The Instant Pot II, A Week Later

It's been a week with the Instant Pot and was used here in the kitchen almost every night!  It was fun to just dive in and experiment with something new, for the weekly routine.  The Instant Pot will definitely stay, and has a home in a kitchen cabinet instead of even the hallway closet!

Get yours on Amazon:  Instant Pot Ultra 6 Qt 10-in-1 or Instant Pot DUO60 6 Qt 7-in-1

One major thing to understand:  the Instant Pot is not instant!  It's fast, relatively speaking, but... when you consider getting it together, maybe doing a quick saute, waiting for the preheating cycle to finish, and then cooking, final prep, serving and clean up - it's definitely not something that's going to all happen in 15 minutes.  Even for a recipe that only cooks for 15 minutes, plan on a 45 minute "door-to-door" time window.  However, when you consider a very lean, inexpensive, super tough cut of meat would take 6-9 hours in a slow cooker, doing that (and having it come out better) in an hour is relatively "instant".  It's fast but not instant.

Usually the people, including myself, are usually concerned with clean up.  It's pretty easy to clean - the inside pot is stainless, so you can scrub it well with the rough side of the sponge if needed.  The rest is easy with soap and water.  The only other criticism I have (not uncommon with any pressure cooker) is that the food-grade silicone seal absorbs odors.  Really, really absorbs odors.  Actually the ring can just downright stink.  Several people on the web have different rings for savory and sweet cooking, so those odors aren't imparted as flavors in something like a cheesecake.  Friends (the ones who introduced me to the Instant Pot) recommended to toss it in the top rack of the dishwasher after washing it with a good amount of degreasing soap (like Dawn) in the sink.  That does actually seem to help quite a bit.

Before we get into the food/recipes, understand that my cooking is way more in the "less is more" camp, when it comes to ingredients.  These recipes might seem basic (and they are) but that's my personal preference.  Great food, prepared correctly, doesn't need layers and layers of ingredients and spices.  The final product becomes confusing and, frankly, disinteresting (aka a mess).  A simple, but beautiful, chord on a piano or guitar is made of 3-4 notes, not banging all the keys/strings at one time.  Anyway!  Here goes - all of these recipes are good for you too.  No breading/frying/heavy cheese/etc.

First round was with hard-boiled eggs!  Super simple to make, super simple to screw up [badly]!  You don't want them raw and you don't want them dry (or worse, green with sulfur) from under/over cooking.  As expected (for something this simple), The Instant Pot did not disappoint:

Second up was the recipe I posted in the first blog about the Instant Pot - the pot roast.  I would definitely have done this differently.  Specifically, sauteed the meat then cooked the meat and broth/onions/spices only for 50 minutes on high.  Yep - 50 minutes.  Then quick pressure release and add the veggies and go for another 10 minutes (quick pressure release and serve).

After that, I was feeling lazy and needed a quick/easy meal.  This one was great and actually fast.  I took the skin off several chicken legs and used the saute function (medium)  to brown them quickly in a little olive oil and salt/pepper.  Set aside and then sauteed some sliced onions and peppers.  To the onions/peppers, I added a jar of organic marina sauce (doctored it up with extra freshly minced garlic) and put the chicken on top.  Let it cook for 15 minutes on high.  Served with a small serving of whole wheat pasta and arugula greens (and of course, hot pepper flakes).  Was pretty tasty and really easy to make.

Next night was Chicken Marsala.  This was actually crazy easy too.  I don't even bother to pound or dredge the thin-sliced chicken breasts.  Just a saute (medium setting) with salt/pepper and olive oil on both sides.  Set aside, add mushrooms (and if you're me, add more mushrooms) some chicken stock and Marsala wine.  I did meat/high pressure for 8 minutes.  Came out totally fork tender - remove the chicken from the pot and add a cornstarch slurry to thicken sauce.  Pour over chicken and serve with fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley.

It was time for another roast-type meal.  This time, rather than a roast though, I wanted to serve my friends some slider-type meal.  The store had a top round on sale (super lean/tough), so that went into the pot (London broil style cut).  I cut it into 4 pieces and put it on top of about 2 cups of sliced onions, some water, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce.  Didn't even bother to brown the meat - just all in the pot.  High pressure for 60 minutes.  Remove meat and puree the sauce with onions in your blender - add cornstarch slurry to thicken (use saute function in pot).  Shred beef with fork and serve!  I made a healthy slaw and served with pineapple on a small potato roll (Martin's, of course).  (credit due / based on:  twosleevers.com/braised-brisket)

Last but not least, shredded chicken breast.  This is such a versatile and diet-friendly food.  It's low in fat (but enough so you get some) and high in protein.  I was craving a buffalo chicken salad, so after making it I divided the shredded chicken in half - made half into buffalo chicken (to put on salad) and made a super tasty and healthy chicken salad with the rest (use Hellman's canola-based mayo, which isn't as good as the regular but lower in cals/fat).  Oh.  Speaking of mayo.  If you use "salad dressing" (you know what I'm talking about - the sweet stuff), we probably can't be friends.  ICK.  Throw that out and get some Hellman's; it's the best (I'm totally kidding about friends but still won't eat your "salad dressing").  Shredded chicken was easy - about a half cup of water, 1 tsp of better-than-bullion (low sodium), frozen (yes frozen) natural/organic-fed chicken breasts on top.  Instant Pot on meat/high for 15 minutes and shred away.