I just saw an ad for an Express CrockPot Cooker. It looks like a direct competitor to Instant Pot?

I wonder if that's true, and if any of us have experience with this. It's currently on sale for $50, down from $80.

Pressure Cooker Sauerbraten from Pressure Cooking for Dummies

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time:60 minutes under pressure
Pressure: High

1 cup water
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp. salt
Salt and pepper
4-pound beef chuck or rump roast (I use the latter)

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 large carrots, coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed (I omit this)
3/4 cup finely crushed gingersnaps
2 bay leaves

1. Combine the water, vinegar, wine, brown sugar, cloves, and 2 teaspoons salt. Set aside.

2. Generously salt and pepper the meat.

3. Set Instant Pot to Saute at medium heat. Brown the meat evenly on all sides.

4. Add the carrots, celery, onions, garlic, crushed gingersnaps, and bay leaves. Pour the mixture from STep 1 over the meat. Stir to combine. Cover, set IP to Pressure Cook, high, and cook for 60 minutes.

5. Release pressure using quick-release.

6. Remove the meat to a platter and cover with foil. Discard the bay leaves. Puree the liquid in a food processor or blender until smooth, or use an immersion blender. Season to taste. Slice the meat across the grain into thick slices and serve with gravy. Egg noodles, spaetzle, or mashed potatoes on the side.

Couple of notes:

a. The sauerbraten is easier to slice if you cook the recipe ahead of time and refrigerate the meat. Much firmer and easier to cut. Straight out of the pot, it's delicious too, but the meat wants to fall apart a bit more.

b. I've used chuck roast in this recipe and it falls apart more than the rump roast, which is more "sliceable". Both are tasty. I think you could cook the pot roast for maybe 45 minutes rather than the full 60.

c. We like Hengstenberg Red Cabbage with apple as a side to sauerbraten and spaetzle: https://www.hengstenberg.com/products/red_cabbage

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Anna:
I'd like the sauerbraten recipe!

Me too!

Oh. There it is!

Yep! I missed it. Can't wait to try it!

Winner, winner, Lamb Biryani Dinner!!!

So far all of the recipes I've tried from Indian Instant Pot Cookbook by Urvashi Pitre have been fabulous.

I buy boneless leg of lamb from Costco for about $5 a pound, cut it into one pound chunks and freeze to use in this type of recipe. Each pound portion gives us two generous dinner portions, plus a nice sized lunch for one of us the next day.

Lamb Dum Biryani

1 cup basmati rice (aged Indian basmati preferred)
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped mint
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons Garam Masala
1 3/4 teaspoons salt, divided
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 serrano pepper, seeded and minced
1 pound boneless shoulder or leg of lamb, cut into cubes and all visible fat removed
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon peanut oil
1 cup water
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro

1. Rinse the rice and set aside. This will allow the rice to soften a bit and absorb some water.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the yogurt, onion, cilantro, mint, ginger garlic, garam masala, 1 teaspoon of the salt, turmeric, cayenne, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and serrano pepper. Add the lamb and stir to coat lamb cubes with the marinade. Let the lamb marinate for 30 minutes.

(I just sauteed the sliced onions in a skillet with a little oil and butter rather than using their broiler method, which follows)

3. Preheat the oven to broil. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil.

4. With your fingers, break apart the onion slices onto the foil-lined pan. Add the remaining 3/4 teaspoon of salt and the peanut oil and mix well.

5. Broil the onions for about 15 minutes, stirring once or twice, until they are well browned and crisp (Traditionally this is done in a pan on the stove, but it's quite a painstaking process. This method is largely hands-off and works well) Set aside.

6. When the lamb has finished marinating, pour the marinade, along with the lamb, into the inner cooking pot. Spread the lamb, yougurt, and spice mixture to cover the bottom of the pot.

7. Carefully spread the rice over all the meat in a uniform layer.

8. Pour in the water and gently push down the rice until it's submerged under the water. Do not mix the lamb and the rice together.

9. Lock the lid into place. Set to Pressure Cook and High. Cook for 6 minutes.

10. When the cooking is complete, let the pressure release naturally.

11. Unlock the lid and serve, top with the browned onions and cilantro.

It was pretty amazing. The rice grains stood up straight, almost like porcupine quills. The meat was fork tender and the rice perfectly done.

It doesn't get any better than this. I can finally cook good Indian food at home!

Back to hard cooked eggs.

The recommended way to cook them is to put them on the steamer rack and cook on high with 1/2 cup of water for seven minutes. When the cook is done you release pressure immediately and put the eggs in an ice water bath to stop the cooking.

I got sidetracked and ended up letting the pressure drop naturally over the course of some 20 minutes while the IP switched to keep warm mode. I thought the eggs were probably ruined.

Nope - they were even better! Hard to describe the texture - silky? And they peel even easier than the ones that got shocked in the ice bath.

https://www.budgetbytes.com/20...ant-pot-congee-jook/

Do y'all know about congee? AKA rice gruel. It is soupy rice, often with extras, eaten warm. It is good for what ails an overworked tummy.

It may not sound fabulous, but if you're hungry but your stomach is more u-u-u-r-r-gh, this is comfort food to the blissed max. (I know this from experience.)

Here's how to make it in the Instant Pot, although from the pic it looks busier than mine. YMMV, but the oogy tummy will be happier with a simple dish.

That looks super yummy, will definitely try it!

I think Adagio M household is into congee. As I recall she posted about an unsuccessful experiment involving brown rice, but otherwise I think it's a favorite with the AMs.

I've been making just a plain rice congee for the poochies when their tummies are upset. I'll have to branch out and try something a bit more upscale for us!

Tried a couple of other recipes from the Indian Instant Pot Cookbook. One was a vegetarian cabbage dish that we were both kind of neutral about (though it improved a lot when we topped it with a little Major Grey Chutney).

OTOH, we both loved this lamb dish:

Lamb Rogan Josh (Lamb Curry)

1 cup diced onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Garam Masala
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup water
1 pound boneless leg of lamb, cut into 1-inch cubes

1. In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients except the lamb. Add the lamb and stir to coat. Cover the bowl and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour or up to 24 hours. (If pressed for time, skip marinating and proceed to cooking.)

2. Transfer the lamb mixture to the inner cooking pot of the Instant Pot. Lock the lid into place. Set to High pressure. Cook for 20 minutes (15 minutes if you prefer chewier meat).

3. When cooking is complete, let the pressure release naturally. Unlock the lid and serve.

quote:

Originally posted by well-tempered gardener:
I've been making just a plain rice congee for the poochies when their tummies are upset.

That's an excellent idea! I just use plain rice but I bet they'd like this better.

I missed the updates in this thread. Yes, we're big on jook/congee, but I've been having a hard time getting it the way I like it in the IP. I use a turkey drumstick, and it's been too done the two times I tried it in the IP. I like it to be done, but not so overdone that it's falling apart and the little skinny bones sneak into the shredded turkey and threaten to choke you if you miss them.

I made jook the other night, just on the stove. 1 cup medium grain rice, 10 cups water, 1 turkey drumstick. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer. Simmer 1.5 hours, take the leg out, shred, put the meat in the pot. It's not much longer than the IP version since that one is manual release, and I have more control.

I topped it with roasted brussels sprouts, which are tossed with sesame oil, 15 minutes in a 425 degree oven, stirring every 5 minutes. After first 5 minutes, I added cut up Chinese sausage (lop chung). Yum. And pretty.

I was prepared, and started the brussels sprouts before the jook was done. Thinking ahead!

Snapseed by pianomom2001, on Flickr

Here's a mushroom risotto recipe that Kid1 (giver of IP) passed on to me. We had it tonight. I didn't have fresh mushrooms, so I only used dried ones. We had bought a big container at Costco for $12 last month. No miso paste, either.

Simmering the dried mushrooms in the chicken broth was an extra pot and an extra step, but this had a great depth of flavor from the mushrooms in the broth. Two thumbs up!

I miss those big things of dried mushrooms at Costco. I miss a lot of things from Costco (except maybe pushing the carts ) I think our closest Costco is over 3 hours away, and in Canada.