Kevin's Watch

I bought an Instant Pot during the amazon sale last Black Friday, and gifted it to SD for either his birthday or Hanukkah last year. Between the two of us, this has seen a lot more use than the Anova sous vide circulator. I am wholeheartedly an Instant Pot pot-head!

SD has used a stove top pressure cooker for longer than I've known him, but all I've seen him make in it is whole artichokes. I've done yogurt (although you use a different feature than pressure cook for that); hard cooked eggs with shells that peel right off, no matter if the eggs were just laid; New York-style cheesecake (which SD was envious of), one pot chicken marsala pasta, pork chili verde, and St. Louis cut ribs. Everything came out quite good, although nothing beats low and slow smoked ribs. But, because of dental issues, I needed meat that was quite "tender" (soft, in other words), and cooking them in the IP before slathering with sauce and popping them under the broiler worked for that.

And fast! From start to finish, the ribs were done in about an hour.

SD has had successes in it as well, but I'll leave it up to him to describe.

Does anyone else use a pressure cooker? Unfortunately, these electric models can't be used for canning. But I would love to see what successes y'all have done.

Nope, don't use one of these either. I have an old-fashioned one, but just use the pot for soup.

--A

Busy weekend for our Instant Pot. Menolly made an Oreo cheesecake for her D&D group's Saturday night gathering. Enough came home afterward for Dam-sel and me to have some. Definite yum. Next weekend, she'll make a mint Oreo version for Dam-et's birthday cake.

My big Sunday project was New Orleans red beans and rice, using andouille sausage, leftover pork ribs, and two chops I cubed and made into pickled pork. This was my second attempt at this dish, for which Menolly as a GRITS (Girl Raised In The South) has high expectations. Still not creamy enough for her (she likes her beans pretty broken-down, whereas I prefer some whole beans to remain), but Dam-sel and I thought I otherwise nailed it. Tonight, I'll make quesadillas from the leftovers.

This morning, Menolly started another batch of yogurt.

Beef stroganoff in one Instant Pot tonight, and maple glazed carrots in the other.

Maple glazed carrots sound good. Real maple syrup is hell of an expensive here though.

--A

It's far pricier than "pancake" syrup here, that's for sure. But still an acceptable price for the real thing. I can only imagine the tacked on costs for shipping and tariff to SA.

SD is using the newer IP tonight. No idea what's in the magic pot as of yet, though.

Flanken-cut short ribs in a kalbi marinade were in the new IP. Short pressure cycle, then under the broiler for a little char.

Ribs are always good.

--A

Here's the receipt for the corned beef I made in the IP.

Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage

3 lb uncooked corned beef brisket, flat cut*
1 onion, quartered
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup malt vinegar
12 oz Irish stout (Guinness works great) or dark ale
1 tsp mustard seed**
1 tsp coriander seed**
1 tsp black peppercorns (whole)**
1 tsp dill seed**
1 tsp allspice (whole)**
1 bay leaf crumbled**
6 pearl onions, peeled
4 small Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 medium rutabagas, peeled and cubed
3 small turnips, peeled and cubed
3 carrots, chopped into 2" pieces
3 parsnips, peeled and chopped into 2" pieces
1 small (2 Lb) head cabbage, cut into wedges

Open brisket package and remove spice package, if included. Set spice pack aside.
Rinse brisket under cold running water, to remove brine. Set aside.
Place trivet in Instant Pot insert. Place quartered onion on trivet, points facing up.
Place minced garlic on each onion quarter.
Pour chicken broth, malt vinegar, and stout or ale in to insert.
Combine all the spices, including those included in the spice pack. Put the brisket fat side down and rub the spices on the exposed meat facing up. Place the brisket on top of the onions, fat side down.
Close the lid, set to sealing position, and put on Manual/Pressure Cook High Pressure for 70 minutes.*** When cooking is finished, do a Natural Pressure Release for 15 - 20 minutes, and then Quick Release the rest.
Preheat oven on Keep Warm to 170 degrees F.
Remove the brisket to a cutting board and brush off the spices. Lift the trivet, allowing the onions to fall back in to the liquid, and remove trivet from insert.
Remove 2 cups of cooking liquid and reserve.
In this order, place the vegetables in to the cooking liquid: pearl onions, potatoes, rutabagas, turnips, carrots, parsnips, and cabbage.
Put on lid, seal the pot and put on Manual/High Pressure for 10 minutes.
While vegetables cook, slice brisket and place in casserole dish. Pour reserved cooking liquid over meat, cover casserole with foil and hold in oven.
When vegetables finish cooking, Quick Release and serve.

Notes:
* Two 3 lb. corned beef flat cut briskets can be stacked and cooked at the same time. Layer them perpendicular to each other.
** If using two flat cut briskets, double the amount of spices, but do not double the liquids or vegetables.
*** To cook two flat cut briskets, cook for 90 minutes instead of 70 minutes, with a 15 to 20 minute Natural Pressure Release.

Nice

According to her desk calendar, Dam-sel has a party after work tomorrow. So far, she hasn't verbally told us about it, but usually they have snacks and she doesn't have much of an appetite for dinner.

She also generally doesn't care for curries, so I think tomorrow may be a good time to try Now and Later Butter Chicken. Not truly a curry, but with flavors close enough I've been afraid to try it when the three of us are home.

For our international friends who may be considering an Instant Pot, amazon UK has the 6-litre Duo on sale again. This should come with the wattage and plug needed to operate overseas.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Instant-Pot-El ... b6772b28e1

cool .. cheers Menolly

Tonight's dessert was Meyer Lemon Cheesecake with a small extra dollap of Meyer lemon curd, both made in the Instant Pot.

Mealthy is coming out with a stand alone lid for electric pressure cookers with stainless steel inserts, such as the Instant Pot, which converts the pressure cooker in to an air fryer, similar to the attached lid on a Ninja Foodi. It is now available for preorder for $49.95.

https://mealthy.com/products/mealthy-crisplid

This Old Gal has done a couple of videos, showing the unboxing of the Mealthy Crisplid, and that it fits on both 6-quart and 8-quart models.

https://youtu.be/946kPbKAylM

https://youtu.be/e3233ES7m94

Wednesday is dam-et's birthday. He asked me to make him a peanut butter cup cheesecake, with milk chocolate and white chocolate peanut butter cups. The recipe calls for semisweet chocolate chips, but since he asked for the white chocolate as well, I mixed half semisweet/half white chocolate chips in the batter. I used Pressure Cooking Today's receipt, but took decorating in to my own hands.

SD and dam-sel went to celebrate with dam-et today, and took the cheesecake with them, since we won't be seeing him midweek. It apparently went over very well.

https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pr ... heesecake/

That looks deadly, and I mean that in a good way. Now I want cake.

Thank you.

Earlier in the month Good Morning America had a week long series on Instant Pot recipes, and most of the segments featured a model I didn't recognize. Turns out on the Friday of that week, Instant Brands announced a new Duo model, the Duo Evo Plus . This thing is a jump ahead in the evolution of the Instant Pot, not just of the Duo series. If this is what Instant Brands being under the umbrella of Proctor Silex is going to produce, I'm even more excited.

As far as I can tell, the Max is still the only IP which can attain 15 psi. But, until the Max gets official approval for its pressure canning function, I'm going to wait on it. The Duo Evo Plus has other features which temp me, most of which involve the insert. The insert is now flat bottomed, so when oil is added it no longer accumulates on the sides and stays in the middle of the insert. Because it is flat bottomed, it is now safe to use on a burner on a stove. The insert also now locks in place, so it won't spin while stirring or sauteing items using the Saute function. And, the insert now has built in handles! No need to break out pot holders which may hang over in to the food when lifting the insert out of the base.

Introduction to the Duo Evo Plus video


As far as I know, the Duo Evo Plus is available to order on Williams Sonoma and to preorder on amazon in both the 6-quart and 8-quart sizes. It looks like William Sonoma has the better prices at this time, but perhaps amazon will offer a deal on it for Black Friday.

I do not need a 4th IP...
I do not need a 4th IP...
I do not need a 4th IP...
...but when one of my three finally needs replacing, I may consider the 8-quart of this model, even though we've been doing fine with the two 6-quarts and the mini.

Review of the Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus by Pressure Luck Cooking