My mother has a cake yeast rolls recipe, but she can't remember it. She's 101 so don't expect it. I have part of the recipe, and it is:  2 yeast cake in 1/4 cups of warm water 1 cup scalded milk 1/4 cup sugar 1/3 cup shortening 1 1/2 salt 3 eggs 3 1/? cups flour  My dilemma is how much exactly is the partial cup of flour? 
Yes, if you have the right pot, namely one that has a steamer insert that is well above the bottom of the pot, or even stacks. In fact, in several cuisines this is the standard way of getting several ingredients ready at once.  For example, it's common to steam couscous in the steam from the Moroccan stew cooking below, using a stacking pot called a couscousiere. Just make sure that the food in the steamer will take less time to steam than the food below takes to boil. 