A Whole New World

Wow! Last week, iTunes, this week - RICE COOKERS!

I recently got a rice cooker from my parents (thanks again!). I love me some rice, but also, I love other things. Lucky for me, a rice cooker can double as a many-other-things cooker. Tonight, I made macaroni and cheese. In a rice cooker. It was quick and breezy and literally only dirtied one dish. So convenient! (Geez - I sound like an infomercial!)

Here's the recipe I used (my changes/additions are in red):

Creamy Rice Cooker Macaroni and Cheese

by Panthur

20 min | 20 min prep

SERVES 4

• 2 cups macaroni (I used fusilli)

• 1 cup chicken stock or water (that's chicken broth... right? hopefully)

• 1 cup heavy cream or half-and-half (I just used milk)

• 1 1/2 cups shredded mixed cheeses (mild cheddar, Vermont cheddar, mozzarella, and fontina) (I used some nacho cheese, some shredded cheese, and 1 1/2 slices of provolone!)

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper (I omitted this - all the cheese seemed like enough sodium, thank you)

• 1 pinch cayenne pepper (nope - didn't have any)

• Several vigorous shakes of green Tobasco sauce

• 1 can tuna

1. Place pasta and liquids into rice cooker. Close lid and press cook.

2. When pasta goes to keep warm, add the other ingredients, stir with paddle. (I just used a wooden spoon - hopefully that's an acceptable substitute) Close lid and keep on warm till ready to serve. Stays terrific for hours.

Wow, that is a lot more red than I expected. I guess I didn't really follow the recipe all that well, but guess what, it turned out super great. I'm impressed with *my little guy.

Next I'm going to make rice and beans. In a rice cooker. At the same time. Is this super cool, or am I easily impressed? Or both?

*Any suggestions for names?