Recipe Name: Soutzoukakai with rice (Meat patties)
Book: Meat on the Menu
Tweaking details: The rice didn't cook - all the rice in the middle was virtually raw making me very upset as I had it sitting there for ages waiting to serve up, and then had to recook the rice and the sauce. I am not sure of the best way to tweak it - Not sure if rice can cook on 100 degrees? I would make it again by putting the meat in the thermoserver after 30 mins and cooking the rest on varoma for 13 mins (after topping the water up to 1 litre again).
Maybe it was because I spread the patties out over the varoma dish and tray (the recipe said to just use the dish but they didn't seem to fit) so maybe it let more steam escape than it should have? Also I did 30g more rice than the recipe. I did cook it for a few minutes extra, as I was paranoid about the meat cooking through, so it definitely wasn't a time issue. I used medium grain white rice as per the recipe.
Review: Despite the rice problem and eating the meat almost cold it was good. It is really easy and doesn't need many ingredients. You get a tomato sauce, tomato rice and meat patties. My 9month old loved the meat, my 3 year old loved the rice and DH and I thought it was a really good mid week dish.
I used minced lamb so can't comment on the mincing part of the recipe. I cooked steamed veg on the stovetop but I would try and add them into the Varoma next time. I would be keen to hear any other ideas as its a good concept.
Score: 4/5
