Cooking Rice

I’m back at it again guys! Still drawing and cooking recipes like I do. Today’s cooking instructions are kind of necessary considering my last recipe of stuffed peppers required rice as an ingredient. Believe it or not, there’s a lot of people out there who have no clue to cook rice. Rice and eggs are some of the first things I learned how to prepare growing up. I consider being able to cook rice essential to basic survival.

Today, I want to go over preparing rice in a rice cooker and preparing it in a large pot of boiling water. No everyone has access to a rice cooker and sometimes, cooking rice the old fashioned way can be nice sometimes, especially if you have the extra time!

Preparation

So I’m not going to sit here and lie to you and say that cooking rice in a pot is fun, becauswe it’s not! Everytime I cook rice the old fashioned way, I usually end up getting a work out from scrubbing the bottom of the pot. This is especially made more difficult if rice burns or gets stuck to the pot. Personally, I use the Yum Asia Sakura Rice Cooker. It’s a bit on the expensive side, but that’s mainly because it’s a multipurpose cooker.

Rice Cooker: Yum Asia Sakura

My husband and I like to use it for slow cooking roasts and chicken. If you strictly want to use your rice cooker for just making rice, then I suggest something simpler like the Aroma Rice Cooker. Don’t like the price fool you. It’s a rather small rice cooker, but it’s high quality and ours is still working after 8 years of owning it!

If you don’t have a rice cooker, a good ol’ fashioned cooking pot will do the trick. Just be sure to read the instructions on the rice for pot cooking. 

Rice Cooking Instructions

Rice Cooker Instructions

1.) Rinse the longrain rice in the cooker pot. Sift through the rice with your hands in cold water to clean it thorougly. Drain the rice and rinse one more time, draining the water again like the first time.

2.) Pour 2 cups of water in to the rice pot. Place the pot back in to the rice cooker and plug the cord in to the wall. Close the lid and press the start button. Allow for the rice too cook for around 25-30 minutes or until the rice cooker turns off.

Old Fashion Cooking Instructions

1.) Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in the pot on high heat. Once the water is boining, pour salt and olive oil in to the pot until the water is back to a boil.  Combine the rice in to the pot. Stir the rice together with the salt and olive oil in the water. 

2.) Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Stir the rice after about 10-15 minutes to reduce rice from sticking to the pot. Cover and continue to cook for 10-15 more minutes.

3.) The entire cooking process should take about 20-30 minutes depending on how much rice you have used. Once the rice is fully cooked, remove the rice from heat and allow the rice to set for about 5 minutes. Most all of the water should be absorbed in the pot, but allowing it to sit will help to absorb any remaining moisture. 

4.) Use a wooden spoon to stir the finished rice in a pot. Add butter for flavor and for additional fluff to the rice. Serve rice in bowls and enjoy!

How To Make Pico De Gallo

Pico De Gallo with Corn Chips is one of my go to appetizers whether I’m out at a restaurant with friends or shacking it up with the hubby.

Today, I would like to draw step by step How To Make Pico De Gallo! Pico de Gallo and chips are one those things I have to becareful eating, especially before a meal. If you’re anything at all like me, you can probably relate to the fact that it’s super easy to fill up on chips and salsa alone before the meal is ready if you’re not careful!

As you can see, I have provided an illustration to the left that works as our checklist for ingredients for how to make pico de gallo. I illustrated these ingredients just a bit over a week ago and finished painting it a few days ago. Even the labels are included for each of ingredients along with the correct measured amounts needed for preparing your pico de gallo recipe from scratch!

Some things that may (or may not) be obvious here is you’ll probably going to want to get yourself a nice wooden cutting board if you don’t already have one. Why specifically a wooden one? I’ve used plastic cutting boards and typically don’t like the chopping marks that are left behind on plastic boards. The plastic boards I had tended to trap food residue and as a squeamish cook, it just doesn’t cut it!

I’m a bit of a cheapskate admitedly so I purchased this bad boy from Amazon. I chose this one specifically because it comes in a set of 3 which is nice. I tend to use the smaller boards if I plan to cut only one or two things. Personally, I suggest using the larger one for what we’re doing!

Pico De Gallo Recipe Instructions

Instructions

1.) Chop all 6 plum tomatos in to small diced pieces using a cutting board.

2.) Place the tomatoes to the side and start chopping 1/4 of an onion in to fine pieces.

3.) Take your cilantro and cut them very finely as you’ve done the previous ingredients.

4.) You can now cut the jalapeno you have in half and cut the slices in to small minced pieces. Depending on how spicy you want your pico de gallo to be, you may cut the inner seeds of the jalapeno as well to include them in the dish.

5.) Grab a decent sized bowl and combine all of the chopped ingredients together. Mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon.

6.) Get your lime and slice it in half. Squeeze the lemon juice in to your mixture and be sure to taste the pico de gallo until it is to your liking. Add salt and black pepper for additional taste if you prefer.