RICE COOKER POLENTA

Monday, March 23, 2015


Since working in a Thai kitchen I don't think there is actually any other way to cook rice than in a rice cooker.  Perfect rice every time with no interventions needed.  My rice cooker is in my top five kitchen gadgets.  

I had been swooping around the internet and discovered an article talking about other ways to use your rice cooker- you had me at rice cooker!!  

I love polenta and have featured a recipe for scrumptious Polenta & Proscuitto Chips, which are fabulous.  I have always used store bought polenta before but after finding a recipe for rice cooker polenta that requires no fussing and stirring whilst it cooks I had to give it a go.


I experimented with many batches of rice cooker polenta to get a recipe I was happy with.  Its texture is perfect for cooling till set and then for slicing to be baked or grilled.  You can also just use it straight from the rice cooker in place of mashed potato.

RICE COOKER POLENTA

WHAT YOU NEED
1 cup of polenta (cornmeal)
3 cups of water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 tsp dried herbs (I used a mix of rosemary, thyme, lavender and rosemary)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan or other hard cheese

WHAT YOU DO
Add everything into the rice cooker and give it a quick mix up to combine.  Set the rice cooker to the white rice setting or fast cook setting.  My rice cookers fast cook setting runs for 35 minutes so find the program that runs closest to that time.  Once the time is up, leave it for 5 minutes to ensure all the liquid is absorbed.  Open it up and give it a whisk.  

It's now ready to go.  For setting it for cutting, have a flat baking sheet ready brushed with a little oil to prevent sticking.  Quickly pour out the polenta and flatten with a oiled metal spoon to the depth you want.  Allow it to cool for at least 10 minutes and its ready to use.  
This was the perfect accompaniment to roast chicken: oven baked polenta with cherry tomatoes, Parmesan and rosemary.  Cook till golden.
 The perfect nibble with drinks: Polenta & Proscuitto Chips

Or you can just toss in a little olive oil, salt and pepper and bake in the oven till golden.  Dip into ketchup or sweet chilli sauce.  Who needs fries when you have these golden beauties!



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3 comments

  1. Hey Elyse. How smart is your cooker? I haven't been able to find a polenta recipe that works well in my intelligent Japanese model. Would be nice if this works. 😊

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My rice cooker is not smart at all, nice and basic. Let me know how you get on. You may need to adjust the liquid levels depending on how hot and how long your rice cooker cycles run. Good luck!

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  2. Nice post! 20 years of rice cooker life, I never found there is such use. Cornmeal eh. I have to give this a try!

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