[Dinner 2017 (Part 6)]

On 9/27/2017 at 3:48 PM, Captain said:

Ignore the spring..

OK, care to explain that spring?

[Unusual & mysterious kitchen gadgets]

18 minutes ago, kayb said:

It sits on my stove, and gets a fair amount of use.

With the ceramic dish it wouldn't be so annoyingly messy.

[Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)]

1 hour ago, Beebs said:

Also, venting the steam for quick release scares the crap out of me! For all you experienced users out there, did you just get used to it after a time??

 

Right now, I am using a towel and any long cooking utensil to poke at it. Or am I the world's biggest wimp??? 

That initial blast of steam can be rather overwhelming but you can release it gradually. Just keep gently bumping the valve open with a long-handled spoon. Then when you open it, it won't come out so wildly. It doesn't make you a wimp. It just means that you respect the power that you're dealing with. And that makes you smart!

[Unusual & mysterious kitchen gadgets]

35 minutes ago, andiesenji said:

they are preferred for grafting vines onto rootstock.

My Father had this exact knife that he used to clean and trim his horses hooves.

[Unusual & mysterious kitchen gadgets]

12 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Not to be contrary but

I guess you're right. I wish I had kept the package, they called it a pot lifter and these are exactly like mine. I didn't think it would expand enough to lift a very big plate but I just tried it and it does.

[Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)]

On 9/26/2017 at 9:03 PM, kayb said:

make rice pudding

I would like to know more about your rice pudding. I love rice pudding but I haven't had the nerve to try it yet in the instant pot. Do you have a recipe that you would share?

[Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)]

42 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Has anyone ever used it for anything?

I have a steam button on mine plus 14 other buttons and except for the saute I rarely use any of them. With the manual button you can do anything you want to. And thanks to everyone here I understand my pressure cooker and the times and settings that I need for just about everything. Anytime that you put water and and the things that you want to cook in a steam rack, it will do exactly the same function by just using manual. On most of my preset functions the time is automatically set and fixed. I like to have more control over the time and going with the manual button lets me do that.

[Unusual & mysterious kitchen gadgets]

Everyone has come so close and it would work well for all the purposes., except for the olive jar.

 It was marketed as a pot lifter, which is exactly how I used it yesterday when I made steamed rice in the instant pot. Here is a picture. Please disregard the rubber band because I couldn't take a picture with one hand and hold the pot lifter closed. .

 

[Unusual & mysterious kitchen gadgets]

7 minutes ago, HungryChris said:

Looks like something for lifting hot jars out of a pressure canner.

HC

It would work well for that but that wasn't its intended purpose.

[Unusual & mysterious kitchen gadgets]

Again, close, but no. A little too big for that it is 9 in. long. A friend of mine had one for the olive jar. It didn't work too well. It worked great for pickles but the olives kept getting away.

[Unusual & mysterious kitchen gadgets]

OMG! I think I'm in love. Just reading the name of This makes me know that I've got to have it.

[Unusual & mysterious kitchen gadgets]

1 minute ago, Anna N said:

Looks like another plate lifter it to me. 

Real close.

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Believe it or not, while Googling for something else I found something like this plate lifter for sale. And it just about the price that I paid for it. It's right here. It is called a 'Kitchen Anti-Scald Plate Bowl Dish Pot Holder Carrier Clamp Clip Handle Protect'.

[Unusual & mysterious kitchen gadgets]

2 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Plate lifter?

You got it! I took a picture of it in action

But I think probably this is how I will be using it. It will be great to take things out of the instant pot. Despite the way it looks, it is really very sturdy and I have held it upside down and sideways and it doesn't lose its grip.

This is a picture of the last treasure that I bought yesterday.

What is it?

[Unusual & mysterious kitchen gadgets]

17 minutes ago, Alex said:

A cat (for non-culinary purposes only).

If you tried to grab either of my cats with this, you'd draw back a bloody stump

[Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)]

2 minutes ago, rotuts said:

Add butter , mash a little more  then the hot milk

 

I like a little fresh ground nutmeg in MPs and white sauce

 

just a little

The sounds great and I'm going to try it. Thanks for the IP directions. It only makes it easier.

I've been looking for a good wire potato masher for about five years. Ever since a friend of a friend of a friend showed up and wanted to stay overnight, I've been without one. Three weeks later, when I invited her to leave, she left with some of my favorite cookbooks and the wire potato masher that I had had for about 50 years. The cookbooks I understood. They were good ones. But what does anyone need with a potato masher on vacation in Costa Rica?

[Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)]

4 minutes ago, rotuts said:

they are TJ's brand :

 

https://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article/3225

 

I didn't know they had sweet P.s  Ill try the

 

I always keep the skin on and mash w the skin  

 

a lot moer flavor.

 

you can make decent MP's w waxy potatoes if you use a hand masher and don't over do it.

 

add the butter first , lightly hand mash  then the hot milk.

 

full fat milk works better for some reason even w the butter added first.

 

never an electric mixer for waxy potattoes

 

unless you need the glue you mentioned for something

 

Thanks for the tip. I will try that for just us, but when I'm making turkey and trimmings for twenty people, at 78 years old, I no longer have the strength nor the time coordination. So until someone complains, Ore-Ida it is.

[Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)]

21 minutes ago, rotuts said:

OK in a pinch.   they come in ' pucks '

Do you happen to know what brand they are? We can't get russet potatoes down here or even anything resembling them. Just the small red or white potatoes. They aren't good for mashed potatoes, you just wind up with something resembling potato flavored library paste. For the last twenty years on Thanksgiving, I have fed at least 20 people each year Ore-Ida instant mashed potatoes out of the box. I just doctor them up well and I get more compliments on my 'homemade' mashed potatoes. If they don't know, I'm not telling.

[Unusual & mysterious kitchen gadgets]

3 minutes ago, gfweb said:

I just put the spoons on a paper towel or on the counter which is gonna get wiped down anyway

That's okay for most things but it doesn't work for caramel sauce.

[Unusual & mysterious kitchen gadgets]

1 minute ago, lindag said:

Nah, it looks like it's made to grip something.

Close, but what?

[Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)]

7 minutes ago, Anna N said:

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

This looks great.

[Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)]

20 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

That looks good.  I wonder if the finished dish could be frozen?

Potatoes don't freeze well because of their high water content. That's how Ore-Ida got so rich. They figured out how to do what the rest of us can't.

[Unusual & mysterious kitchen gadgets]

1 minute ago, Anna N said:

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. 

It is a total p PIA!

I think I have owned every type of spoon rest made by man and I have hated them all. then I found this one. it is made of silicon and after I found out how good it was I went back and bought four more.When it gets messy I just pitch it in the dishwater and grab another.

Here Is another little gem that I bought at the Chinese restaurant supply yesterday. I can see this being worth its weight in gold.

 What is it?

[Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)]

8 hours ago, weedy said:

very much

 

cheers.

 

interestingly, the recipe I use, in the oven, tracks pretty closely to yours, except that it calls for 1 egg and a yolk, versus your 2 eggs. not a huge diff, but somewhat less eggy.

AND, it calls for twice the sour cream (in the filling) as yours.

I'm wondering a bit about that and whether it will be too 'wet' for a pressure cooker version that won't lose as much water to the air as an oven.

 

 

 

 

 

My recipe originally called for just the egg yolk and one day I got distracted and put in the whole egg. It turned out better than the first version so now that's what I do. I think the full cup of sour cream would affect the volume too much and you might want to cut that back to 1/2. if you are skeptical, Try it both ways. just be sure to add about 5 minutes cooking time to your recipe. Just for fun, invite people over and have a taste testing party.

[Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)]

10 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

Is there a reason one would want to spread the slightly sweetened sour cream on a hot cheesecake?

I agree with you 100% on all your points. the best New York cheesecake that I had in New York had no crust. Just 100% fantastic, pure cheesecake. I would love to try a crustless version but my pan has an ever-so-slight leak and the crust seals it so it won't get out.

I do not care for most unbaked cheesecakes. They make a terrible version here and actually put green jello on the top. I do have an excellent no bake cheesecake recipe that I developed for a friend with dietary problems. If you would like to try it, I can send it to you in a PM.

The sour cream topping goes on the cake before you ever take it out of the pan. It melds right into the cake itself. If you put it on a cold cake it almost separates into a separate layer.