Solar Cooker Rice and Chicken

There was finally enough sun and time to break out my panel solar cooker, so I wanted to try out a simple recipe:

1 cup of rice to 1 1/2 cups water
(I used 1 1/2 cups rice, 2 1/4 cups water)
fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, basil - finely chopped)
vegetables (celery, carrots)
diced chicken, seasoned

Put rice and water in the pan, stir in vegetables and herbs, then add the diced, raw chicken on top. Place the lid on, put it in the cook bag, and get it cooking in the solar cooker. I waited to put the carrots in until about an hour before I removed the pot from the cooker, because I didn't want them mushy - I'm picky about my carrots!



It takes 2-3 hours to cook, but I left mine on for four because it was too early to eat dinner. The great thing about solar cooking is you don't really have to worry about things overcooking or drying out. It's not easy to ruin the food.



It was pretty good for my first try. The rice and veggies came out well, and the chicken was soft and moist. It was slightly bland, so next time I plan to use chicken stock and maybe some garlic and other seasonings to give it a better flavor.

S.O.S. and Fried Potatoes

Tonight we made S.O.S. - Our version is a white gravy with hamburger over homemade biscuits, served with a side of fried potatoes.

The biscuits are made from scratch and are very easy to make.



Biscuit recipe:

2 cups all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
6tbsp (3/4 stick) butter or margarine
¾-1 cup milk

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in butter or margarine with a fork or pastry cutter (I like to use my hands a bit) until there are no large pieces of butter (no bigger than a pea). Slowly stir in milk, mixing to create a dough. Only add enough milk so that the dough is not dry. You don’t want it to be sticky and liquidy.

Flour your work surface and turn the dough out onto it. Sprinkle flour on top and lightly knead it a few times, just to get it coated in flour. Roll out to 1 ½ inches thick and cut with a biscuit cutter, round cookie cutter, or glass. Place on a baking sheet and bake in the oven at 350F for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.
Makes 8-10 large biscuits.

(I just made a triple batch and got 25)

Remember, if the dough is sticky you can always just add a bit more flour.