Instant Pot Garlic & Herb Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

These were so good that my dad could NOT leave them alone as we were beginning to put food on the table to serve. He just kept going back for more snitches! My BROTHER (who is very picky and wasn't sure he was thrilled about something new) took one bite and went "oh. my... these are incredible" and he went back for 4th, 5th & 6th helpings!

Ingredients

·         2lbs potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (about 8 mediums)

·         3 tbsp minced refrigerated garlic (or)  6 cloves, peeled & smashed

·         1 1/3 cup chicken stock, bone broth or water

·         5-6 tbsp butter

·         1/4-1/2 tsp dried sage, rosemary, thyme, garlic, oregano, basil, parsley & salt season to taste

·         1/4 cup parmesan cheese (fresh)

·         1/4 cup parmesan/romano/asiago cheese blend

·         1/2 cup sour cream

·         1 cup cream cheese (one brick @ 8oz = 1 cup)

·         Optional: Butter & chives for topping

Instructions

1.       In the liner of the Instant Pot, layer the potatoes, broth, garlic & butter.  Lock the lid in place, close the vent to sealing and cook on high pressure for approximately 8-9 minutes with a controlled quick release.  Total time will be approximately 18-20 minutes.

2.       Unless you plan to drain the liquid off, you can mash the potatoes, with all of the remaining ingredients (seasonings, cheeses, sour cream, cream cheese), directly in the IP liner by using a handheld potato masher, or an electric handheld mixer.  Be sure to mash as soon as you can.

3.       Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with your chives, extra butter etc.

** Cook's notes: 

·         The difference in cook time is determined by whether you plan to drain them after cooking.  If you plan to drain, cook for 8 minutes.  If you plan to blend the fluid into the potatoes, you can cook a little longer for ease of mashing.

·         I prefer the handheld mixer, & not draining the liquid.  It produces a smoother more creamy product, and is less back breaking when making additions like cream cheese.

·         Mashing as soon as you can ensures that the seasonings meld, the cream cheese softens and to prevent lumpy potatoes. 

This is a compilation recipe devised by Heidi. 

Original recipes came from: 

https://pinchofyum.com/instant-pot-mashed-potatoes 

https://myfoodstory.com/instant-pot-garlic-mashed-potatoes-recipe/#tasty-recipes-11514

Pressure Cooker Mexican Roast Beef w/ vegetables & roasted chipotle salsa sauce

Ole! Add some spicy flavor to an ordinary pot roast and go mexican style with this recipe using traditional south-of-the-border ingredients. This is an entire meal with roast, vegetables, and uniquely flavored gravy all from one pot and in record time, so your cleanup time will be greatly reduced.

The Roasted Salsa:

4 (1/4-1/2oz dried chipotle chiles, or 1 (7oz) can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

1 small head of garlic

6 medium tomatillos, husked, rinsed & halved

1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro stems & leaves

If using dried chiles, heat a heavy (cast iron) skillet over medium heat. Cut open the chiles & remove the stems & seeds. Cut the larger ones into smaller pieces & place in the hot skillet to toast, pressing flat with a spatula until they darken slightly and release their aromas. Watch closely, this will only take about 60 seconds. Do not over toast the chiles or they will have a bitter taste. In a small bowl, cover the toasted chilies with boiling water and let them soak for 30 minutes. Drain and discard water. While the chiles are soaking, preheat the broiler. Cut off the tip of the garlic head, slicing through the top of the cloves. Place the head of the garlic on a plate, cut side up, and cover tightly with microwave safe plastic wrap. Microwave for about 5 minutes or until the cloves have softened. Remove the plastic wrap and let stand until cool enough to handle. Pull the cloves apart and squeeze out the garlic. Roast the tomatillos on a baking sheet 4" below the broiler until blackened on one side, about 5 minutes. Use long handled tongs to turn and roast the other side. Put the tomatillos and any juice, the chilis, garlic and cilantro into a food processor or blender and process to a fine textured puree.

The Roast:

3-4lb boneless beef round, chuck or rump roast

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1-2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 spanish onions, thickly sliced into rings

1 (12oz) bottle mexican beer

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt & freshly ground pepper

2 medium size pasilla, poblano or anaheim chilis, seeded & cut into strips

4 medium carrots, peeled & cut into 1/2" rounds

2 chayote squash, peeled, pitted & cut into 1" cubes

6 medium red potatoes, scrubbed & quartered

2 cups frozen whole kernel corn

1. Dry the meat with paper towels and dredge in the flour. Heat oil in the pressure cooker over medium-high heat (saute function set to "normal"). Add the meat, cook until well browned on all sides and set aside. Add the onions and cook, stirring until they are deeply browned and well caramelized (about 8 minutes). Deglaze the cooker with the beer, scraping up all the browned bits. Stir in the salsa mixture, cumin, salt and pepper. Return the roast to the cooker and lock the lid in place. Bring to 15 psi over high heat, immediately reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting to stabilize and maintain that pressure, and cook for 35 minutes. (Push "meat", "manual" or "pressure cook" set to high pressure, for 35 minutes with a full natural release) Remove from the heat and use the natural release method to depressurize. Carefully open the lid after the pressure drops. Turn the meat over and add the chiles, carrots chayotes, potatoes & corn distributing them evenly. Lock the lid in place, bring to 15 psi over high heat, immediately reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting to stabilize and maintain that pressure and cook for 5 minutes more. (Push pressure cook, set to high pressure, for 5 minutes with a quick release) Remove from heat and use the quick release method to depressurize. Carefully open lid after pressure drops.
2. Transfer the roast to a serving platter and slice across the grain. Scoop out the vegetables with a slotted spoon, transfer to a large serving bowl. Skim off any excess fat from the surface of the sauce. Adjust the seasoning to taste. Pour the salsa sauce into a serving bowl to ladle over the meat and vegetables. 

Serves 6

Cooks note: Substitute a pork roast for the beef for an interesting variation to this recipe.

Heidi's notes: Instant pot high pressure is 10-12 pounds per square inch. A stove top cooker can go as high as 15psi. The cook times are almost always the same, or very close to the same when translating from stove to instant pot.

Taken from this book (written specifically for stove top pressure cooking, but can easily translate to electric IP once you have an idea of the basics:

https://smile.amazon.com/Miss-Vickies-Pressure-Cooker-Recipes/dp/0764597264/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1541881747&sr=8-3&keywords=miss+vickies+big+book+of+pressure+cooker+recipes

Heidi's White Chicken Chili (Instant Pot)

INGREDIENT

• Chicken: 3 options, all work well 

- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts &/or thighs, trimmed of excess fat & chopped into bite size pieces; 

- 2 large cans of chicken or 

- A deboned rotisserie chicken

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 1 yellow onion diced

• 1 diced bell pepper (optional)

• 2 cloves garlic minced, 1 tsp preminced jarred garlic or 1 tsp dried granulated garlic

• 24-32 oz. chicken broth (low sodium) or bone broth from boiling the deboned rotisserie chicken carcass

• 1 (15oz) can triple bean chili beans with mild chili sauce.  Do not drain or rinse.

• 1 (15oz) can great Northern beans, drained & rinsed

• 1 (15oz) can black beans, drained & rinsed

• 1 (15oz) can Dark red kidney beans

• 1 (15oz) can light red kidney beans

•  3  cans whole kernel corn either with peppers or without

• 1 can Rotel tomatoes (with chilies) or plain stewed or fresh tomatoes without peppers

Optional if you want more peppers:

• 2 (4oz) cans of chilies, jalapenos, habaneros etc., or fresh bell, chilies, poblano, jalapeno, habanero

o   1/2 tsp black pepper

o   1 tsp cumin

o   3/4 tsp oregano

o   1/2 tsp chili powder

o   1/2 tsp paprika

o   1 package of ranch mix

~ 1 tbsp chicken bullion, to taste

o   Small handful fresh cilantro chopped

o   2 (8 oz) cream cheese blocks, softened

          - Can be cut and cubed into 1oz chunks for melting ease; if you don't want to you don't have to, it just melts smoother if you cut it up.

·   ★ Corn starch & water for thickening as needed

Fresh Toppings:

·        • Sliced jalapenos

·        • Lime wedges

·        • Sliced avocados

·       •  Sour cream

·       •  Minced fresh cilantro

·       •  Tortilla strips or oyster crackers

·         Shredded cheeses:  Monterey jack, Mexican blend, cheddar, cojack

INSTRUCTIONS

Layer ingredients in the IP inner pot:

1) chicken broth

2) butter

3) chicken

4) onions, & peppers

5) beans, 

6) corn (without juices if plain, with juice if pepper blended), 

7) Top with garlic & seasonings.  

- (pepper, cumin, oregano, chili powder, cayenne pepper, ranch mix, paprika, garlic etc.).  

8) Tomatoes are added to the layers absolutely last.  Do not stir. 

Seal & cook for 15 minutes with 15 minute NPR.

When the beep sounds, allow it to NPR (natural pressure release) for 15 minutes.  If there is any remaining pressure, you can go ahead & release it if you're impatient, or you can just allow it to sit there till the pin drops on its own from a full natural release.  

After you've opened it, stir, taste test, season if it needs more. The cream cheese will detract from the spice just a tad and the cooking will numb the intensity of the spices.  

Add cubed cream cheese, stir and cover for about 10 minutes, or  turn on saute low for a bit till its just starting to ripple.  After the ripples appear, be sure to continue stirring until chili is creamy and slightly thickened.  Use the corn starch and water slurry to thicken up the broth to your personal preference. 

Notes:

**  If using dried beans, the ratio of beans to water is 1:3, you'll need to cook the beans ahead, and discard the water before beginning the chili.

• 0.5-cups dried beans = 1.5 cups cooked

• Different beans require different cook times, but they average approximately 30-minutes of pressurized cook time

** If you attempt to bring back to a rippling boil once the cream cheese is added, it may be more likely to burn so just be watchful.

[2017, 2018, 2019 2x]

Instant Pot Orange Chicken (Pot-in-Pot)

Instant Pot Orange Chicken 

Intended to be cooked PIP (pot-in-pot).

Ingredients:
1 pound chicken, diced (3 - 4 breasts, or 4 - 5 thighs)
1 medium onion, quartered
2 - 4 cups chopped fresh vegetables
1 tsp salt & pepper
Rice
Sauce ingredients: 
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
2 large cloves garlic
2 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon minced ginger
3 tablespoons corn starch + water (for thickening later as needed)
Sugar/honey/agave to sweeten (optional)
Items Needed:
6-quart or 8-quart Instant Pot
Oven safe (stainless steel) bowl or PIP pan large enough to hold all the ingredients, but small enough to fit in side your instant pot with room to spare around the edges for steam to escape.
Trivet
A sling (my trivet has a built in sling)
Rice cooker (not required, it just makes this busy momma's life easier)

Instructions:

• Mix sauce ingredients together in an oven safe bowl that fits inside your instant pot.  Make sure it's big enough to hold all the ingredients.  This is your cooking pot. Taste test prior to adding the raw chicken to the sauce to ensure that it is to your liking.  Add sweetener as needed.
• Dice the chicken up and roll around in the sauce till all pieces are covered
• Place quartered onion on top of the raw chicken that's been rolled in the orange sauce in the (Pot-in-Pot) PIP bowl. 
  **  You could add the "heat resistant" vegetables (water chestnuts, bamboo, onions, bell pepper, sugar snap peas, mushrooms, carrots, celery) to the top of the bowl at this point if you wanted
  
• You can cook your rice at the same time as the chicken mixture if you choose, as long as you have a size appropriate PIP pan to do it in. The ratio of water to rice is 1:1, and rice doubles, so 1 cup of uncooked rice = 2 cups cooked rice.
  
• Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes using the trivet & 1 cup of water (if using 6qt) or 2 cups of water (if using 8qt or just want to be sure you have enough steam).
  
• If you have chosen to not cook it all in one pot, start your rice elsewhere.  I use a rice cooker because it simplifies my life and I can cook twice as much chicken mixture. 
  
• Natural Pressure Release (NPR) for 10 minutes to allow the juice to settle into the meat and to prevent the meat from being "shocked". 
  ** Shocked meat causes a tough, rubbery consistency.
  
• Stir the contents of the bowl to ensure even sauce distribution, pour the fresh veggies on top and either reseal on low pressure for 2 minutes (for frozen), or allow the residual heat from the meat mixture to cook the fresh broccoli.
  
• Once the time has completed, give it 2 minutes of NPR then enjoy by putting it over rice.

Notes:

Rice: 

• Remember when cooking rice that the cooked quantity will be double the dry quantity. (1 cup dry = 2 cups cooked)
• When using a rice cooker, or the stove top, or any method that allows water to evaporate as it cooks, the rice to water ratio is 1 cup rice to 1.5 cups water (1:1.5)
• When using a pressure cooker to cook your rice, or any method that does NOT allow for water evaporation, the ratio is 1 cup rice to 1 cup water (1:1)

Vegetable suggestions:  Water chestnuts, bamboo, carrots, celery, mushrooms, sugar snap peas, bell pepper, broccoli.  All of these will stand up to heat well except the broccoli.

• Broccoli is tricky at times. I usually cook it 1 of 3 ways.
  1) Use a steamer tray, or a tall legged trivet with instant pot steamer basket in my rice cooker while the rice is cooking.
  2) Microwave it
  3) Steam it on low pressure using the steamer basket in the Instant Pot. Low pressure 2 minutes, or 0 minutes under high pressure.   
• Bamboo will absorb any flavors that are around it, as well as adding to the flavors, so if you want super orange bamboo, put it in the sauce.  If you simply want that bamboo flavor, don't mix it in till afterward.
• Bell peppers, celery and mushrooms will produce liquid when cooked

The photo is not mine.  I have used it to illustrate what the dish SHOULD look like, but I have not had the chance to take photos of my actual food.  Photo belongs to:  Siam Orchid Thai Restaurant

Meatballs with Instant Pot or Oven directions

Meatballs

Ingredients: 
1 & 1/2 pounds lean hamburger, ground pork or ground chicken
1/2 tsp salt & pepper
2 eggs
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 tsp minced garlic & onion
1/2 tsp sage
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Instructions:

• Shape into palm sized balls.  
• Bake in oven until browned, using a drip pan at 350*F for approximately 15-minutes
• Or in an Instant Pot using a trivet (or multiple stacked trivets) cooking at high pressure for 10 minutes.
• Enjoy. 
• Can be used multiple ways. 

Optional uses are:  Sweet & sour anything, spaghetti & meatballs, mini meatloafs (adding barbeque sauce or something similar to the top)...

Instant Pot Sweet & Sour Anything

Instant Pot Sweet & Sour Anything

Makes approximately 12 servings.
Owned by my mother and rewritten with permission.

Recipe can be make either PIP (Pot-in-pot) or directly in the liner.  It's your personal preference. 

Ingredients:

• 1 can Chicken broth + 2 table spoons chicken base (like bouillon or better than bouillon)
• 3-5 cups meat, diced
• 1 green pepper (optional)
• 1 onion, chopped (or approximately 1 tablespoon dried minced or granulated onion) 
• 1 can chunked pineapple, juice reserved to be measured out and added later
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic or 2 teaspoons dried granulated garlic
• 3/4 cup white vinegar or rice vinegar
• 3/4 cup pineapple juice (drained from can; add water to reach quantity of liquid)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 medium tomatoes, chunked, or 1 package of grape tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons corn starch + water for thickening later

Instructions:

1. Layer the ingredients, in order, except the corn starch & tomatoes.  Do not stir.
   
   (PIP it doesn't matter if you stir or not, or what order you put the food in, just make sure you have a large enough bowl to hold everything, but is still small enough to fit into your Instant Pot liner with space to allow the steam to circulate, a trivet in the bottom of the liner, and a minimum of 1 cup of water in the bottom of the liner).
2. Place lid on pot and lock into place.  Set for 10 (ten) minutes high pressure.   Allow 10 minutes natural pressure release to allow the juices to settle into the meat then do a quick pressure release.  While the chicken etc. is cooking, make your corn starch slurry for thickening.
3. After opening the pot, place the tomatoes in, place the lid on the pot, lock it & set it to "saute" for a few minutes till tomatoes have warmed.
      
4. Thicken by turning on the saute' function, get it boiling and slowly pouring in the corn starch & water while stirring. Be careful, if you get it too thick it might splatter up.  If you pour too fast it will create lumps. 
5. Once it's thickened to your liking, serve over rice & enjoy.

Optional additions:  

• 1 tablespoon ginger (I use dried, fresh will give you a much stronger hit of spices)
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce 
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce 

*  This recipe works with multiple types of meat.  Choices include:  Chicken, Pork, Meatballs, Shrimp, Beef.

**  Recipe was originally for the stovetop and was rewritten for the IP by me

*** Meat can be rolled in flour & fried on the stove prior to pressure cooking, and the drippings and crunchy bits added into the gravy mix prior to pressure cooking but be aware the breading tends to thicken the juice a bit & you have to add more liquid, so I have chosen to omit this step because I don't care for how it changes the consistency of the gravy and the extra step involved. 

****  Photo gotten from google to demonstrate what it should look like when completed.  Will ETA when I have a recent photo of my own food. 

My kombucha adventure to date

Good morning all!

As I am stuck in a chair holding a sick, clingy toddler, I've chosen to do an update for you all on my latest adventures with "kombucha".  Strange stuff that...

I was first introduced to it in my mid-teen years by my cousin. I didn't care for it at her ferment level.  Too bitter/tart for my liking, and as a teenager my mindset was still that of invincibility, so I just wrote it off in my mind as to whether I would ever get into it or give it a chance as far as health benefits go.

Fast forward about 15-years, and here we are.  Everyone is older and wiser (we hope), some of us are showing signs of health issues, and I have begun to feel the lower levels of my own mortality.  Funny how having children, and wanting to be there for them, then having several close calls when you KNOW that God was watching over you will do that to a person...

I've not hidden the fact that I am not in the utmost health and have had some close calls from our close friends & family, so in an effort to help, one such friend offered to split down her SCOBY and give me a starter for my own batch.  At first I refused, continuing to hold to my initial judgement of this fermented tea, but after thinking on it, and reading about the benefits of this strange concoction, I told her I would give it a try.  That was 3-months ago, and we've had some adventures along the way!  😁

Since then, I've brewed a new batch every day.  My sons, mother & father are drinking it regularly, my sister has given it a try but is less than impressed.  (I believe she would also drink it if I found the right flavor combination for her taste preferences.)
**  My husband has also tried it, but he did not really give it a genuine taste since he seemed to have made up his mind prior to the taste test as to whether he would like it or not so I do not really think too hard on his opinion of my fermentation adventures.  👀

When I first embarked upon this adventure, I still didn't EXACTLY care for the taste, but I thought "this isn't so bad, I can just power though this".  What I did NOT know, was that there are so many different variables involved! 

• You can drink at first ferment, between days 7-10.  [My preference is day 7]
• You can brew that first ferment with either black or green teas [Didn't know that until I started experimenting]
• You canNOT do the second ferment under an airlock (like the type used to make wine).  [It will fizz & fizzle itself right into a frenzy & dribble out the top of the airlock].
• You can do the second ferment with pretty much ANY type of fruit, including home canned, dried, fresh etc.
• You can do that second ferment in either a wire top bottle or an open air container with a coffee filter over it.  [Did not realize this through online research, instead found this out through trial and error on my own].  The ONLY notable difference between tightly sealed vs. open air, was:

1. It formed its own SCOBY, encompassing the fruit, which you just throw away.
2. It was less fizzy [which didn't break my heart really].  Which is not to say the fizz was non-existent.  That isn't true.  There was fizz.  It was just LESS intense.  
3. It was not such a high risk during the fermentation process.  AKA I didn't have to worry about it EXPLODING in my kitchen and creating a BOMB with glass shards in it! 
4. I didn't have to "burp" the bottle once per day to prevent that bomb effect. 

**  You don't HAVE to burp it every day, but one of the first weeks that I was experimenting with the second ferment process, I didn't touch it for all 7 of the 2nd ferment days, and when I finally did open it, the wired down cork had so much pressure behind it that it literally shot off the bottle, put a dent in the ceiling, and I had to later locate it and repair the wire so that it could be reused again.
**  Not only all of that, but the kombucha itself (which happened to be the 4-berry brew), and all of the fruit in it that was being used to flavor the concoction, went shooting out of the bottle and all over the wall.  I had red kombucha, with fruit, running down the wall behind the stove, all over the stove, down the sink... it was incredible how big of a mess this stuff became in less than 5 seconds.

The multiberry brew, freshly frosted from the night before. 👇

So far the flavors I have experimented with have been:

• 4-berry/multiberry (red & black raspberries, blueberries & strawberries)
• Pineapple ginger
• Apple pie
• Pina Colada
• Cherry; which we didn't get to try because I did not use fresh, frozen or dried fruit.  Instead I used a "pie filling", and it was a major flop.  It had artificial sweeteners in it that I wasn't aware of and it tainted the entire thing. 
• Blueberry ginger
• Blueberry pineapple

So far, the multiberry is the family favorite.  I can LITERALLY not make enough of this stuff.  The last batch I made resulted in 3 full size wine bottles, and they were gone within 24-hours.

On all of my fermentations, I never let the ferment go past 10-days.  If it does, I add more sweet tea in to balance out the "tart", with the exemption being to one batch that I did not realize had gone too long, got my days mixed up, and ended up bottling for second ferment on day 14. However, since it was being bottled for second ferment, it did not make a big difference in the grand scheme of things and actually turned out to be a pretty solid brew with good flavor interactions.

The jar on the left is my "first ferment" jar.
The jar in the middle, is a half gallon pickle jar, second ferment, doing a pina colada brew.  Haven't tried that one yet, just started it yesterday.
The one on the right, is the apple pie.

Obviously these are all quite happy where I've plopped them.  👍