rice cooker roast beef

I think it should be mentioned that I love my Momma but she is a little bit of a nut sometimes. Last fall she sent me a HUGE care package when Carrie and I first moved to Taiwan. In this care package there were many wonderful things that can not be purchased or are hard to come by in Taiwan. For example some good granola bars, whole wheat wraps, and a rice cooker?

Yes. My mother sent me a rice cooker even though it was likely made in Taiwan, shipped to the US, hauled to a store in Canada, where the price was no doubt marked way up and then sold to my Momma, who turned around and sent it back to me in Taiwan via Fed Ex.

Now, after a long process I have a rice cooker to make MORE RICE. I am served school lunch everyday that is some random meat, tofu, odd vegetables like cabbage (aka hot lettuce) and watery soup with a side of RICE. Rice everyday 12 o'clock, you know it. Every meal here basically comes with the option for rice. From traditional Taiwanese food, sushi, 7-eleven meals and even “Italian” pasta dinners served over rice.

So ... although the rice cooker saves time and cooking space while making dinner we are not really into eating anymore of it then we need to.

Therefore, I hit up the internet in search of other uses for my little cooker. And there it was ... instructions on how to cook a roast in a rice cooker!!

I have NEVER even attempted a roast beef dinner before in my life let alone in an appliance designed to cook rice efficiently.

But if eHow.com says I can do it ... it must be true. I searched the grocery store for ingredients I needed. I found some and made up my own substitutes for others. JP has school late on Mondays which gives me enough time to attempt this roast and ditch it if I fail miserably before he gets home.

Some problems along the way, TINY ASS rice cooker .... rather large roast. So I had to google some more and I found out it is better to cut the roast up to reduce cooking time ... and well it solved my space issue.

Next hurdle ... the rice cooker is designed to have two settings cook and warm. So either you cook this thing in like 3 hours or 24 hours on warm. 3 hours it is. Once I had everything browned, seasoned and in the pot I hit cook. Now the idea with a slow cooker is that you can peace out on it while it cooks your dinner for you. A rice cooker is a little more sensitive. It is made to indicate the rice is done by turning to warm once the weight of the pot inside changes (the water is cooked out of the rice). With an hour left to cook my little machine is turning to warm ... crap. So, I have to find other ingredients I can add to keep the weight heavy enough to keep it on cook. Luckily, I happen to have some mushrooms in the fridge, in they go and we are back in business. Now all I can do is wait ... and so far it smells promising.

Finally, I can hear JP unlocking the door as he is shouting, “Is that smell coming from our apartment!?!?” Apparently the whole 6th floor smelt like our dinner and not random Asian food.

Success. Home cooked meal in Taiwan ... gravy and all!

my little dream machine!