Cooking Long-Grain Brown Rice in a Pressure Cooker

USING A PRESSURE COOKER

I don’t normally like talking about nutrition on this blog but it is generally accepted that wholegrain brown rice is better for you than white rice thanks to the extra nutrients, protein and fibre that it contains.

Cooking it, on the other hand, can be quite tricky and if you’re not lucky, it can turn into a sticky, stodgy mess.

The idea behind this post is to describe a fail-safe method for cooking brown rice using a pressure cooker with times that can be relied on to produce consistently perfect results.

RECIPE

FOR 2 PEOPLE

  • Boil some water in a kettle.
  • Put 1 cup of brown rice in a pressure cooker with 1/2 teaspoon salt.
  • Add 2 cups of boiling water.
  • Stir well and close the pressure cooker.
  • Bring to pressure.
  • Time 25 minutes.
  • Remove the pressure cooker from the heat and time an additional 5 minutes.
  • Quick release the pressure by placing the pressure cooker in the sink and running cold water over the lid.
  • Test the rice.
  • If it is done, leave the lid off for a few minutes for the steam to escape.
  • If it not done, cover with the lid and leave for another 5 minutes before checking again.

NOTES
If I’m cooking rice, I normally allow 1/3 cup of white rice per person but 1/2 cup of brown rice per person.

Cucumber tomato rice salad

Cucumber tomato rice salad

cucumber tomato rice salad

Cucumber tomato rice salad

This fresh summer salad is made with brown rice, tomatoes, cucumber and mint and is dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. It can also be made with cous cous.

INGREDIENTS:
brown rice, cooked
1 cucumber, finely chopped
2 large tomatoes, finely chopped
juice of one lemon
a handful mint, finely chopped
salt and pepper
olive oil

METHOD:
Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl. Pour over the lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

 

Vegetable stirfry and egg-fried rice

Vegetable stirfry and egg-fried rice

vegetable stirfryThis stirfry is quick and easy and a tasty vegetable/vegetarian meal.

INGREDIENTS:
1/3 cup rice per person, cooked, washed and cooled
1 egg per person, beaten
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garli, finely chopped
1 red pepper, cut into thin strips
1 green pepper, cut into thin strips
1 courgette, thinly sliced
mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 handfuls peanuts
peanut oil
sesame oil
soy sauce
salt and pepper

METHOD:
Heat some oil in a large frying pan or wok and gently fry the onion untl soft. Add the garlic and fry for anothe rminute or so. Transfer about a third of the onion/garlic mixture to another frying pan/wok for the rice.

Add the vegetables to the stirfry pan and quickly for another couple of minutes before adding the ginger and curry powder. Stir well and then add some soy sauce. Add the minutes last, stir well and then leave on a low heat while you cook the rice.

Add some oil to the rice pan and heat the rice through. You can either make a well in the middle and add the eggs, stirring well so that all the grains are coated and stirfrying until the eggs are cooked, or you can push the rice to one side of the pan and then fry the eggs in he space until they are cooked, chopping them up before combining (it’s a question of whether you prefer to see bits of egg or not). Add the peanuts and a splash of soy sauce and season with salt and pepper.

Serve the stirfried vegetables and the egg-fried rice together.

stirfry2

Curried rice salad

INGREDIENTS:
1/3 cup rice per person
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 handfuls almonds, roughly chopped (or peanuts work well)
1 small can corn
2 or 3 dessertspoons mayonnaise
salt and pepper

METHOD:
Put the rice into a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
Heat a frying pan on a low heat with a trickle of olive oil. Gently fry the almonds until they are lightly toasted. It is important to take them off the heat before they are too brown as they will continue cooking once they are off the heat. Sprinkle the nuts over the rice.
Drain the corn and add to the rice and almonds.
Sprinkle over the curry powder and add the mayonnaise. Mix well. Taste for seasoning and serve.

Rice pudding made with goats’ milk

Rice pudding with goats' milk

Rice pudding with goats’ milk

INGREDIENTS:
2 litres goats’ milk
1 large cinnamon stick
1 orange, remove peel into strips
4 heaped dessert spoons sugar
300g pudding rice

Gently heat the milk in a saucepan until just below boiling point. Turn down and add the cinnamon and sugar and stir well until the sugar has dissolved. Add the strips of orange peel and sprinkle in the rice. Stir well. Simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the rice is cooked.

Divide the rice pudding into small bowls and sprinkle some ground cinnamon on each one. Serve with strawberry jam.