So today I decided to test the Jamie Olive Homecooker to cook a creamy pasta sauce.
Usually cooking a pasta sauce that involves fresh cream requires constant stirring to prevent the cream from sticking to the bottom of the pan as well as prevent it from separating.
The stirring arm played a good part in this recipe.
First it browned the chicken well without sticking and burning. While it was doing this I had time to sit with my kids and look at their homework. i had set the time to 20 minutes and the machine beeped when the time was up. Secondly when I added the freah cream cheese to my pasta sauce the stirring arm helped to combine the sauce together into creamy goodness.
I tried out the steamer basket to steam pasta ravioli, this was a hit and miss as it required a lot of time to steam the ravioli then I had anticipated. I learnt that in order to cook pasta ii really neededtoboil it rathe than steam.
i learnt that food such as pasta reauires a lot of time so it is best to boil pasta using the pasta insert ove hot boilling wate in the homecooker.
The steamer basket worked perfectly fine to steam vegetables ove a hot simmering curry though..
I loved the results and would definately reccomend the homecooker to anyone.
I have uploaded a video of my cooking experience on youtube which you can view by copying andpasting the url below onto your browser.
Cheers
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_m9Y4BCNIfA

This recipe is one of my favourites. Its so easy to do & follow even the teenagers could do it! Did contemplate that……only for a minute……..but it was cleaning day today & the kitchen is sparkling so I didn’t want mess every where (party on weekend so wanted to try & keep things in order). To spice things up a little I added a few chilli flakes – just enough to give it a little kick. Tasted delicious with the mash – did make it a little chunky & drier than normal so the sauce could be mixed in! All that I can say is YUM YUM YUM! Now while teenagers slave @ part time job, I’m sitting back with a cider waiting for my creamy rice to cook.

I knew I had a busy day today with teenager no2 so I thought I’d better cook dinner in advance! Tonight was going to be Beef Goulash! Everything seem to flow like clockwork. I think I might be getting the hang of the Home Cooker & what it can do! The chopping tower sliced the onions in seconds, I added the spices & oil & I was off with 20mins to prepare the meat & other ingredients. After adding the final ingredients I had plenty of time for something else before I had to reset the timer for the next stage. Arghhh- I had left 5 loads of washing to do. The Home Cooker gave me some time to hang, reload & hang again (hmmm is that what my “another set of hands” has done – more time for housework).
Recipe was very easy to follow. The best thing was coming home knowing dinner was done. The vote from the contented family was 5 stars for the recipe (no leftovers). The process of cooking was very simple! Its time to clean the pan & cook the beetroots for salads this week 🙂

Creamed rice is one of my favourite childhood memories. My Mum made it as it was a relatively easy desert to make but required one of the 6 kids to stand and stir so the milk /rice didn’t stick or burn on the base. It was a job that I quite often got lumped with being the youngest. The older siblings just made it sound so exciting. We always had stewed rhubarb & apple with our rice.
Jamie’s recipe is delicious! Very creamy & full of flavour! I did add a little extra sugar as I wanted sweet rice. Topped it with a little drizzle of maple syrup. I had never used vanilla beans so was excited to taste & see how much they flavoured the rice. Never will I buy creamed rice again. I will be using the HC for this.

Well we have mastered the rosemary potatoes! they are so easy & delicious to make that the boys have suggested we make them every night! LOL……have to say that a good hard waxy potato is the best to use to hold its shape & doesn’t get shaved by the stirring arm. Just love to add the ingredients & walk away, come back later to delicious crunchy roasted potatoes. All smiles in this household.

Have been using the HC to make our Japanese curry. Its so easy now as I’m not constantly running back to stir the sauce & ingredients. No more sticking to the base of the saucepan because I’ve forgotten to stir. Love that I have a “little helper”.

The process was very easy to make this sauce. In the past, I would normally be watching & stirring every now & again just so my sauce wouldn’t stick to the bottom of the saucepan. Not today – just walked away & let the Home Cooker do its thing.
Our sauce just didn’t turn out as rich & full of flavour as I would’ve liked. Not sure why – I did however use Pork mince for the first time ever. Normally only ever use beef mince but someone told me to try the pork. Thats OK – I’ll just use my favourite recipe in future. Teenager 1 has enough sauce for Wednesday school lunch!

I have just put my crispy potatoes on and the house is smelling so amazing that I am salivating. I am planning on adding in some carrots, sweet potato & parsnip with 30 mins to go so hopefully they turn out ok! I love the fact that having the vegies in the home cooker has freed up the space in the oven for my chicken and fish and I don’t have to worry about having different temperatures. Can’t wait for dinner, will fill you in on how it goes 🙂

Wow weeee! Have just finished eating the most delicious risotto ever! I was so impressed by the Home Cooker tonight – 5 stars from me. Have never tempted to make a risotto as I thought it was so time consuming standing there stirring the rice. So just thought “Too hard basket”.
The Home Cooker along with Jamie’s recipe made life so much simpler. The stirring arm of the Home Cooker fascinates my family (&me). Its quite mesmerising watching it.
Tonight I spent a bit more time, probably because i was quite nervous tackling a risotto. I did use quite a few extra pieces – saucepan, baking dish & fry pan. I didn’t mind as we have a rule in our house – if you cook you don’t clean up! So I just sat back while the family cleaned.
The thing I love the most is the cutting tower which I used for the onions, celery & cheese. The celery was a little awkward but I quickly worked out the best way to grate it. It makes less mess with no more little pieces flying around the kitchen (this is usually the kids job). Love the design of the cutting tower, fitting nice & snug against the pan.
Great recipe! Look forward to making this one again.

Well I must say I am really loving these 2 appliances. I was going to put them in the cupboard when not in use but I am using them most days especially the chopping tower! I think I have used the chopping tower every night since I received it. Very easy to assemble blades that just click into place & click to remove!
Tonight was the Broad Bean & Asparagus Risotto (didn’t have the peas so just deleted them). Very simple & easy recipe to follow. I was feeling confident as had used the Home Cooker to create a previous Risotto. Last time I nervously watched & hoped it was going to work. Tonight I just followed the recipe and walked away confidently. The Chorizo Sausage was for teenager No 1 who is not quite sure about the “risotto” meal. I thought if I added the chopped sausage it would appeal to him more. But still had no success in winning him over. Teenager No 2 however enjoyed it thoroughly – which is surprising as he is normally the fussy one. Husband loved the whole minty, zesty lemon flavour.
Have found the clean up to be easy as have had plenty of “spare” time during the cooking phase to clean up before dinner, just leaving the pan to clean.
Have found a recipe for some steamed ginger cakes so am thinking I might try that tomorrow night when teenagers are at work :).

Teenager no 1 has always been a big eater! To combat the lunch time appetite has been making a large salad with chicken strips. I thought I might try & cook the strips in the Home Cooker. After infusing the oil with chilli, garlic, thyme & rosemary for about 15mins, I added a chopped chorizo sausage (I didn’t realise how much oil these would release) & fried them for about 10mins, turned the heat down & added the chicken for about 15mins. Probably need to experiment some more but the chicken taste tested by the teenager has got the thumbs up! Teenager cant wait to have his turn on Wednesday for some more experimenting chicken strips. It was much easier than standing by the BBQ and turning the strips. Chicken has remained moist. Lately teenager had been overcooking his chicken. Now with the help of the Home Cooker he will have moist chicken strips with his salad.