Rice cookers are the quintessential college cooking contraption. They're ideal because you can head to Asian Super Market off of Opelika Road and pick up a 10-pound bag of rice when you're short on cash. It's just more than $10 and will help feed you for more than a month.
First and foremost, there's a trick to cooking perfect rice every time without using a measuring cup, called the knuckle method.
Place as much rice as you want into the ricepot, and then place your palm on top of the rice. Fill the cooker with water until it's almost past your knuckles. Turn the cooker on, wait (time depending on your cooker) and you're done.
However, just making rice is a disservice to what a rice cooker is capable of cooking.
Rice cookers essentially operate like a stovetop, which makes them perfect for Auburn's dorms, because technically, they're not stoves. A rice cooker will, generally, turn off after a set period of time or once it reaches a certain temperature. But rice cookers are easy to fool. Simply turning them back on will do the trick.
With this in mind, I came up with macaroni and cheese and chili.
Macaroni & Cheese
Ingredients
-16 oz of elbow macaroni
-3 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
-1 and 1/2 cups of heavy cream
-3 tbsp of butter
-1 and 1/2 cups of cheddar
-1 cup of mozzarella
-1 cup of parmesan
Macaroni and cheese is a college staple. After cooking this recipe, you'll ditch Easy Mac.
You'll just throw all of the ingredients into the cooker and slam the lid. Mac and cheese doesn't get much easier than that. Even better, you'll have enough for days.
It's still great after reheating--dare I say, better. It's also great to bring to office parties and get-togethers.
Place the macaroni, chicken or vegetable stock, butter and heavy cream into the cooker. Then throw in all of your cheese and stir so there is an even mixture of cheese throughout the cooker.
Try to keep the cheese off the bottom of the cooker; it may burn. Open the rice cooker every 20 minutes and stir. Repeat this step until finished.
If the cooker turns off and your mac and cheese isn't done, just turn it back on.
Chili
Ingredients
-1 green bell pepper
-1 medium sweet onion
-1 lb of ground beef
-1 pack of Chorizo Kidney beans
-1 can of black beans
-1 can of diced tomatoes
-2 cups of water
-Salt and pepper to taste
-1 and 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
-1 tbsp oregano
-2 tbsp of chili powder
-3 tsp of cumin
-1 tsp of ginger
-2 tsp of cardamom
-1/2 tsp of ground cloves
Chili has many variations, and it seems as if everyone has their own special recipe. It is either delicious or terrible. In both cases, you have to grin and say it's good because the cook is convinced of their prowess. If you don't have your own chili recipe, don't feel judged.
Here's a recipe you can use.
Oil the pan. Brown the sausage and beef on high heat.
Place a lid over the meat and allow it to sear. Searing will create a coating on the pan that will add flavor to your vegetables when you saute them later. While the meat is searing, dice the bell pepper and half a sweet onion.
Place the meat into the pot once it is finished. Drain the beans, throw them into the cooker and add the water.
Take the diced vegetables and place them onto the pan. Saute them for a minute, then place all of your seasoning on top of the vegetables and saute further.
Your vegetables should have a dark brown color once you have properly mixed in the seasoning with the vegetables.
Place the vegetables into the cooker once they are done. Stir the cooker and close the lid.
It should be done after approximately 45 minutes.
Jordan Hays is the copy editor for The Plainsman. He can be reached at copy@theplainsman.com.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
