How To Cook More Than Rice in a Rice Cooker

Cook pasta: Put hot tap water into the cooker – three quarts for every pound of pasta. When it begins to boil, add the pasta. Leaving uncovered, let it return to a boil and cook until desired tenderness.

Make a variety of soups. For seafood bisque, sauté garlic and shallots until translucent, add fish, wine, and stock; simmer for about 20 minutes, and add cream.

Steam vegetables right in your cooker. Then remove the veggies along with the water and saute some garlic and onions in a little olive oil in the cooker. Add the vegetables back and cook for another minute.

Braise meat: Sear it in the cooker with either butter or olive oil; remove it while you cook a sauce of onions, brandy, wine, or whatever you like; then return the meat to the cooker and simmer for a few hours.

Add shrimp, sausage, peppers, spices, tomato puree, and stock to rice to make jambalaya. Or cook rice in stock, stirring frequently for a creamy risotto.

Heat heavy cream and chopped dark chocolate to make fondue. Serve with cut up fruit and chunks of pound cake.