Instant Pot recipes

[Gary350]

My recollection of early 'instant pots' - I.e. pressure cookers - involves hot jam all over the kitchen ceiling. The pressure relief must have got clogged and the safety valve blew out. Luckily no one was in the kitchen when it happened: There could have been horrible burns. I'm not sure jam making was even a valid use for the thing. Mother was very careful with it after that.

Both my grannies lived through 2 world wars: For much of the time food variety was just a vague concept. Making something appetising out of the meager rations was the issue. I well remember the 'apple pie' made with turnips and a bit of sugar. Fooled no one!

Sorry for wandering off topic.

When I was about 5 years old I remember being in the kitchen when my mother was in a panic because there was a problem with the pressure cooker. She made sure I was away from the pressure cooker then it suddenly exploded. In a split second everything turned white like a very heavy fog. I could not see anything but white. I could not see my mother she was holding on to me. I could not see the floor I was standing on. The kitchen felt like an extremely warm wet bathroom after a very hot shower. Mom knew her way through the house in white blinding fog, she took me out side. We waited in the yard for a few minutes while the steam went away. Mom was worried more about me getting hurt than herself getting hurt. No one was hurt.

BC your right, food in those days was very plain. Salt & pepper was the only spices. There was very few over weight people in those days, food did not taste good enough to pig out like people do now. We only ate food to stop feeling hungry. There was no fast food 65 years ago. People cooked exactly what was needed for each meal, there was very rare to have left overs in the refrigerator. I remember being hungry an hour before bed time and nothing to eat unless someone cooked something. Toast with jelly was the only bed time snack.

[Vanisle_BC]

Staying off-topic, (thanks Applestar): @pepperhead212, your post reminds me that when we talk to people online we (I!) forget that they may be in a much different age group than ourselves, in a different country and type of habitat, with very different resources, lifestyle and experience than our own. Thanks for that.

[pepperhead212]

I made a gumbo style rice dish tonight in the Instant Pot, but not quite a one pot meal, as I cooked some chopped up greens to add at the end. It started with cooking a large onion, a yellow and a green bell pepper, and some celery, all chopped up, and after cooking several minutes, adding a generous amount of minced garlic, plus the usual spices - cloves, ground bay, thyme, and some heat, from Thai pepper flakes. Cooked that a couple of minutes, then added the homemade andouille like sausage, made with venison (liquid smoke in that, not smoked). Cooked on high sauté about 8 minutes, then added about 2/3 c white vermouth (emptied the bottle) - something I add to my jambalaya all the time. I cooked briefly, then added 1 1/2 c brown rice, a little over 1 1/2 c water, adjusted the salt, then set to pressure cook on low for 25 min, which is just right for brown rice. While cooking, I chopped up about 6 c of misc. greens, ending up to about 4 c chopped, and after cooking it in a wok, in a couple tsp oil, it was about 1 1/2 c. I stirred that in, with about 1/2 c chopped parsley, and let it sit a couple of minutes.
Cooked greens, to stir into the rice at the end. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Gumbo type dish, with brown rice, and some homemade andouille sausage, with greens by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Today, the only cooking I did was in the IP. I used the barley, just to empty the jar (I did that with a number of things lately), and an equal amount of channa dal, because that is my favorite dal to use in salads. I cooked them separately, since I figured I'd add the dal and cook more, but after the barley was pressure cooked for just 10 minutes, and released 15 minutes, it needed no more cooking! That is listed for 20-25 min., but needed no more. So I drained it, used the liquid for the dal, and set that for 12 minutes, and let it release on its own. So I could cook them together, next time.

I made a salad, with some dill, among other things, of course. All that talk somewhere about dill recently made me think about it, plus I wanted some salad, since today was supposed to be hot, and up to 90° tomorrow. And the talk about dill and fish going together, reminded me of a salad I had made in the past, with the kippers. The only cooking in this was about 2/3 c each of barley and channa dal in the Instant Pot. I put a little asafoetida in, to get some of that onion flavor in, and one of those black cardamom pods, for sort of a smoky flavor. I let that drain, while getting some things from outside - a bunch of dill, some garlic chives, and some sugar snap peas. When I came in, I put the barley and dal in a bowl, with some olive oil and some white wine vinegar, and let that soak in, while cutting everything up. I had a generous quarter cup of dill, about half a cup of chopped garlic chives, and 7 or 8 sugar snap peas, de-stringed and halved, and 2 hard boiled eggs, quartered, then all the pieces into thirds. And can of kippers (6½ oz?), drained, and broken into pieces. The last thing I cut up (I always leave these until last) was 3 Hanoi Market peppers, and stirred all this together, along with a good grinding of black pepper. It seemed to need a little more sour, but I didn't want more vinegar, and I didn't feel like thawing any lime juice, so I just put very a large pinch of citric acid, which made it just right.

As much as I love those sugar snap peas, the flavor was a little overpowering, with everything else, so I just dug them out, and ate them by themselves, and the salad by itself.
Salad, made with some barley, channa dal, sugar snap peas, kippered herring, hard boiled eggs, and dill. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I made a creole style dish today, the spices like what I put in Jambalaya. And instead of rice, I put a cup of sorghum berries and a half cup of channa dal, which I pre-cooked a couple days ago, only because I started it before I went out to harvest the first batch of garlic, but it got too late. So I continued it today.

I started by sautéeing some chopped onion, garlic, bell pepper, celery, and the spices. I also had some dried tomatoes, I had in the fridge from 2 days ago, to blend into the tomato sauce to cook everything in. This was added to the vegetables, then the sorghum and channa dal, and simmered it about 15 minutes, when there was just a little liquid left. I stirred in about a pound of whiting filets, cut into pieces, then let it simmer 5 more minutes, and served it.
Start of a Creole type dish, with onion, garlic, bell pepper, and celery, cooking in olive oil. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Some soaked dehydrated tomatoes, to blend into a paste. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Paste from dried tomatoes, held horizontal. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Pre-cooked sorghum berries and channa dal, added to the tomato sauce. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Cut up whiting fillets, ready to stir into the cooked sorghum and dal, to cook about 5 minutes more. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished Creole dish, with sorghum and dal, in place of rice, plus some fish added. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Tonight I made a batch of Black Beans with Bacon and Tequila, that I saw an Instant Pot recipe for in Milk Street magazine. 10 cloves of garlic, and I used up some of last year's garlic cloves, and a couple from the smaller ones I harvested a couple of weeks ago. Turned out really good, but I'm not sure what flavor the tequila gave to it - I'd have to taste it without, side by side, to compare.
Black Beans with Bacon and Tequila, from Milk Street. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I made an Indian dish with those 5 eggplants I picked yesterday - a one-dish sambar, with 2 dals and some steel cut oats, which isn't traditional, but a good combination with the dal. I started with a chopped purple onion sautéed in a little olive oil, and when lightly browned, I added a tb each of minced garlic and ginger, and stirred for a minute, then stirred in the cut up eggplants. I switched it to sauté/high, and stirred frequently, about 7 minutes, until a lot of the eggplant pieces were browning. Then I stirred in 3 tb of sambar masala powder, about 30 seconds, then added 5 c of water, and stirred to release anything on the bottom of the pot. Then I added 2/3 c steel cut oats, 2/3 c channa dal, and 1/3 c masoor dal, about ten curry leaves, 3/4 tsp turmeric, and salt to taste. I then hit OFF, then MANUAL and set it to 13 min. After finished, I let it release naturally. Meanwhile, I measured out the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, dried peppers, asafoetida, and a dozen or so curry leaves, and made the tarka, and added that at the end, along with some chopped cilantro.
Eggplant sambar, with tarka on top, ready to stir in by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished eggplant sambar, topped with cilantro. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Today I finished my gazpacho - 2 smaller bowls for breakfast, then lunch! Had 8 bowls out of that nearly gallon of gazpacho I made. This afternoon I made my first batch of that favorite lentil salad of mine, since I got enough ripe tomatoes. I took out a 3 c bag of freekeh from the freezer last night - this is one of the main things I use that in, and I also cook the lentils with a couple of black cardamom pods, which along with the freekeh, makes the kitchen smell almost like I'm cooking something with bacon in it! I usually add 2/3 c freekeh to a lb of channa dal, added about 40 minutes after starting the dal in the Instant Pot, on slow cook, about 120 to 130 minutes - something I use for salad, so I can check it for doneness, and not overcook it. Otherwise, I use the pressure cooking for almost all lentils, as well as any other legumes.

I also got about 3/4 c garlic chives, but I had to use some frozen habaneros from last year, as it's too early for most peppers, especially habs. And I got some sheep's milk feta cheese, a couple of months ago, getting ready for making this.
First lentil salad this summer, with about 4 c of tomatoes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Tonight I made an Indian dish, a Maharastrian version (using the Malvani masala powder I made a new batch of recently), using a cut up eggplant, 4 long beans, and about 2 c of cut up okra, to use up some of the veggies I had in the fridge. I started out by first cooking some oat groats in the Instant Pot - while not traditional, those I use here in place of rice, for more nutrition, combined with the masoor dal. While that was cooking, I started the rest.

In a sauté pan, I started a large chopped onion in a few tb of coconut oil, adding about 1½ c of chopped up Numex chiles after about 5-6 minutes. After a few minutes I added about 1 tb each of minced garlic and ginger, plus 3 tb of the Malvani masala powder, cooking about a minute, then added about 2 cups of blended tomatoes, 10 curry leaves (more in the tarka), and scraped the pan, and rinsed the VM out with about a cup of water, and added to the pan. I let that simmer well, while I cut up the other veggies, and got those cooking in the IP (setting the oats aside), and after sautéeing the veggies, added about ¼ c dried, grated coconut in the last 2 minutes. Then I added the thickened tomato sauce, and 2½ c water, plus about 3/4 c masoor dal. I salted to taste, and set it to manual for 8 minutes, and let the pressure release in 15 minutes, and the dal was finished. Then I stirred in 3/4 tsp of garam masala, the pre-cooked oak groats, and set it to simmer briefly, while setting the tarka ready - mustard seed, cumin seed, 6 or 7 Thai peppers, asafoetida, and some curry leaves. I stirred that in, and about 1/4 c chopped cilantro.
Almost finished Malvani masala dal, with the tarka and cooked oat groats, ready to stir in. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished dal, topped with some cilantro. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

For those of you that use your IP to make yogurt, here's something I thought of today, mainly because I didn't have more than 3 empty wide mouth pint jars (more regular ones in the basement, but I like these better for the yogurt). As I was rooting through the cupboard, I saw a 3 cup mason jar, and I remembered that I always have "extra" milk left over, from a half gallon, and adding a half cup of yogurt starter, plus leaving a quarter inch space. I usually try to use it in bread, or something like that, but I thought, maybe I can use one 3 c jar, so I checked, and it fit! And it fit with the 3 wide mouth jars, and when I filled all the pints, and poured the remaining "starter milk" in the 3 c jar, it filled it to ¼" from the top! It's curing, now, and this is something I'll do, from now on.
3 pints plus one 3 cup mason jar, in Instant Pot, making yogurt, from a half gallon of milk. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Today I made a batch of mushroom barley soup, and some French bread, to have a piece with it, and sop it up. I had a pound of plain white mushrooms, and I soaked an ounce of boletus, while getting the rest of the ingredients prepared. I started with a large chopped onion, cooked in Instant Pot in EVOO in sauté mode, and after about 5 minutes, added about 2 tsp minced garlic, and a tb of white miso (my substitute for tomato paste), and a generous tb of minced rosemary. After cooking about a minute, I added the boletus and their soaking water, and 1/2 c purple barley, switched the sauté mode to high, and let most of it boil off. Then I added a qt of chicken broth, and 3 c water, corrected the seasonings, covered, and pressure cooked it 25 minutes, and let the pressure release naturally.

While getting this stuff done, I washed, and cut up the mushrooms, then steamed them briefly in a wok, then in just a tb of EVOO, sautéed them for about 7 min, or until the mushrooms are browning. Then I set aside. This was also when I put the bread in to bake.

I added 3/4 c red lentils to the soup, to thicken, then set the IP to slow cook - high, and it was thickened in 20 minutes. After it thickened, I added the cooked mushrooms, switched the slow cook to normal, so it was just keeping it warm, while the bread was cooling.
Some French bread, to eat with the soup. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Mushroom barley soup, with some red lentils added, to thicken. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

As you might imagine, I’m paying more attention to those details now, and I’m excited to try these methods whereby you use different functions to build the recipe — sauté, PC, slow cook, and of course keep warm… while also using regular stovetop and/or Vitamix (while IP is handling a step) to sandwich in a process/step for the ingredients.

Thanks, @pepperhead!

[pepperhead212]

Glad to help! I'm sure you'll get a lot of use out of your IP.

[applestar]

I made brown rice with 1/4 sorghum a couple of days ago. I was hesitant about NOT having rice and water measures in the cooking pot — so used to adding water to the marked level on the rice cooker pot — but I realized we could continue to use the rice measuring cup, then add same amount of water measured with regular measuring cup — 1 cup rice measuring cup + 1 regular cup water = approx. 180ml + 225ml. Didn’t use additional water for sorghum because I can imagine pouring out excess water after cooking, and wanted to see what would happen.

1 of the 2 cups of brown rice had been soaking for a couple of days (I thought I had started to, and then forgot what I wanted to do with it — cooked rice? rice milk? amasake? … It turned out DD2 had forgotten about it for a couple of days. In other words, I forgot that I DIDN’T.) ‘Multigrain’ setting. Turned out perfectly.


This morning, I made turkey bone broth from saved turkey breast bone, and then used 3 cups of it to make Green split pea soup with saved bone from sous vide and glaze caramelized ham.

I added extra vegs — 3 carrots and 2 stalks of celery, plus whole large spanish onion, and then replaced vermouth with juice of a large ‘Flying Dragon’ to acidify the water for the bone broth. 1 hour soak and then 2 hours low pressure PC.

For the soup, I used a ‘Cuban’ inspired recipe that uses coconut milk, coriander and cumin as “secret” ingredients and modded by adding about 1 tsp of fresh minced ginger, 1 cup of water used to loosen the stuck on brown rice with all the rice and sorghum that came loose, and another cup extra turkey bone broth. Subbed for “red pepper flakes” by adding home made paprika powder and one minced green FISH pepper plucked from one of the plants that had been migrated inside for the winter.

The soup has been a hit.

[pepperhead212]

I made a dal, with my smallest one of those butternuts of the season, which had 20.6 oz, or a little more than 4 c of cubes, once it was trimmed and seeded. I started by rinsing 1¼ c of toor dal, then soaking it, while cutting up the squash, chopping a large onion, and mincing 2 large cloves of garlic, with about a tb of ginger. I also measured out ingredients for the tarka, and the rest of the dal, to cook the dal with. I also blended 2 c of ripe tomatoes, to have ready.

Just before starting to cook, I drained the toor dal, then added about 3/4 c masoor (red) dal, and rinsed them well. Then I put about 2 tb ghee in the Instant Pot, and set it on sauté, medium, and when melted, added a large chopped onion (about 1¼ c), and when golden, I added 1 tsp curry seeds (more later), the minced garlic/ginger paste (with about a tsp of salt), cooked about 30 sec, then added about a tb of Kashmiri chili powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric, and 1½ tsp garam masala (more of this later, too), and cooked another 30 sec., then added the 2 c of tomatoes to the pot. I let that boil about 3 minutes, scraping the pot, then added just under 4 c water, used to rinse out the VM, and lid! Then I added the drained dal, the butternut cubes, and the cut up stems of the Swiss chard (the chopped greens go in later, with some chopped mild chiles, and a few pole beans, cut up). I tasted for salt - added about 1/2 tsp (most is in that garlic paste), mixed, then put the lid on, and set on Bean mode, for 5 minutes, and let it reduce 15 minutes (only had a small amount of pressure still). Meanwhile, I prepared those veggies to be added, and when the dal is ready, I stir the veggies in, set the IP so Bean mode, for 3 minutes, and let it reduce 15 minutes again, when done. Then I took the cover off, stirred in another tsp of garam masala, and let it sit on warm, while making the tarka.

In the 1 qt pot, I heated about 2 tsp ghee, then added another tsp of cumin, and 3/4 tsp mustard seed, and when it started crackling, added about 1/4 tsp asafoetida, followed by a large stem of curry leaves, stripped, until they were crisp, then I scraped it onto the dal. Then I added about 4 tb of chopped cilantro, to finish.
My smallest butternut squash this season, 20.6 oz of cubes, after trimming. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The 20.6 oz of butternut cubes, plus the garlic/ginger paste, to go into the dal. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Butternut dal dish, about 3/4 cooked, before a bunch more veggies being added, and briefly cooked. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Chard, mild peppers, and a few pole beans, ready to stir into the butternut dal, to finish cooking. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Cumin and mustard seeds, some asafoetida, and a large sprig of curry leaves, ready to make tarka. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Cumin and mustard seeds, just starting to crackle, in a tb of ghee. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Asafoetida added, and finally the curry leaves, cooked just until crispy. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Tarka, just before stirring into the finished dal. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished butternut dal, with some crispy slices of toasted French bread. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

Sweet Potato Rice

Here’s something we had that is so appropriate for the fall season —

In the inner pot of 6.5 qt Instant Pot, add rinsed mixed grain rice (1short grain brown rice : 0.5 short grain sweet brown rice : 0.5 pearled+hulless purple barley) and 2-1/4C filtered water. 2 Tbs brewed cooking sake and 2 Tbs. brewed mirin.

Scrub 2 skinny/smaller Japanese golden flesh and 1 fat/largish purple sweet potatoes. 1 personal size butternut squash.

One small golden flesh sweet potato and the butternut squash should be cut up into 1” cubes and mixed into the rice blend with about 1/2 teaspoon sea salt.

Cut the rest of the sweet potatoes into large chunks and disks and arrange on top of the rice. Cut up 1/2 stick of butter and place on top of the sweet potatoes.

Cook with “multigrain” setting for 20 minutes. Allow pressure to come down naturally.

For us, this lasted for over the 24 hours of “keep warm” so I restarted on “slow cook” at low heat for 4 hours to extend the keep warm period.

It’s sweet but not overly sweet and I enjoyed it as is and as in-bowl addition to turkey/chicken soup that hubby made using his usual stove top in stock pot method. Also ate it as breakfast porridge by adding hot rice milk.

When we were all tired of eating it, and the sweet potatoes and squash had been mashed up from all the stirring and serving, I added 1/4 stick of butter, a good swirl of molasses, about 2 tbs of cane sugar infused with vanilla pods, about 1/2 cup of rice milk, and good sprinkle of pumpkin spice mix. Stirred to mix well and then 4 hour “slow cook” again. — Voilà! “Sweet potato rice pudding with pumpkin spices.”

While it’s true that brown rice keeps well when cooked and kept warm because of all the aminos and enzymes, I’m finding that the Instant Pot adds extra keeping benefits like the pressure that develops even only at “keep warm” and seals the lid, and the subtle outward air pressure that reminds me of “pressurized chamber” effect.

[abhaykale]

My wife hates IP. We have a veritable collection of Indian pressure cookers and I am tased with getting gaskets and release valves for them when I go to India.

I am a geek and have to have a technology that makes sense. IP is the perfect solution for places like Colorado where the water boils early and the lentils undercook some times. No such problem with IP as the pressure is controlled digitally. The food also does not stick to the bottom. I use it for cooking meats (she is veg, so stays away) and other stuff when she is away.

However, when we go to our daughter's house, there is no pressure cooker, just an IP I had bought her some time ago. Then my wife uses the IP. Comes back home and goes back to hit and miss of pressure cooker.

Go figure

[applestar]

No such problem with IP as the pressure is controlled digitally. The food also does not stick to the bottom.

I just got my IP as you may have noticed a few post back.

I’m still learning to use it — with me, this means trying different “ideas” inspired by instructions people diligently post … while ignoring or changing details according to my fancy

…and within three tries, I burned something in it.

It told me so, actually.

I was just thinking what I’d just instructed it to do wasn’t likely to work, the heat is too high, it’s going to stick if I don’t stir… when the thing beeped at me and displayed “BURN”

I said, “Yes, YES! I thought it might, but HOW do YOU know?” …while looking it up and canceling the program.

(…Something to do with the detected heat “distribution” or maybe it was “dispersion”… apparently.)

Anyway, yes the starchy soup or sauce (I don’t remember) did scorch, but the bottom was only caramelized and easily scraped off with a wooden spatula. This is same behavior as other stainless steel pots if you cover, turn off the heat and let things cool down a bit. I think I read that steam forms between the burned on food and the pot. It detected the condition before the burned food became unsalvageable .

Hurrah for intelligent cooking appliances. My old rice cooker was one of the first Zojirushi smart rice cookers and was named “Neurofuzzy” … which kind of tickled me because years ago, I used to work for a basic research laboratory where one of the scientists was researching fundamentals and application of “neurofuzzy” computing….

[Gary350]

IP is just an electric pressure cooker. Boil water in a pot on the kitchen stove it boils at 212°f at sea level. Boil water in IP 26 psi = 240°f. 28 psi = 246°f. 30 psi = 250°f. The hotter food cooks the faster it cooks. It takes practice, cook every day learn what works. If rice cooks in 30 minutes in boiling water, rice will probably cook 15 minutes is the IP.

Be careful not to get water volume too high up and don't cook anything that foams. Foam will plug up the steam exit with food and create an explosion. If you notice steam exit stops blowing steam turn it off quick and get away for 15 minutes. My mother use to fill kitchen sink with cold water if her pressure cooker stopped blowing steam she moved it to the cold water to cool it down before it explodes. My wife does not want an IP she has third degree burns from a pressure cooker explosion when she was 4 years old.

[applestar]

…Electronic…. I was impressed it knew the food had scorched on the bottom — Seriously.

Speaking of smart kitchen appliances…I don’t own a microwave. Haven’t for about 25 years. They might be better now, but I felt jittery and had to leave the room every time one was operating — at home or at anyone else’s (I also jump and my skin prickles, wake up as a passenger, etc. when driving under high voltage wires … I used to be able to tell when there were “mouse traps” along highways and would slow down automatically, etc, but I digress.), so when I moved, I got rid of mine and never got another one.

I’ve been using the higher end toaster ovens that have the bells and whistles in the interim— current one which is no longer new is probably around 5th generation upgrade — with convection, multi-functional (including toaster, broiler, roast, air fryer, dehydrater, bread dough proofing, keep warm, etc.), and 8-toast size with multiple rack levels which is large enough to replace most regular oven tasks unless you’re cooking for a big gathering.

Now, the IP has taken up some of the food reheating tasks, especially foods that tended to dry out in the toaster oven’s reheat mode (typically at 325°F for 18 to 35 minutes, covered as needed)

I’ve been trying the “egg” setting (PC at high for 5 minutes, keep warm) with 2 C water in the bottom with IP standard handled rack.

For single serving, my favorite bowl fits exactly with just enough space all around for my hands in silicone mits to lift it out.
* Reheated mounded serving of leftover sushi (overnight in fridge and no longer entirely trustworthy to eat raw) embellished with seasoned savory egg custard mixture in the bottom of the bowl…. Egg setting was perfect to cook the custard, reheat the sushi rice to hot, and gently cook the fish. — force -released the pressure after finished cooking because I was too hungry to wait.

* Reheated a bowlful of refrigerated pumpkin soup. — Allowed pressure to come down naturally… was in “keep warm” with pressure lock pin down when I was ready to eat it. Hot and yummy eaten with a dollop of vegan sour cream.

Haven’t tried reheating larger portions yet. They would be steamed on the rack or reheated directly on the inner pot, I would assume. For larger size, the handles on the rack should help.

I also bought a full size silicone “steamer basket” with handles which I haven’t tried using yet. I may have to consider the double-decker rack or steamers for IP which I’m “window shopping” but haven’t decided yet….

I opted out of the IP steamer baskets in two sizes because they were mesh. I’m tending to steer away from mesh baskets now in favor of perforated stainless steel because mesh baskets and strainers are so hard to clean to my satisfaction …especially the rims where food gets stuck under the wires. (I often find myself scrubbing with a toothbrush. )

[pepperhead212]

Today is the first day of Dawali - the Indian festival of lights. I made this dal, to take to some friends Sunday (besides eat a bowl today!), and an even larger bowl I'll be making with that butternut recipe I used a while back, except with nothing hot - I'll use some sweet paprika, instead of the chili. I made this using some bok choy from the garden, the greens separated from the stalks, and all of the cauliflower plants I had pulled yesterday in the garden - no heads anywhere! Here's the recipe I based it on, using my own greens, instead of spinach, and I simply mixed some cooked brown basmati with it, towards the end.
https://www.kannammacooks.com/palak-pap ... inach-dal/

I also used moong dal, that was split, but not hulled - something I use a lot with these and urad dal, to keep the hulls. I cooked the rice in the IP, then removed it to a bowl, and used the IP to cook the 3/4 c of dal, in about 2½ c water - fairly thin, to add that rice, later. Meanwhile, I got all of the ingredients, mise en place, as this goes fairly fast.

On the stovetop, in a tb of ghee, over medium low heat, the mustard and cumin seeds are cooked until crackling, then the asafoetida and curry leaves are cooked briefly, then onion is added, to lower the temp, along with about 2 tsp garlic/ginger paste, and cooked about 5 min, or until golden, then added a cup of tomato purée. Cooked over medium heat a couple of minutes, then added a couple tsp of sambar masala, and a half tb of coriander/cumin powder, cooked another 2 minutes, then added the greens, and stirred a minute, then covered, and cooked on medium low, about 5 minutes (spinach just needs wilting). This is reduced considerably, then I scraped it into the IP, with the cooked dal, then stirred in about 3 c of the cooked rice. I let that heat up, a couple of minutes, then turned off, and stirred in the bok choy stems, and let it sit for 3 minutes, while chopping up the cilantro.
Seasonings for the dal and greens dish, using the last of my sambar masala - on my list now! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Brown basmati rice, cooked before the dal. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

About 4 c of greens, a cup of tomato purée, by pepperhead212, on Flickr

On the stovetop, on med low heat, some mustard seeds cumin seeds, and a few Maui Purple peppers, cooking in some ghee. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Some asafoetida and curry leaves, added to the ghee. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Onions, and some of that garlic ginger paste, added to slow down the cooking. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The tomatoes, and the sambar masala and coriander/cumin powder, cooking several minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Greens added to tomatoes, before mixing well, then covering, to cook 5 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Greens finished cooking with the tomatoes, before adding to the cooked dal, and mixing with about 3 c rice. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Cooked greens, added to the cooked dal, with some rice, to heat through a few minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The bok choy stems, added to cook with the residual heat the last 3 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished dish, with a little cilantro on top (more stirred into the pot). by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

Did you have the dal on “keep warm” in the IP when you added the spices greens and the rice, etc.?

Or did you use a new setting? I think that’s how I scorched the contents — I’d already hit “Cancel” then couldn’t figure out what setting to use.

…Continuing to experiment with “Egg” for 5 min for reheating leftovers. I had pasta with chicken breast in sauce with veg that I wasn’t sure if 5 min was enough, but turned out well when allowed to de-pressure. And big raviolis in tomato-vodka sauce which I couldn’t wait and used the pressure release, that also reheated well

Surprisingly, reheated pasta in sauce doesn’t seem to turn out over cooked and mushy — softer than freshly cooked, but still with good texture.

I want to test yogurt setting with a couple of recipes but am using it too much for the 12 to 14 hour incubation period needed. Will have to schedule the right timing…..

[pepperhead212]

apple, Those spices, then the tomatoes and the greens, I cooked on the stovetop (I put that in the text, but neglected to put it under the photos - I changed that), in a saucier, or whatever they call those sort of tapered like, miniature woks, so it has sort of a smaller area for the oil. I transferred it to the dal in the IP, on warm mode, or whatever it switches to, when it cools down, after pressure cooking, and let it heat up, followed by adding those bok choy stems and heating those up on off, for 3 min.

That yogurt I make I only leave the jars in the yogurt mode for 8 hours - the default on mine. And it firms up, but not too sour. I never actually timed how long it takes from the time I pour a half gallon of milk in, to heat up, to when they are done. What I do is strain the milk into a 4 qt saucepan, shortly after it hits 180° (it gets a few pieces, in it, but not much), then let it cool to 115°, with a lid on it. Meanwhile, I "sterilize" the jars in my microwave (I remember that you don't have a MW), with a jar of water in the MW, and drop the lids in a pot of boiling water. This way, this yogurt keeps until I use it, which isn't real fast sometimes!

Something I found out last time that you might be interested in - I fit a 3 c mason jar in it, along with the pint jars! I did this because I always have extra milk left - partly from the half cup of "culture" yogurt added, and after filling the pint jars to 1/4" from full. This turned out perfect. You might be able to put 3 in, with 1 pint jar, under the valve on the lid. That would be a little more each time.

[pepperhead212]

I made that second dish to take to my friend's house tomorrow - like that dal a while ago, with butternut squash, except this one with moth dal, because they are her favorite legumes, and I added some chicken, about 2 c of cooked chicken (no vegetarian friends visiting them, otherwise I would have left this out). I had a small bowl, to make sure there was no heat, and there is no heat - I used sweet paprika, in place of the Kashmiri chili powder, which is usually mild enough for most people, but not her! And the baby can even try it now.

[applestar]

Yesterday, I made rice koji-cultured sweet rice using the IP’s Yogurt setting:

I had a moment of confusion when none of the Low-Med-High temperature settings were suitable for rice koji … but then noticed there was one more option = “Custom” — and I was able to set the desired temperature.

I boiled the cooked white rice and water mixture, then added koji and incubated for 8 hours. Then Vitamixed according to non-dairy milk instructions for smooth creamy product. (This white rice had some chopped kohlrabi greens cooked into it, so the result turned slightly greenish …I’ll use a more suitably colored additions for extra nutrients in the future).

In this way, I finally achieved the sweetness that was missing from other rice milk recipes. What I had was as thick as cream, and I could get it to the familiar rice milk consistency by diluting with water, but for now, I diluted with commercial rice milk for making my morning latte.

~~~

Today, I made tear-apart dinner rolls by proofing the dough using Yogurt LOW setting, then steaming in parchment paper-lined silicone steamer sling over 2C water using RICE setting.

I wanted a “baked” finish, so I transferred these “buns” to parchment paper on a Breville smart oven rack and used “Air Fry” setting at 425°F for 8 minutes.

…In the mean time, hubby made chicken soup from scratch on the stove. Yum!

[pepperhead212]

You are getting very handy with your IP, apple! That's great your IP has that CUSTOM setting! Mine is the oldest, or almost, and doesn't have have a lot of the features the newer models have.

[applestar]

Yeah, this one isn’t the highest end either. In the video I watched for reference, she swapped the IP’s “pressure cooker lid” to the “air fryer lid” to bake the top of her round artisanal loaf.

I made the tear apart rolls based on a rice cooker recipe but substituted the flour with a blend of whole wheat, whole white wheat and spelt, and added pepitos.

[applestar]

Yesterday, I decided to take care of some harvested ginger roots that had started to dry in the lower humidity indoor environment — boiled them to re-plump them and drained, then chopped the ginger, sweated with equal amount of cane sugar, then added squeezed juice of Flying Dragon trifoliate orange and aded equal amount Roku gin and puréed with hand blender.

I also took half of the mixture, added equal amount of water, then boiled with a dash of ground cloves and strained to make ginger syrup.

I used the “sterilize” function of the Instant Pot to cook the syrup in a Pyrexmeasuring cup while hot water/steam sealing the preserved ginger purée in a jar and prepping the jar and tools for the syrup making, and then sealed the jar of syrup by running another cycle.

Then this morning, I made potatoes and “butternut squash” soup with one of my Greek Sweet Red squash.

I modified the recipe quite a bit, but basically Used “Sautee” on LOW temp to sweat and cook the diced onions, carrots, celery, diced small yellow bell pepper, and the cubes of squash with salt and pepper — half of the squash peeled. Then added some sake, pumpkin spice mix, dill (dried from garden), diced baking potatoes, dried garlic, chicken consommé … and the puréed cooked, sweetened, and gin preserved ginger that had been strained for the syrup, and then several soaking and straining with sparkling mineral water to obtain ginger ale. Then added enough water used to rinse the squash seeds and some rice milk to barely cover … and pressure cooked on HIGH for about 8 or 10 minutes.

Once pressure had dropped enough to vent and open, I Vitamix puréed the entire pot in batches with about 2 cups of cooked brown rice and some more rice milk (substituting for heavy cream in the recipe…)

I tasted it and …while saying this needs something, it’s missing something… finished the 1/2 cup I had served myself to taste without quite figuring it out. (DD2 tried it too and finished hers, agreed it needs *something*) — it was really good as it was … just needed that touch of “something”— so I simply added about half a stick of butter and adjusted salt.

Returned to the pot and reheated.

The secret ingredient here was that discard ginger purée. That’s going to be hard to replicate.

So another “not to be repeated again” yummy. We’ve been eating our individual servings as is or variously with Sour Cream, Muenster cheese. Smoked Gouda cheese, cashew nuts, etc.

I used the entire squash in this. There’s so much of it that we haven’t finished. It can “keep warm” in the pot — I reheated again using “slow cook” on LOW for 30 min. If there’s enough left in the morning, I’ll turn the remainder into batter for a loaf of “pumpkin bread”

[abhaykale]

I roast the masala in the IP pot itself. Set it to hot, add oil and spices and cook as you would in a stovetop. Then cancel everything, add water, dal and rest. Switch to pressure cook mode. I always add water to the bottom (1/2 inch) that protects against any scorching.

[applestar]

Yes! The ability to combine cooking modes in the Instant Pot has been sparking my imagination.

I realized “Sauté” doesn’t have to be on HIGH. MED temp has been great for initial sweating of vegetables before stew/soup.

“Yogurt” on HIGH initially heats liquid to BOIL and has been great when that’s all I want to do — heat liquid to boiling temp (stir often if needed, just like milk)

AND! My initial mistake has been solved (I think) — when I want to reheat something that is already thick/starchy liquid like stew or soup, porridge, etc. then KEEP WARM for an extended period — “Slow Cook” on LOW does the trick.

- - -

I cooked dry unsoaked adzuki beans according to IP temp chart for navy beans, let pressure come down for 20 min. then canceled, opened lid and switched to “Yogurt” HIGH, added cane and dark brown sugars and sea salt and allowed the beans to return to BOIL and dissolve the sugars, then canceled and switched to “Slow Cook” MED — to make sweet adzuki jam/paste. Initially soupy to eat hot with toasted mochi (“zenzai” normally eaten for New Years) and remainder refrigerated for later use as dessert fillings.


I have multi grain (short grain brown rice, barley, and sorghum) cooked with diced celery, yellow pepper and kombu, keeping warm now, with separately cooked in the multi-function toaster oven “Roasted teriyaki eggplant and nori “mock/vegetarian eels”, wrapped in parchment and aluminum foil on top of the cooked rice to keep warm as well.


We have irregular eating schedules in my family, so being able to cook for whoever are/will be together, then keeping warm in a safe way for others is a wonderful feature.

[pepperhead212]

I was having a craving for one of my Szechwan dishes, so I made that Szechwan eggplant, using some dried eggplant, that I soaked in hot water, about 3 hours before I started the rest. I started the one dish meal in the IP on sauté high, and cooked the garlic and ginger, followed by the chili paste with garlic. When cooked several minutes, the ground pork with onion (if it hadn't been raining, I would have harvested some scallions!) and soy sauce mixed in, and cooked about 3 minutes. Then I added the drained, soaked eggplant cubes - about 2 lbs equivalent - and cooked, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Then I added 4½ c water, and brought to a boil, and added a lb of pasta, and pressed it under the surface, as well as I could, then hit OFF, followed by MANUAL and set it for 5 minutes. After it finished the 5 minutes, I released the pressure - takes a while after this - then re-set it at sauté, and stirred just a couple of minutes, and then took the pot out of the IP, so it could cool faster, after I had my first bowl of it.
Szechwan eggplant, with pasta, cooked in the Instant Pot. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I'm not going over to a friend's house tonight, because someone there got sick, so I'll be staying home! And no, I won't be eating that whole chocolate banana loaf myself!

I was getting a craving for something Italian, after seeing those basil plants growing so well in the hydroponics! So I took out some Italian sausage flavored venison from the freezer, and soaked about 2 lbs equivalent of dried eggplant, and soaked about 2 lbs worth of dried tomatoes, and used the oldest can of tomatoes from my pantry (the last one from 1-21). I also "brined" a cup of whole mung beans, in hot water with salt in it. And before I cooked anything else, I cooked 1½ c of brown basmati rice, and set that aside (used about 2/3 of it). And while that was cooking, I cut up an onion, a generous amount of garlic, some fresh marjoram, and got 4 fresh bay leaves ready. I blended the tomatoes not totally smooth, then the soaked, dried tomatoes I blended smoother, and poured them into the same bowl, then rinsed the VM out with a little more water, and poured that in with the tomatoes.

The thawed (almost) 1½ lbs venison I put in a sauté pan, in the flat layer, from the vacuum bag, and put about 1/2 c of water in, and steamed it, on medium heat, making a solid layer, then I poured the liquid into a bowl, added a little olive oil, and browned the two pieces - my method for browning this very low fat meat. After that first side browned, I flip it, and it breaks some, but stays together enough that I get a good number of chunks, browned on one or two sides. I set this aside, until later.

This went fairly quickly, once I had everything together! I drained the mung beans and eggplant to have them ready. I heated up a few tb of olive oil in the Instant Pot on sauté, and cooked the chopped onion about 3 or 4 minutes. Then I added the garlic, and about 2 tsp crushed hot peppers, cooked about a minute, then added the marjoram and bay leaves, and cooked another 30 sec, then poured in the tomatoes and the meat juice. I let it start boiling, then stirred in the mung beans and eggplant, and tasted for salt, and hit OFF, then set MANUAL 12 minutes (soaking the beans would make this enough for them), and put the top on. I let the pressure release naturally, so it was about 27 minutes total. While that was cooking, I chopped up a generous 3 c of bok choy greens, plus the rest of the basil, and about ¼ c parsley. When the sauce was done, I turned it off, then stirred in the meat, about 2/3 of the rice, the greens, and the herbs, then set to sauté, to bring it back to a boil. Then I hit off, and set it to slow cook, high, and cooked it about 7 or 8 minutes, while getting everything else cleaned up. I dug out the bay leaves, and tasted for seasoning. It could have used a little more salt, but since I knew I was topping it with grated cheese, I knew that would be enough. Got about 3½ extra quarts of the stuff, so I'm glad it turned out good!

This probably takes more time to post, than the actual work time to do it! lol
Two Thai basil leaves, and some of the other two plants, from the hydroponics. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The tomatoe sauce, cooked 12 minutes with the soaked eggplant and mung beans, before adding the venison, cooked rice, and the bok choy. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

About 3 c of chopped bok choy greens, to stir into the dish, along with the chopped basil and parsley, to simmer about 8 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The venison, cooked brown rice, greens, and basils, stirred in, ready to simmer. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished dish, ready to serve, and top with some cheese. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished dish, topped with some grated Asiago. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I made a rasam, with that new batch of rasam masala I made last night. I started in the afternoon, soaking some dried vegetables, starting with the equivalent of 3/4 lb tomatoes. In another container, together, I soaked 3/4 lb worth of eggplant, and 1/2 lb worth of green beans. While all this was soaking, I cut up an onion, a carrot, and a green bell pepper, and chopped up the greens from some bok choy, and cut the stalks up, separately. Eventually, when soft, the tomatoes, and about 1/2 c of thawed coconut, I blended it all totally smooth (and eventually rinsed the blender out with the 5 extra cups of water used).

I started with about 4 tb oil in the Instant Pot, on sauté, and cooked the onion about 3 minutes, before adding the bell pepper and carrot, and cooked about 7 or 8 minutes, then added a tb of that garlic/ginger paste, I keep in the freezer, plus a generous 3 tb of that rasam masala, and sautéed it about 1 min, before adding 2 c water, the tomato/coconut paste, and rinsed the VM out with 3 more c of water. Then I added the drained eggplant and beans, masoor and chana dal, some leftover, cooked brown rice, and the chopped bok choy greens. I added some salt, then set on BEANS 15 min, and let the pressure release on its own. The thickness turned out just right with the 5 c of water. I then added the bok choy stems, and let them cook 3 or 4 minutes, while preparing the tarka, to tempering the rasam. For this, I heated about 2 tsp coconut oil in the small pan, along with a tsp of mustard seed and 3/4 tsp, and when the mustard seeds started crackling, the broken up byadagi peppers were swirled around briefly, then the curry leaves and asafoetida were cooked about 10 seconds, and it was quickly added to the rasam, along with a quarter cup of chopped cilantro.

I ate the last (at least from that jar) of those pickled green beans with it - something I took a jar of to an Indian lady, who liked them so much she now wants to grow the beans next season! Her garden might be bigger than mine next season.
Some coconut blended with about 3/4 lb equivalent of soaked, dried tomatoes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

About 3/4 lb of dried eggplant, and 1/2 lb of dried green beans, soaked and drained, and added to the rasam, with 5 more cups water. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

1/2 c each of masoor dal and chana dal, plus about 2 c cooked, leftover brown rice, added to the rasam. by pepperhead212, on Flickr



About 2 c of chopped up greens from the bok choy added to the rasam (stalks go in last). by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Rasam, after pressure cooking 15 min, and released naturally. Perfect thickness, from the dals and rice. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A generous 2 c of bok choy stems, added to the rasam, to simmer 5 minutes, while preparing the tarka. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The tarka ingredients ready - the mustard and cumin seeds, 3 byadagi peppers, broken up, and a stalk of curry leaves, and a half tsp of asafoetida. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The cooked tarka, ready to stir into the rasam (after I had stirred in about 1/4 c chopped cilantro). by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The finished rasam, with some pickled beans, with cumin and garlic - good things with Indian dishes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

Thanks for describing how you are using all those dehydrated veg’s from your summer harvest, in addition to detailing how you cook them!

Wow

[pepperhead212]

apple, those eggplants I use an incredible number of, and it's weird how they stay together much more than when fresh, even when pressure cooked! And the "equivalent amounts" are things I've come up with when I'd weigh things, before and after dehydrating. Eggplants, when dehydrated to rock-hard, would reduce from a lb to 1.35-1.4 oz, green beans would reduce to about 1.3 oz, and tomatoes, as a rule, would reduce to 1 oz, and they would be more leathery. All last for years, if it takes that long to use it.

[applestar]

I think I’ve figured out my rice cooking conundrum.

I bought the Instant Pot based on a self-made promise that I could get one when the inner pot of my aged smart rice cooker became scratched up of the non-stick coating for the 2nd time, AND the manufacturer had obsoleted the model so the replacement inner pot had become unavailable.

I liked that the Instant Pot has a stainless inner pot because I was done with those toxic non-stick coating. I’d gotten rid of everything with non-stick coating long ago, and the rice maker was the only coated pot that remained (I still have a few bakeware — most of these with the newer durable coating).

Only problem is that without the non-stick coating, the rice sticks to the bottom of the inner pot. BUT, as I said, I figured it out.

Once the rice has been keeping warm and enough of it has gotten stuck and difficult to scrape out, I turn off the pot, add 2 Cups water, then have it go through a Slow Cook at LOW setting for 1 hour. Then I turn off the pot and let the warm water soak the dried out rice for a couple of hours.

Then I scrape up the loosened rice and make rice milk with it, scraping up and pouring into the Vitamix pitcher, adding a couple of calcium tablets, about 1/2 tsp sea salt, and a Tablespoon of sunflower oil, some sweetener like date syrup or maple syrup, OR cultured sweet rice, or rice koji.

I also added another step before making rice — I steam some scrubbed organic whole potatoes and/or sweet potatoes, then use the water as part of the rice cooking water to add to the nutrients and flavor.

[pepperhead212]

Glad you have solved your problem with that! I never really had a problem with it, but then, I don't leave the rice, or other grains, in there very long. I usually cook the other grains with a little more water than suggested, and on low pressure, for longer, to keep the grains from "exploding", unless making pudding, or something like that.


I was having a craving for something Mexican, but I made this one vegetarian, since I didn't want to thaw anything else for it. I soaked some of those eggplants I use in all sorts of things, even though they are not traditional in these things, and some black beans. I also pan toasted 4 large moritas and 2 guajillos, and soaked them, while getting the onion and garlic cut up, and started cooking in the Instant Pot, in a little oil. The chiles were ground in about 1 c of water, then poured that into the IP, switched it to sauté/high, and cooked, stirring frequently, to concentrate the flavor, then I dumped in the can of tomatoes, blended, then rinsed out the VM with some water, and poured that in. Then, I added the softened EP, the black beans, added a little Mexican oregano, cumin, smoked paprika, black pepper, and salted to taste (though it didn't need much, due to the tomatoes), then sealed the IP, and set to Beans - 25 min, then let the pressure release naturally. I ate it with some jack cheese, and some corn tortillas.
A bowl of vegetable chili, with some black beans and dried eggplant, seasoned with morita and guajillo peppers. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[Gary350]

I love restaurant salad bar, we eat at Jason's Deli about once a week, 2 types of lettuce plus 30 vegetables, bread, crackers, several cheese, several dressings. I can't have salad bar at home it would cost $130 to buy all the items then I would need 2 refrigerators to keep it. Can't grow salad bar in garden either. Jason's Deli has all you can eat $14 salad bar but if I buy a $8 lunch I get 1 trip salad bar for $2 extra. Salad bar plate is 10" diameter. Forgot to take a picture.

[applestar]

Today’s loaves of bread —
…

I wanted to mention I’ve been using the Instant Pot inner pot to mix bread dough.

The cylindrical, 6.5 qt straight sided stainless is good size (2 loaf bread dough rises almost to the top and will push up on the lid if I let it go too long) and nearly perfect for proofing, and Yogurt LOW setting at 91°F seems to work well for yeast bread, only needing 1 hour for good proofing rise. The straight sides makes it easy to estimate “double the volume”.

I use manual single loop dough whisk for initial mixing, then silicone spatula and hard plastic bench scraper to fold until the dough comes together. Then gather up into a ball, pour some oil (mild light oil like sunflower or safflower, or EVOO, depending on type of bread) along the gap between the dough and the pot sides, use the scraper to spread the oil underneath, then flip the ball over.

A plastic wrap loosely draped at top so the lid secures on and the dough won’t make a mess on the lid IF it rises that high.

Especially right now in cold winter room temperature, with the the pot staying temperature-regulated warm and insulated, this has been working well, and the proofing dough stays in the corner of the kitchen, don’t have to spread out the bread making station until shaping.

I haven’t gone back to sourdough bread making since I got the Instant Pot, so that will be another experiment. … I’m thinking for sourdough (and warmer months), I might not even have to turn the pot on but the yeast might generate just enough heat and the insulated pot will be enough.

…

I made chicken soup (adding all the recently harvested cabbage, komatsuna and other cooking greens from the Sunflower Hoophouse and Winter Indoor Garden, and minced freshly dug ginger root from the overwintering pot in the Green Room to make the soup even more warming.) in the Instant Pot while the more able bodied worked to clear snow from the cars, driveway, and sidewalk. I filled the pot to max and even added the neck part of that Greek Sweet Red squash (that didn’t fit initially) and rice milk (for additional broth) AFTER first bowlfuls were removed, but the pot has been emptied in less than 6 hours. Went well with the bread I made yesterday.

[pepperhead212]

Today, I cooked a dish in the Instant Pot I did a while back, based on a recipe in the Milk Street cookbook Fast and Slow - Black Beans With Bacon And Tequila - but made some changes this time. First, I added a sprig of fresh epazote, from the hydroponics, since epazote goes well with black beans. And, in addition to the canned chipotles, I put that small spoonful of salsa negra - something from one of Rick Bayless's cookbooks, using 4 oz moritas, fried, along with garlic cloves, and ground into a paste, then cooked down to a very thick paste. Adds more flavor and heat than canned chipotles, though I didn't add much, to the 4 chipotles. I also soaked the beans - not called for, but I wanted to soak it in the baking soda, which I did for 5 hours. I reduced the water by only a cup, out of 5, but it was still a little too wet, so I put a quarter cup of red lentils, to simmer for 20 minutes at the end, to thicken. I started by cooking 6 oz diced bacon on sauté, and cut up all the other things while that was cooking. When almost crisp, I pulled the pot out, and put it on the stove, and took the bacon out with a strainer, and put it on a PT on a plate. The onion went into the pot, which I put back in the base, and continued in sauté, about 5 minutes, until very browned, then added the garlic and cumin, cooked 30 sec, then added the chipotles, tequila, and salsa negra, and cooked 3 minutes. Then I added a quart of chicken broth, the rinsed and drained beans, a sprig of epazote, 3/4 tsp salt, and a scant 1/4 tsp MSG (had to refill that!). Stirred to mix, brought to a boil, hit Cancel, then set on "Beans", 35 min, then covered, and let it cook, then let the pressure release naturally. I hit Cancel, then checked the beans - they were just about right, but a little thin, so that's when I added that ¼c red lentils, and cooked 20 minutes, with about a tb of pilocillo, 3 tb lemon juice (no lime juice on hand), stirring frequently to dissolve it. That thickened it up some, and the beans were just about where they should be (they were a little old, so needed more time). I added a generous amount of freshly ground pepper, and stirred in that generous quarter cup of cilantro. Turned out even better than the first time I made it, with more heat, from that small bit of salsa negra.
Epazote, from the hydro, ready to go into the black beans, in the Instant Pot. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The bacon, ready to move to a PT to drain, and use the fat to cook the onions and other ingredients for the black beans. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Sort of a messy mise en place, for the black beans with tequila, bacon, and chipotle. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Onions browned about 6 minutes, before adding garlic and cumin, followed by the chipotle, with some salsa negra. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Hydroponics grown cilantro, large and super dark. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Heating a couple of corn tortillas, to have with the black beans. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished Black Beans, Bacon, and Tequila, with some red lentils added at the end, to thicken some. by pepperhead212, on Flickr