By "Chef" Pete Updike, Authorized Saladmaster Dealer
Using your Electric Oil Core Skillet (EOC) and your 1 Qt. (0.9L) Sauce Pan you can make delicious meals without the need for a stove or oven and you can cook several things at once! This combination can make meals quick, easy and delicious; and you can transport your cooking center with you to locations beyond your kitchen.
Place the food you’d like to cook to accompany your casserole (like vegetables or fruits) in your 1 Qt. (0.9L) Sauce Pan; place the pan (with the handle and the cover removed) into the EOC; fill the EOC with additional food (such as your casserole food); set the probe to the time and temperature you need; and wa-la – you have a multi-course, healthy, delicious meal!
See Chef Pete tip Take Saladmaster on Vacation or to the Office for more tips.
Some helpful hints for the casserole portion of the meal:
- For a lasagna-type main dish, don’t use lasagna noodles. Instead, use smaller elbow-type noodles so it is easier to layer in the EOC around the sauce pan. You would start with just enough sauce (of your choice) to cover the bottom of the EOC; add a layer of noodles; then spinach; then a little more sauce; then ricotta cheese; then more noodles and repeat until you have just enough room for grated cheese (if you choose) on top. Then cover with the EOC lid; set the probe temperature to 250°F/120°C; when Vapo-Valve™ clicks, approximately 20 minutes, reduce heat to 200°F/95°C and cook until done, approximately 20 minutes. If you have the new digital probe, you can turn to RIC1 or RIC2 and forget it (the RIC settings simply turn the skillet to 250°F/120°C or 265°F/130°C respectively; it then steps the heat to 200°F/95°C for 20 minutes; and then it reduces the temperature to low [150°F/65°C]). The RIC1 or RIC2 does this automatically- very cool!
And yes, the noodles will pick up enough moisture from the sauce so you don’t need to precook them!
- In most cookbooks you will see casserole recipes. You can accommodate these recipes to the amount needed for your 3 quart space (that is the remaining space in your EOC once you place the sauce pan in it). Most casserole recipes are for about a 3 quart size. To convert a recipe from the oven to the EOC, just cut your added liquids by ¼ to ½ (on average). If the oven recipe says 375°F/190°C, you would set the EOC to 275°F/135°C (you cut the temperature used in the oven by 100°F/35°C); when the Vapo-Valve™ clicks, turn the temperature probe to low, 175°F/80°C (or set the probe to RIC1 and it will do all of this on its own).
You have hundreds of possibilities of the food you use in your casserole. In the Saladmaster world, this type of casserole is called Leftover Casserole, Shipwreck Casserole, or Stuff.
An added point is that if you have 20 ounces (566g) of vegetables or fruit cooking in the sauce pan and then vegetables or fruit layered into your casserole, you will easily be getting your 3-5 ½ cup servings of fruits and vegetables a day, which is recommended by most dietitians.