Instant Pot recipes

[pepperhead212]

I was going to post this on the Indian foods thread, but that had sort of been forgotten, so I figured I'd start one for the Instant Pot, since it was made in that, and it came from the new Milk Street book Fast And Slow. I have made 3 or recipes from it, and all have been good, though, as usual, I will make some changes. They have a good way of offering the option of using the pressure cooking or slow cooking, when possible in a recipe, thus the name of the book.

This recipe I made was the fast version, in the Instant Pot, of Chicken Cafreal. But I cut the amount of chicken in half, and added a pound of diced kohlrabi, since I have all that kohlrabi to use up, and it turned out great! I also added some thickener at the end, probably necessitated by the water in the kohlrabi. I liked their method of saving half of that blended cilantro, chile, garlic, scallion, ginger, and spice mix, to add at the end. Next time, I'll use the same method, but all of the spices (there are 5 or 6 more) from my favorite cafreal recipe. I've noticed them shorting some of the Indian dishes on spices, trying to make them more compatible to the average kitchen.

I made some sorghum/WW flatbread to go with it, but I'm going to have to fool around with that, to get it right. Maybe much wetter, and pressed out, like corn tortillas.
The cilantro, chile, and spice mix of the Milk Street Chicken Cafreal. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished Chicken Cafreal, with kohlrabi, from Fast and Slow by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[Gary350]

Be careful with your instant pot those things explode. We go to vintage camper rallies with 6 different groups they always have pot luck dinners Fri & Saturday night. 1 woman came to the rally with lots of burns her pot exploded she had burns on her face, neck, front side, arms, she spent a week in the hospital. Craig gave me his instant pot lucky he was not in the kitchen when his exploded. I have heard other people talk about them exploding but no details. Broken pot still makes a good 1 gallons soup pot & 4 pint jar water bath caner. Instant Pot is just a new name from a Pressure Cooker.

I love India food. I wish I could afford to eat at India food restaurant, every restaurant in town wants $10 to $12 for lunch & $15 to $18 for dinner. I refuse to pay those prices. $30 to $40 for 2 to eat is not reasonable that was before covid-19 I bet prices are up to $50 or $60 now. The Mexican restaurant we like so much use to cost us $20 for lunch now it is $30 for lunch.

[pepperhead212]

I've not heard of any Instant Pots exploding, or any of the other multicookers on the market, though I am seeing more cheap knock-offs on the market now.

Today, to use up some more cherry and grape tomatoes I got out there again, I made a pasta dish in the Instant Pot, a one-dish recipe in one of those free classes from Milk Street - Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Fresh Sage. The method worked great, even using a different pasta (they call for long pasta, broken in half, in the recipes I read), which I did. The seasonings are cooked briefly in the olive oil, then the tomatoes and water are added, it is turned off, the pasta is added, and it is pressed down, so all is submerged, then it is pressure cooked 5 minutes. The pressure is quickly released, then some of the sage is stirred in with some smoked paprika (which added a delicious flavor), and it is covered to rest 3 minutes. It is then served with some freshly grated pecorino, and a little more fresh sage.
Ingredients for Milk Street's pasta with cherry tomatoes and fresh sage. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Fresh Sage, finished cooking. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Fresh Sage, served with a little grated pecorino cheese. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[Vanisle_BC]

I've not heard of any Instant Pots exploding, or any of the other multicookers on the market

In the early days of pressure cookers, pressure was controlled by adjustable weights that bobbled on top of a vent. There was also an emergency release valve set in a hard rubber plug. My mother was making jam in the cooker one day & must have done something wrong (like making jam - maybe seeds got stuck in the vent?) The emergency valve blew, rubber plug & all, spraying hot, high pressure jam all over the kitchen including the ceiling. Luckily no one got injured but I'm not sure she ever used the cooker again!

[pepperhead212]

Vanisle_BC With those old pressure cookers, accident stories like this scared people off of using them, even though when used properly, there are no problems with them. Like you said, a seed or something like that probably clogged the vent - you had to be very diligent with them, to make sure steam was venting at all times. And, if cooking anything that can clog it, like beans, and similar foamy foods, only fill it halfway, or even less (these newer models have sort of a strainer over the steam exit, but you still have to pay attention to this). Overfilling was a major cause of many of those accidents. Fortunately, besides the safety "blowout" of these new electric models, another safety feature that will shut them off sooner, is the temperature sensor - this is how it keeps the pressure at approximately the proper level, and if it goes too high, it shuts off. These things have come a long way, though the old types still work - you just have to watch them closely.

[pepperhead212]

I've had great success using the IP with making yogurt, though I heat the milk in a saucepan, and just put the jars in the IP to ferment for 8 hours.

Yesterday I used the Instant Pot for fermenting another food - Dosa. This is an Indian flatbread, made with a combination of rice and lentils, which are soaked, then ground to a paste, then thinned to a batter, and fermented.

I used the yogurt mode, adjusted to low, which is the lower temp, for fermenting jiu niang, which I found was around 90°. Since dosa is made mostly in southern India, this would probably
be a "cool" room temperature there, and it took a whole day to ferment! I haven't cooked it, yet - I just put it out on my back porch, to cool.

I used a cup and a third of parboiled rice, and a half cup of urad dal, soaked about 8 hours. They were drained and rinsed, saving the lentil soaking water, then blended on high speed in the Vitamix. It got very thick, almost like glue, until I added a lot more water than they suggested. I put it in a 3 qt SS pan, covered with plastic, and set it in the IP, setiing the yogurt mode to low, which automatically sets to 24 hrs. I had almost forgotten about it, when the beeper went off last night!

The stuff looks like a sourdough rye sponge, the gray coming from the black skins of the urad dal. Usually, they are split and hulled, but these were the ones that were split, but not hulled.
Dosa, before fermenting. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

After fermenting 24 hours:
Dosa fermenting by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[Gary350]

I was going to post this on the Indian foods thread, but that had sort of been forgotten, so I figured I'd start one for the Instant Pot, since it was made in that, and it came from the new Milk Street book Fast And Slow. I have made 3 or recipes from it, and all have been good, though, as usual, I will make some changes. They have a good way of offering the option of using the pressure cooking or slow cooking, when possible in a recipe, thus the name of the book.

This recipe I made was the fast version, in the Instant Pot, of Chicken Cafreal. But I cut the amount of chicken in half, and added a pound of diced kohlrabi, since I have all that kohlrabi to use up, and it turned out great! I also added some thickener at the end, probably necessitated by the water in the kohlrabi. I liked their method of saving half of that blended cilantro, chile, garlic, scallion, ginger, and spice mix, to add at the end. Next time, I'll use the same method, but all of the spices (there are 5 or 6 more) from my favorite cafreal recipe. I've noticed them shorting some of the Indian dishes on spices, trying to make them more compatible to the average kitchen.

I made some sorghum/WW flatbread to go with it, but I'm going to have to fool around with that, to get it right. Maybe much wetter, and pressed out, like corn tortillas.
The cilantro, chile, and spice mix of the Milk Street Chicken Cafreal. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished Chicken Cafreal, with kohlrabi, from Fast and Slow by pepperhead212, on Flickr

That looks good. When I saw the green color I though maybe it is the recipe, 50% mint, 50% cilantro, can't remember if it has lime or lemon juice. I don't remember the name either. I have an India cookbook but I have trouble getting the spices. I also can't cook India food as good as the restaurants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SU7jn0z2ys

[pepperhead212]

I made some Indian today, since I was making those dosa. I had a couple okra pickles on the side, instead of chutney.

While making those dosa, I made a quick sambar in the IP, adding those extra butternut cubes I had at the end, and letting them sit 10 minutes or so, and adding the tarka at the end, for tempering.
Tarka, ready to stir into the sambar. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished butternut sambar, with a couple of dosa. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Today I made another dish in the Instant Pot; though not a one dish meal, it was started by cooking 3/4 c each of pearl barley and spelt (these cook in about the same time, under pressure), cooked in 4 c of salted water, set on low pressure for 20 min, and released naturally. While doing this, I cooked the pound of sweet Italian sausages and mushrooms my normal way - steamed the pricked sausages in a skillet, then boiled the water off, and browned them in the fat. The washed pound of mushrooms I halved, and steamed in a small amount of water , and boiled that water off, and browned the mushrooms in just a half tb of oil. All this was combined, and set aside; the rehydrated 2¼ oz of dried eggplant (about 1½ lbs equivalent) was drained, and set aside.

After the grains pressure released, I drained them, and set aside. In the rinsed out IP, I sautéed 1 large onion in a few tb olive oil,, adding 1 tb minced garlic, and 2 tb of tomato paste towards the end. I added a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, and 1/2 oz of dried tomatoes, which I rehydrated, and blended with 1 c water. I added about 4 tb flat leaf parsley, 3 tb fresh marjoram, 1 tb fresh Syrian oregano (thyme scented), and a tb of fresh rosemary, all minced, and some crushed red pepper. The eggplant was stirred in, then the lid was sealed, and it was set to 15 min high pressure. I let the pressure release naturally, turned it off, then stirred it briefly, then stirred the sausage and mushrooms in. Then I set it on slow cook, high (basically a slow simmer), for 20 min. I stirred it briefly, then stirred in the grains, and simmered another minute or two. I let it sit, on off, for 10 more min, and then served it, with some grated locatelli cheese.
Rehydrating dried eggplant by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Tomato sauce, with the mushrooms, sausages, and re-hydrated eggplant added, to simmer. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Tomato mix, after simmering 20 minutes, with the cooked barley and spelt added, to simmer briefly. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished gruel, before topping with cheese. by pepperhead212, on Flickrk

Finished dish, topped with locatelli by pepperhead212, on Flickr