding a new small rice cooker that would also let me cook steel-cut oats in the morning. I currently make the steel-cut oats by boiling a cup of water, adding 1/4 cup of steel-cut oats, then covering it and letting it sit off the heat overnight. The next morning, I add 1/4 cup milk and a couple of tsps. of chopped dates, then I stand and cook it down to the right consistency. I remove from heat and let stand while I make coffee. It would be nice, she said wistfully, if an appliance cooked the steel-cut oats while the coffee was being made. However, I would need it not to stick.
If I can find my 5-cup rice cooker, then I'll take that one on our trip. That gives me more time to look at what is out there in the rice cooker world.
Mike: Did your doctor say anything about increasing your intake of potassium-rich foods? That might be another way to tackle the issue if it is allowed. That's how I discovered that I really like butternut squash! Roasted butternut squash, combined with homemade chicken/turkey stock and a bit of heavy cream or full-fat yogurt, or whatever dairy or non-dairy you like, makes a tasty soup. I use the Penzey's Now Curry (no salt, but does include garlic), but I noted that their Sweet Curry also has no salt AND no garlic.
Here is S. Wirth's recipe:
Here is another from msbelle:
And finally, Cwalde's recipe:
I plan to try one in Rick Roger's Christmas 101. I have tried the KAF one a few years back, but it underwhelmed me and the family.
It was -15F here this morning. We may have reached a high of 4F. On top of that our internet was out until late afternoon. So I did a lot of reading, and I baked my current variation of Antilope's Vienna Bread (see reply on the recipe), but I reduced the salt to 1 3/4 tsp. from 2 tsp.
In terms of procedure, I tried the idea of holding back the butter--cut into pieces and coated with flour--until half way through the 30 minute bread machine kneading cycle. I do not know if that is why the bread had such a wonderful rise. I also used the Emile Henry long baker (fourth time for it but first time for this recipe) and adjusted the baking times for 10 minutes at 425F, 25 minutes at 375F, and 5 minutes more without the top on. It made a beautiful loaf. I look forward to cutting into it tomorrow and seeing the texture.
For New Year's Day dinner, I again made the "One-Pan Pork Loin Roast Dinner" that I first made the week of December 3. (The recipe is in Cook's Fall Harvest Recipes, p. 24.) This time I had pearl barley (ordered a case!), and the consistency is much better than with the instant barley I had to use the first time. I again used frozen mustard greens, and I used a whole butternut squash rather than a half. In addition to tasting delicious, it makes a stunning presentation on the plate. It is a perfect dinner for a day when the temperature did not get above 4F, and it is now below 0.
Italian Cook--The yeast does not depend on the salt to make the bread rise, and too much salt can affect yeast negatively. The salt is there in part to control the yeast's rise. A lot of bread recipes strike me as having too much yeast. When I reduce the yeast, I also reduce the salt a bit. However, I have read that salt is important to a bread's structure as well as to its taste, so I proceed cautiously. I suspect that the yeast-salt issue is partly because recipes are designed for the "one-hour" first and second rises. Home bakers have been trained to be impatient.
Tuscan bread does not have salt. I also have a no-salt bread from Bernard Clayton's first edition of his bread book (not in the second) that I used to make for a friend's mother when she would visit her daughter. It did not have the domed rise of a regular bread.
It helps to know that very few of us are going to consume the entire loaf of bread or every roll in a recipe in a single sitting.
In cooking, I have tended to limit salt, even before I met my husband who limits it due to high blood pressure. (Of course, now The Powers That Be are saying that in half the cases of high blood pressure, limiting salt intake makes no difference. Sigh.) Even without limiting it for my husband, I would be limiting salt for me, as it acerbates a facial nerve issue that I have. I like Penzey's Mural Seasoning, which I use on eggs and in my salmon patties. It's a no-go for Mike, however, since it contains garlic. Penzey's Tuscan Seasoning is no-salt, and it is my go-to for pizza topping for me. They also have a Forward seasoning that I need to try that is salt-free. It helps to stay away from most poultry seasoning, which has a lot of salt; instead, I do my own combination of rosemary, sage, thyme, sweet curry (maybe I should check the ingredients on the curry), and fresh parsley.
What we miss most are potato chips! We used to treat ourselves when we were in Indiana by buying "evil potato chips," but we agreed once we moved here permanently to banish them from the pantry. Tortilla chips are an occasional treat, but I buy the brand with the least salt. For snacks, I've been making my own crackers, and that helps for controlling salt, as well as what kind of fat is used.
Hi, Bev,
I don't think that I have posted it. One of the issues I have in finding my recipes is that I also posted a lot of recipes by others from the former Baking Circle, so my name comes up rather a lot.
I will post it tomorrow. My recipe uses biscuits on top. I adapted it from a KAF email for Town Meeting Chicken Pie. I use frozen peas and carrots, but it would be adaptable if you want to cut up your own fresh vegetables.
