Shipwreck a la Burnt!

I had my nieces and nephews over and was excited to try out my new pans. I found a recipe in the Saladmaster cookbook that sounded kid friendly, Shipwreck on page 6-10. What kid wouldn't like a meal named Shipwreck? Well I will tell you what kind of kid... the kind of kid who won't eat food their aunt burns.

My hamburger was completely frozen. I put an inch of water in the 3-quart saucepan. I placed the frozen hamburger on the inset and covered. Medium-click-low for 20 minutes. I did open the lid and break the meat up. One nice thing was it drained all of the fat down into the water, one bad thing is the meat was very dry.

Next, I proceeded with the Shipwreck recipe. Jason, my Saladmaster dealer had told me to always put my sauce on the bottom. Instead of listening to him, I thought I would follow the cook book's instructions and put the sauce on the top. Bad idea! Rule number one ALWAYS listen to Jason. :-) I very carefully assembled my Shipwreck meal. I used fresh tomato sauce and substituted brown rice. I knew I would probably have to cook it a little longer because of the brown rice. I turned the heat onto medium and waited for my click.... and waited.... after 8 or 9 minutes I really wanted to peek but I was trying to be a good girl. So I continued to wait...until I smelled something burning. Oh boy! I hurried and opened the pan and added some water. Of course the water turned brown from the burnt meat.

Now what to do? I have seven very hungry children expecting a meal any minute now. So I did what any frugal mother would do... I scraped the top few layers off, found the pieces of meat that were only partially burnt and put it into a new pan. I added water because the rice was very crunchy still, and medium-click-low for 35 more minutes. By now the children were starting to look like savages! Every few minutes they kept coming in the kitchen to beg for some morsel of food.

When I finally placed the meal before them... they all hated it, well except for the teenagers (I've heard they will eat anything). Me being the compassionate person I am told them if they ate at least half of my poor, pathetic, burnt meal I would make them a treat. Yes, I used sugar to bribe my poor children to eat my cooking. You would never know, I really am a great cook. The amazing think is the meat that wasn't burnt was very tender and flavorful. The rice, however, stayed crunchy.

I was truly amazed at how easy my burnt pan cleaned up. It looks just like new again!

Yikes, this adventure may be interesting. Jason told me there would be a learning curve. I didn't think he meant I would BURN a meal. I haven't done that in... well never. My family will really appreciate me after this is all over.

NOTES FOR SHIPWRECK RECIPE ON PAGE 6-10:
1. PUT SAUCE ON BOTTOM.
2. A LITTLE MORE SEASONING THAN CALLED FOR IN THE RECIPE. IT REALLY DID NEED SOME SALT (UNLESS YOU ARE TRYING TO STAY AWAY FROM IT).
3. RINSE POTATOES AND BEANS.
4. NEXT TIME I WILL SOAK THE BROWN RICE AND ADD MORE WATER. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH. WHEN I RE-VISIT THIS RECIPE I WILL LET YOU KNOW.