Anna N

Savoury steel cut oats. Oats cooked in Instant Pot using the PIP (pot in pot) method then grated cheddar stirred in along with some salt and pepper. Bacon, fried egg and scallions complete it.

So far I'm quite pleased with the book both the recipes and the copy editing.

if you are the world's biggest wimp then I'm in second place. I throw a towel over it, well folded, and then use some very long barbecue tongs to turn the vent. My four-legged houseguests disappear into the ether when it starts releasing steam. The folded towel does reduce the noise somewhat.

One take on when you might use low pressure. According to this article it is the least used function on an electric pressure cooker. The instant pot manual notes that all functions use high-pressure EXCEPT the rice setting which uses low pressure by default.

According to the manual for the instant pot the steam function can be used to steam vegetables, seafood or to reheat food with the steam rack in place. It also cautions that using the natural release methid will likely overcook the food and that you should use the quick release. Using one or 2 cups of water should be sufficient to steam fresh or frozen vegetables using 1 to 2 minutes at pressure. They offer another caution that the steam function works at full power continuously and that it may burn food that is not on a rack/trivet. I have paraphrased the manual.

Not to be contrary but Click Click Click

Looks like another plate lifter it to me.

Plate lifter?

Baste. I suspect this is the more generally accepted meaning for most of us. I would consider covering it with the lid as steaming. But as always to each their own.

Not sure I would attempt to freeze these but if you need mashed potatoes that you can freeze you might want to try these. Click

Yep. And I discovered with one of these you don't only have a spoon to clean you have a stand to clean and a stainless steel bowl to clean.

Not by any means suitable for all occasions but this recipe has saved my bacon more than once. And speaking of bacon, adding crumbled, cooked bacon to the mix does no harm whatsoever. Click

Me too. Mine are smaller and square and the box seems like it's going to last for eternity. Also useful on the scales when I'm weighing things and I found other uses also.

No photo a) because I forgot and b) because it wasn't very photogenic anyway but I dug out the lamb ribs and rice that I had frozen a week or so ago. I had frozen it in a disposable container rather than my usual Ziploc bag thinking it might look more attractive. It didn't. And the container took up considerably more room than would a bag. But after a tiring day it was sustenance.

It's not too different from using a sponge which is fairly common with other breads. I think most recipes I have run across use a different terminology so that rather than calling it the first rise they will say let the dough rest for a prescribed time before adding the remaining flour and other ingredients.

I don't know. The "keep warm mode" on the Instant Pot operates between 145°F and 172°F but it's not, as far as I know, controllable so I am guessing that it cycles between these two temperatures. It is certainly lower down the lowest temperature of a slow cooker (I think). The temperature of the slow cooker function is 190°F to 210°F. Read through this and see if it's any help. Click

It's very large and very prominent to ignore.

Today Kerry had some business in Hamilton so we decided to fall back on our favorite comfort food, pho. I know you have all seen it all before and here it is again. Beef and chicken for Kerry. Well done and rare beef for me. Some of the requisite garnishes. We also used some housin and some Siracha. And we shared some fresh rolls with shrimp and a peanut dipping sauce. Just as an aside, some of the members of one of the local fire halls showed up to pick up some takeout (I thought cooking in the fire hall was a thing!). And as they were leaving, six members of the Coast Guard showed up for lunch. Popular place apparently for those in uniform of one kind or another.

Oops apparently somebody already made the link. Missed that.

Here is the link. Like so many writers who approach the instant pot she too underestimates the real time needed to prepare a dish. She counts only the time under pressure neglecting to mention the time needed to reach pressure or for pressure to drop. (I mention this only because if you're not up front about the real time then newcomers to the Instant Pot might wonder what else you haven't been truthful about.)

Amazing how different we each are. I was impressed by her counting the grinds. So impressed in fact that I took my own peppermill and counted the grinds and then measured the resulting pepper. I now know how many grinds to make a half teaspoon of pepper.

No it doesn't.

The husband-proof grocery list Here. It's not just husbands who need a grocery list such as this. I speak from experience.

I imagine to a hunter that kind of money spent on a piece of meat is hard to swallow. Sorry about the terrible pun.

Inspiration comes from various places and tonight I was inspired by two methods. For the peppers, onions and mushrooms I followed David Tanis' method of dry frying them until they were about halfway done before adding salt and a little oil. For the sausages, Johnsonville brats, I followed this method of sous viding and then finishing in a hot oven. The mustard is a German medium hot from a tube.