Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)

[Tropicalsenior]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

You might even be able to find a garam masala already mixed.  

Here is the recipe for garam masala that I have used.

[Smithy]

All right, you lot, you enablers, I cooked my first meal in the Instant Pot Duo Mini tonight. I was skeptical when I opened the box and realized that 3 quarts (the volume of the inner pot) is what I consider medium-to-small, and I rarely use my 3 quart pots for dinner.  I mentally prepared to return the pot.  Then I thought about space in our trailer, and how the 6-quart unit won't fit.

 

I tested it: first the steam function, as specified in the instructions.  Then a series of "use it or lose it" ingredients from the refrigerator became dinner: butt bacon, onions (including the tops), potatoes, chorizo, green beans past their prime.  I fiddled around with steaming and sauteing, then leaving the mixture alone.

 

The resulting photograph doesn't live up to the high standards of this community, but we loved the result.  It was well-balanced to our tastes - no salt, pepper or spices to be added.  Only one cutting mat, one knife and the IP's inner pot were dirtied.  Better still, there are enough leftovers for another meal - something I'd doubted when I began this exercise.

 

 

Yes, it's too small to be our favorite slow-cooker when we're home, but it's a versatile space saver when we're on the road.  It's staying.  Thanks, I think. 

[weedy]

12 hours ago, Anna N said:

...

 I am still not prepared to say that I've never had a better beef curry because I have.  But if you're challenged for time or for physical reasons add this one to your collection of Indian dishes...

 

 

this still seems, to me, to be the bottom line on the Instant Pot in general.

 

I'm only really interested in what it excels at; that is, does better than any other way.

 

so far, I'm finding it useful for making stocks or broths under pressure, and I made some pretty nice creamy polenta.

but the 'one pot meals', meh

 

 

[weedy]

12 hours ago, Anna N said:

... I did make the beef curry from the  Indian Instant Pot Cookbook. 

 Click.   I did not use the cilantro and ...

 

 

 

 

Okay, I know i'm being a tiny bit pedantic, but this strikes me in a way as jarring as if you'd printed a Mexican recipe and called for Dhania leaves.

 

 

Doesn't Canada still call it coriander in ENGLISH, or have you been infected with the US disease?

[blue_dolphin]

2 hours ago, weedy said:

Okay, I know i'm being a tiny bit pedantic, but this strikes me in a way as jarring as if you'd printed a Mexican recipe and called for Dhania leaves.

Doesn't Canada still call it coriander in ENGLISH, or have you been infected with the US disease?

 

Since the recipe that @Anna N linked to (authored by a woman from India, living in Dallas) chose to call for cilantro,  it seems reasonable to continue to that usage in her comment.  

So yes, you are being a tiny bit pedantic. 

As am I by replying 

[Anna N]

5 hours ago, weedy said:

 

 

this still seems, to me, to be the bottom line on the Instant Pot in general.

 

I'm only really interested in what it excels at; that is, does better than any other way.

 

so far, I'm finding it useful for making stocks or broths under pressure, and I made some pretty nice creamy polenta.

but the 'one pot meals', meh

 

 

 Different  strokes for different folks. 

[Anna N]

5 hours ago, weedy said:

Doesn't Canada still call it coriander in ENGLISH, or have you been infected with the US disease?

 I am afraid we are diseased.  It's cilantro here unless you're using the seeds in which case it's coriander.   And I still haven't learned to like the stuff although I work hard at it. 

[chromedome]

8 hours ago, weedy said:

 

 

Doesn't Canada still call it coriander in ENGLISH, or have you been infected with the US disease?

When it comes to food, we adhere more closely to American than UK usage. The fresh herb is typically cilantro, as Anna said, and we speak of zucchini and eggplant rather than courgettes and aubergines. Those green things Rotuts abominates are peppers, rather than capsicums, a biscuit is the kind you serve with ham and gravy rather than a cookie, and so on. We even still bake by Fahrenheit temperatures, though the weather forecast comes in Celsius and I have to mentally adjust when I see American weather reports. 

 

OTOH I certainly bake in muffin tins and cake tins, so there's that.

[Anna N]

23 hours ago, Anna N said:

 

So no photograph yet. But I did make the beef curry from the  Indian Instant Pot Cookbook. 

 

 

 Here it is. Not a very good photo I'm afraid but I ate it for lunch with Bäco bread  (documented in the Bread Topic).   I am very happy with both the curry and the bread.

 What I would change the next time is something I did which was not in the recipe and didn't help the end product.  I rinsed the blender (Thermomix)  with some water and added it to the Instant Pot.  I did this for two reasons neither of them justifiable on reflection. First, I was a little leery of using the Instant Pot with so little liquid and secondly I  didn't want to waste anything in the blender it was a little too lazy to stand there and scrape it all out.  It didn't need the extra liquid!

 

[weedy]

5 hours ago, Anna N said:

 I am afraid we are diseased.  It's cilantro here unless you're using the seeds in which case it's coriander.   And I still haven't learned to like the stuff although I work hard at it. 

 

 

Pity.

The Queen will weep

[kayb]

I have taken the egg bite plunge. I was planning on doing them in the SV, had the jars and everything, and then ran across these cute little thingys on Amazon that I thought would be useful for a multitude of purposes. The first thing I did was freeze beef stock in them, then pop the little cubes out and stash them all in a big freezer bag. Today, I used the cups again to make egg bites in the IP.

 

Six eggs, a healthy glug of cream (maybe 1/4 cup?), 2 oz crumbled goat cheese, 1.5 oz grated aged farmhouse cheddar, salt, pepper and chives, all whizzed up in the blender. Cut up some leftover brats, put in the cups; topped with egg mix. Six minutes high pressure, let it release 20 minutes or so, until I thought about it again. The leftover egg went into a pair of ramekins in the CSO at 350 for 15 minutes (and serendipitiously, are just about exactly the diameter of an English muffin). 

 

These were pretty doggoned good. I plan to freeze them and have them for quick breakfasts.

 

In the pot:

 

Cooked:

 

Ready to wrap and freeze:

 

[rotuts]

@kayb 

 

can you give me an Amazon Ref to those green thing-ids ?

 

did you put two in the iP ?

 

thanks.

[kayb]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

@kayb 

 

can you give me an Amazon Ref to those green thing-ids ?

 

did you put two in the iP ?

 

thanks.

Oddly, the item no longer appears in Amazon that I can find. I bought them only a month or two ago. They are Rednolia Baby Food Freezer Trays. And yes, two fit perfectly atop the trivet.

 

I am told silicone cupcake liners work well, too.

[palo]

Is this the item?

 

https://www.amazon.com/REDNOLIA-Multiportion-Silicone-Container-BreastMilk/dp/B019QX833C

 

p

[Mmmpomps]

Saute chicken thighs in olive oil , add a cubed red onion, 10 whole cloves of garlic, salt and pepper, poultry seasoning, hot chili powder and sumac. Add 1/2 cup of water...and 1/2ed spuds. Manual high 20 minutes, 10 minute natural pressure release.

The broth is delicious! I found a pack of 12 chicken thighs, bone in for five dollars. This will make two dinners and a few lunches. The Man eats a lot

[rotuts]

there was this :

 

Delidge 7 Cavity Silicone Cupcake Cake Muffin Chocolate Pudding Baking Tray Pan

 

but they don't give the dimensions

 

any thoughts ?

Edited September 25, 2017 by Smithy
Adjusted Amazon link (log)

[kayb]

11 hours ago, palo said:

Is this the item?

 

https://www.amazon.com/REDNOLIA-Multiportion-Silicone-Container-BreastMilk/dp/B019QX833C

 

p

Other than being a different color, it appears to be the same. There are also a couple in the "also looked at" collection at the bottom of the Amazon page that look similar. There was not quite an inch clearance in my Duo 6 for these, if that's helpful.

[Tropicalsenior]

2 hours ago, rotuts said:

any thoughts ?

I measured my regular cupcake pan and it looks to me like this would be about nine and a half inches wide. My pot is just barely nine inches. I'm looking here for the individual silicone cupcake molds. Those you could put closer together in the pot and there would still be room for the steam to rise around them. kayb, did you cover them with foil when you used them?

[Beebs]

Instant Pot Taiwanese beef noodles. Garnished with chopped sour pickled mustard and a bit of chili oil.  Tasted way better than it looks. I used the Meat/Stew function (35 mins) with natural release, which I think was a tad too long for the beef rib finger meat. It fell apart a bit too much, as did the tendons. Thinking 30 mins might do it next time. Also the finger meat was rather too fatty. I skimmed an entire bowlful of fat and also removed a good amount the next day (which I used to saute bok choy - waste not, want not! I also highly recommend beef noodle fat-roasted potatoes....). Will do beef shank again next time.

 

What I've learned so far: Use less liquid than in regular braising/stewing.

 

OK, here's a stew question. If I want to make stew with carrots & potatoes, how do I get the veg cooked in there without it all going to mush? Do I pressure cook it twice - once till the meat is almost done, then chuck in the veg & pressure cook a second time? Or simmer it on the Saute function??  

 

Next stop - probably bolognaise or ragu. Or potatoes. Or maybe I'll steam something. Steamed potatoes.

 

Edited September 25, 2017 by Beebs
Typos (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

13 minutes ago, Beebs said:

waste not, want not!

Here's another use for that beef fat. Make roux by cooking it off with an equal amount of flour. Cook it until it is a light amber color, then freeze it in small ice cube trays or in a roll that you can shave the roux off to have instant roux for thickening soups or stews.

[Beebs]

Brilliant, Tropicalsenior!

 

There is quite a distinctive star anise & ginger flavour to it, but I think a beef barley soup would be really nice with the fat. Also throw a scoop into bolognaise, beans, fried rice, chow mein. And yorkshire puddings!  

 

Mmmmm... beef fat!

[Tropicalsenior]

3 minutes ago, Beebs said:

Mmmmm... beef fat!

It would give a new twist to refried beans instead of using bacon fat.

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, Beebs said:

OK, here's a stew question. If I want to make stew with carrots & potatoes, how do I get the veg cooked in there without it all going to mush? Do I pressure cook it twice - once till the meat is almost done, then chuck in the veg & pressure cook a second time? Or simmer it on the Saute function??  

 I would certainly do the meat first and then when the pressure has dropped add vegetables  and cook those.  It depends a great deal on how large you cut the vegetables but I find an additional 3 to 4 minutes at high pressure is plenty. 

[Toliver]

4 hours ago, rotuts said:

there was this :

 

Delidge 7 Cavity Silicone Cupcake Cake Muffin Chocolate Pudding Baking Tray Pan

 

but they don't give the dimensions

 

any thoughts ?

 

The dimensions were listed further down the product page:

Size: 21.5x6x4cm

[rotuts]

@Toliver

 

thanks

 

I wonder what the 21.6 cm dimension represents :  that's 8.2 "  and would be large for the iPot.

 

canceled my order.