FauxPas

Mmm, I love the Instant Pot for artichokes! Nice and fast for when I get a craving. I bought 4 artichokes today, just for that.

tchefunkte, I hope you will stick around and share your culinary adventures with us! Thanks for the pics and hope to see more from you!

I'd make huevos rancheros similar to Jaymes, with or without beans, with a bit of queso fresco on top of the salsa. Oprah's version seems like a baked omelette or a casserole, though huevos rancheros is probably the inspiration. Eggs in Purgatory would work in a slow cooker, I think.

Do those shoulder chops need to cook longer than regular lean pork chops?

Maybe some apples in with the chops. Serve with fresh cabbage. Or do foil packets to cook some mixed veggies on top.

I forgot to mention that the TO people wrote a lovely book about their food traditions, called From I'itoi's Garden. It's pricey but it's an attractive book. It does have some history and simple recipes but I liked the discussion of food gathering and traditions best. You can see a preview here: http://www.blurb.com/books/3232576-from-i-itoi-s-garden

That's right, I had forgotten how much time you spent in this area! No, I have never been to that Festival as sometimes we are back in Canada by then. But I will keep an eye out for the dates, thanks for mentioning that! Speaking of frybread - some people will say it isn't an indigenous food item but that's OK, the locals still have fun with it. There is a movie called "More than Frybread" which is about an AZ state frybread competition, including a Tohono O'odham woman. It looks like it might be funny, i have only seen clips, here is an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uds0PGFysnU

I have been meaning to write a bit about this lovely little café for some time, so this is overdue and some of the pics are almost a year old. But I will be going back so might be able to update in the next couple of months, if anyone is interested. Desert Rain Café is operated by TOCA, which is Tohono O'odham Community Action. The café is located in Sells, AZ and may seem like the middle of nowhere to some folks, as it's in the middle of the reserve lands and quite a distance from any major town. But it's a pretty drive and it's near some other attractions such as Kitt Peak National Observatory (also on Tohono O'odham land) and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The Tohono O'odham (TO in remainder of post) also have a wonderful museum in Tipowa, which is a short drive from Sells. All of these are well worth a visit and can make for a lovely day (or 2 days) trip. The café itself is small and somewhat unprepossessing, but it's cheerful and welcoming. We usually sit outside as there is a pleasant little patio area. You can view the current menu (and read more about the café) here: http://www.desertraincafe.com/our-menu.html The café makes use of local and traditional foods, so includes the use of prickly pear cactus, saguaro fruit and seeds, mesquite, tepary beans, squash, corn, cholla cactus buds and so forth. Some examples. Here is a sampler which includes Desert Hummus (made with white tepary beans), Cholla Bud Pico de Gallo and a tepary bean dip made with brown tepary beans. Salad with Prickly Pear dressing, ribs glazed with prickly pear, cooked beans and a Caesar Salad in the background. The Caesar included some white tepary beans and the chicken was glazed with prickly pear also, I believe. The portions are generous - I took half the ribs home and had them for dinner. More food shots - quesadilla (made with tepary beans) and salad. Veggie wrap with a tepary bean spread and fresh veggies. Cholla PIco de Gallo on the side, I believe. I always have the salad. This was a beef stew (maybe short rib?) which my friend had. She said it was delicious and took half home for dinner. They usually offer some baked goods, often using mesquite flour or sometimes saguaro seeds. The café shares some space with a gallery and here you can see (and purchase) some beautiful examples of TO artwork, pottery and basketry: You can also buy tepary beans (grown locally by the TO people), dried cholla buds, saguaro seeds and saguaro syrup (when available - most of it is harvested and used for the Rain Ceremony). I use the tepary beans for soups and stews. I also like the white tepary beans for a spicy hummus (with some lime juice and hot sauce or chiles). Prickly pear nectar/juice is available here through a couple of sources and is a necessity for Prickly Pear Margaritas, but also makes a nice salad dresssing! Prickly pear nectar or syrup and saguaro syrup can be used as glazes for meats or fish. Other folks here on eGullet will have used some of these items in other ways, I am sure. For background and current information on the TO Nation, you can check some of these sites: http://www.tocaonline.org/ http://www.tonation-nsn.gov/default.aspx Not too close to the café, but not far south of Tucson and also on TO Nation land is the "White Dove of the Desert" or the Mission San Xavier del Bac, which was built as a Spanish Catholic mission and is a beautiful example of Spanish Colonial architecture. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_San_Xavier_del_Bac It is so photogenic on a clear desert day!

Hi kayb, I think I would do a quick release after an initial cook of approx 30 to 60 mins (depending on what you are cooking, stewing beef pieces would be less time than an entire roast) and then add the veggies and do a further 10 to 30 mins, depending on type of veggies and your preference for final veggie texture. I put my onions in from the beginning (and would do the same with celery and garlic), but would prefer to add things like potatoes and carrots later. And I wouldn't cut the veggies too small. I did the chuck roast for 90 mins, followed by a natural or slow pressure release. There was a nice sauce and the veggies would have been tasty cooked in it, but I wouldn't have wanted to do them for more than 20 mins, I think. I haven't done enough IP cooking to recommend a specific time. i thought about putting the steaming rack on top of the roast and putting the veggies on it, but that wouldn't have infused them with the other flavours. But it might have kept them from getting quite as soft as they would in the sauce/stock. But I'm sure some folks would be happy with the results after including the veggies for the entire cook time. Some of it is definitely personal preference.

I do have an Anova! And i should use it more often for veggies, I like SV veggies.

Last night I did one of the most basic pressure-cooker dishes: a chuck roast. I'm new to pressure cooking as well as to the Instant Pot so it may be that I will be trying things out that are old hat to some of you! I was absolutely looking forward to pressure-cooking those kinds of cuts and I had a couple of chuck roasts (cut in half) in the freezer from a recent sale. I did a simple no-recipe-needed version with some garlic, onion, beef broth and simple seasonings. I borrowed a couple of books from the library, including The Great Big Pressure Cooking Book. The authors state "You may not have known it, but a chuck roast is the whole reason you got a pressure cooker." Ha. I did follow the authors' recommendations to brown the roast well (about 10 mins, turning once) and to pressure cook for at least 90 mins, with a slow release. (They emphasize this need for deep browning especially with beef brisket, which I would also like to try. And short ribs, of course. And pork ribs. I see a lot of red meat in our future meals, will definitely have to throw in a few veggie meals, for balance. Heh. ) They also insist that slow release is the way to go with these types of meat, else the meat can dry out with the quick release of steam. Has anyone here found that to be true? By the way, the resulting roast was delicious - definitely one of the best pot roasts I have ever made and I loved the simplicity of doing it in the IP. I considered adding other veggies but decided instead to do a stovetop mixed mash of butternut squash and potatoes and served with some fresh tomatoes. We started scarfing it down before I thought of pics. Some recipes add veggies way too early for my taste. I'll have to play around with that kind of timing, but definitely adding them later than recommended so they don't turn to mush. AnnaN, I think I know what you mean about 'more faffing than you like for a pressure-cooked dish!' I like the idea of the IP for making candied citrus peel - I've made it the stovetop way in the past and it is time-consuming. I just juiced a bunch of tangerines off our tree and thought about keeping some of the peel, but didn't. I wish I had because it might have been nice to try that in the IP. Not sure what tangerine peel would be like, but I think it would be similar to orange.

Anna, I am wondering what it was about the dish that was disappointing. Did you use the same chicken pieces as the original recipe? Did you find the skin was odd, even after the final broil? Or was there something else? I don't really like recipes that require pressure-cooking and then switching to the oven, unless it really adds something unique. And I'm sure there are times that it does. Usually, I'd just prefer to cook them in one or the other. If I need to have the oven on anyway, then I might as well just use the oven for the entire cook-time. And with chicken, I just don't like what happens to the skin after pressure-cooking. Partly because I adore the way chicken skin tastes after steam-baking it in the Cuisi steam oven, probably! I would use the pressure cooker for some chicken (like a cacciatore) but I'd probably remove the skin.

I used the IP as a slow cooker last night, just to try that function. Recipe for Slow-Cooker Moroccan Chicken from Simply Recipes. I used chicken wings (because that's what I had) and browned them a bit before slow-cooking them with the other ingredients (for about 2.5 hours on 'high'). This recipe could have been pressure-cooked as well. I see Laura Pazzaglia has a similar recipe with a 12 min cook-time in her book. (The lamb version is on her website, chicken is the same but with the shorter cook-time,) The usual Moroccan-blend spices, Mmmmm! In the pot, topped with olives, chopped prunes and lemon slices. Served with carrots and rice. Chicken skin is not necessarily that appealing after slow-cooking or pressure-cooking. Browning first helps but I might use thighs or legs next time and maybe skinless. i bought this Duxtop lid to control spatter in sauté mode and for slow-cooking. Not sure if others have posted this already - there is an Instant Pot lid but it's been out of stock for a while and it costs almost twice as much. The Duxtop fits nicely on my IP.

Seconding what Smithy said about test and compare and report, GlorifiedRice!! I had similar results with the first and only mandoline I owned. Was I tasked with providing tissue samples? My own? I bought and left one in a house we rented and always wonder if I set someone else up for similar injuries. And the Paderno spiralizer will be gifted to someone as I can't stand the set-up and storage hassles. But I still like the idea of spiralized veggies, I need something with easy storage and usage. But I won't use it if I have to trim everything to a precise size before spiralizing. Am i being too cantankerous?

cyalexa, I have ordered sprouting seeds from Sprout People for years and they have at least one mix with sprouting peanuts in them. That's where I first discovered them. I did order some for sprouting on their own (peanuts) and I loved munching on them but I never really investigated ways of cooking with them other than throwing them in salads and a couple of stir fries. It's been awhile, but i think I used them in a couple of spicy stir fries, both chicken and beef. That's probably not much help, as it's not very original, but you might check the user comments on the sprouting sites to see if anyone does anything more interesting!

I'm sure someone who does more wok cooking will reply and give you a better answer, but this is my approach. I put oil in the pan/wok, add garlic and then heat it gently long enough that the oil is somewhat infused with the garlic. Then I remove the garlic and heat the oil for the actual stir fry.

I have only used them in salads and stir fries.

For thickening yogurt, I put a strainer in a bowl (deep enough to allow some space below the strainer) and line the strainer with a large coffee filter or paper towel, spoon the yogurt in and put it in the fridge to let it drip for a couple of hours or until it's as thick as I like it. This is store-bought yogurt, but I want to try making my own in the IP, also!

gfweb, which veggies have you tried it with?

I sometimes order a FarmBox with various produce from a nearby organic farm. They also have meal kits and I ordered one of those, which we had for dinner. They have about half a dozen kits, all use organic produce and are vegan. I'm not a vegan, but the kits appealed a bit so I thought I'd give one a try. All the ingredients are in a labeled box. This is a simple kit for Potato Corn Chowder, Tomato Garlic baguette and lettuce boat salad. They include everything you need, even sprigs of thyme and a bit of basil, garlic cloves and soup seasoning. Almond 'milk.' A bit of cornstarch for thickening the soup. Vinaigrette for the salad. The end result was pretty good and it was a fun and easy meal. I don't know that I would order many of these in the future, but I enjoyed trying it out. They had a special one for Thanksgiving which looked really good (included stuffed squash). I was going to try that one, but hesitated and missed the ordering deadline. If they have one for Xmas, I might try that for an after-Xmas meal. .

Shelby, the picture links are broken back where you first talked about making yogurt. What kind of starter/culture did you use again? From Amazon? And did your strainer come from Amazon? Thanks! And I don't think you need to add cream if you use 2% milk. I think the link you gave for instructions used 2% w/o any added cream. But if you like a richer yogurt, I guess you can always add some cream to your low-fat milk. ElsieD, is that why you added the cream?

Ha, like this jar I just got out of the pantry?

Shelby and ElsieD, when making yogurt, did you use 2% milk or.... ??? Shelby, your yogurt does look delicious!

These are fairly tasty. Product of Canada.

No, only one crop, rotuts. They blossom in February and we eat the fruit in late Fall (November/December).