More Instant Pot Goodness

As I continue to experiment with my Instant Pot, I've started to get brave enough to go "off book" a little by occasionally adjusting or swapping out ingredients to suit my family's tastes - or what I happen to have in the pantry. I've probably tried a dozen or so different recipes by now, and I've only had one fail - which was admittedly my own fail, since I changed up the recipe a little. But I've learned from my mistake, and now I know a little more about how to "counterbalance" changes I make so every recipe is a success. Here are some of my latest successful recipes!

Shredded Chicken Burrito Bowls (link to original recipe)

This is a good recipe to experiment with in terms of using different vegetables, and you can add whatever toppings you prefer. I discovered after I started making it that I didn't have any fresh peppers OR any canned diced tomatoes, so I used salsa instead. But the Pot wouldn't come to pressure, and I realized that I needed to add more liquid, as the salsa is much thicker than canned tomatoes. Once I added more chicken broth, it cooked just fine and was actually quite delicious. The recipe below is as written. Feel free to alter as you like, just make sure that you up the liquid if you substitute a thicker or less juicy ingredient for the original.

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 1/4 cups of chicken broth
1 pack of taco seasoning (scant 1/4 cup)
1 can of sweet corn, drained (or about 1 cup frozen corn)
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can of Rotel or diced tomatoes
1 medium green bell pepper, sliced
1 medium red bell pepper, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cups of uncooked rice

In the Instant Pot, pour just enough chicken broth to cover the bottom of the pot. Then place the chicken breasts along the bottom of the pot. Sprinkle the taco seasoning evenly over the chicken. Pour the corn, black beans, and Rotel/tomatoes into the pot, covering the chicken evenly. Spread the peppers and onions evenly over the top. Add the rice around the sides of the chicken and pour the remaining chicken broth over, then push the rice down so that it's covered by the broth. Seal the Pot and pressure cook for 5 minutes. Allow to natural release for 10 minutes, then quick release. Remove the lid and pull apart the chicken using two forks. Stir well to incorporate all the ingredients and place the lid back on, then allow to sit (with heat OFF) for at least 5 minutes, until rice becomes tender.

Serve in a bowl by itself, in a soft tortilla, or with tortilla chips. Top with fresh tomatoes, avocado or guacamole, sour cream, shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, salsa or pico de gallo, shredded lettuce, hot sauce, or whatever other toppings you like.

Chicken Stew (link to original recipe)

This recipe was originally for chicken and dumplings, but my family is not big dumpling fans - we prefer a hearty stew with some nice, crusty bread. So I simply omitted the dumplings, upped the potatoes a little, and served it as is.

2 tsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Butter
1 small Onion, diced
1 Bay Leaf
1 cup Carrots, chopped into large chunks (the smaller the chunks, the softer they will be)
1 cup Celery, chopped (2 stalks)
3 large cloves Garlic, pressed or minced
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1/4 tsp Poultry Seasoning
1/2 tsp Sage, dried
4 sprigs Fresh Thyme, 2 tsp leaves (or 1/2 tsp dried)
1 tsp dried Rosemary
4 cups Chicken Broth
1 large Potato, chopped (or more)
1 1/2 lbs Chicken Thighs, and/or Breasts, cut in slightly larger than bite sized pieces
1 cup Frozen Peas (or mixed vegetables)
1/2 cup Heavy Cream or half and half

Set the Pot to sauté  and allow to heat, then add the olive oil and the butter. Then add the onion and bay leaf. Stir. Add the carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook for a few minutes, scraping the bottom of the pot. Add the salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, sage, thyme, and rosemary. Cook for a few seconds to let the spices become fragrant. Add the chicken broth. Allow to come just to a simmer. Add the potato and chicken and stir. Place the lid on the pot and lock in place. Turn the steam release knob to the sealing position. Cancel the saute function and pressure cook for 7 minutes. Do a controlled quick release (open the vent for a second or two at a time, pausing between releases). When the pin drops back down, open the lid carefully, and stir in the frozen peas or mixed vegetables and the cream or half and half, set to Keep Warm, and stir until vegetables are heated through. Adjust salt to taste and serve.

Whole Chicken (link to original recipe)

One of my favorite things to make in the crockpot is whole chicken - followed by making homemade stock overnight. I wondered if the Instant Pot version would be as good. And surprisingly, it was! Even more surprisingly, the broth was just as flavorful, and I didn't have to worry about getting up early in the morning to strain it and cool it before I left for work. This is a really easy way to cook a bunch of chicken at once and have it on hand for sandwiches and lots of other recipes calling for cooked chicken.

1 whole chicken (any size that fits in your pot; best to NOT use frozen chicken for this one)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp Paprika
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Onion Powder
(Note: You may substitute 3 tablespoons of any other spice mix you prefer for the above spices.)
Salt & pepper to taste

Take out the neck and gizzards, if inside the chicken. Set the Pot to saute. While it's heating, combine the spices in a small bowl. When heated, add the Olive Oil to the Pot and put your chicken in, breast side down. Sprinkle with about half of the seasoning. After 3-4 minutes flip the chicken and saute the other side for an additional 3-4 minutes. Remove the chicken from the Pot and place the trivet and one cup of water in the bottom of the Pot. Place chicken, breast side up, on to the trivet, and sprinkle with the remaining spices. Seal the Pot and pressure cook for 6 minutes per pound. Allow to natural release for at least 10 minutes, the quick release.

Be sure to save the carcass and make chicken stock using the recipe below!

Chicken Stock (link to original recipe)

Faster than making it in the crock pot and just as delicious. It does make a slightly smaller volume, but I suspect you could make two batches from the same carcass and the second would be fully as flavorful as the first.

Bones and skin from 1 chicken carcass
1 onion
2 carrots (unpeeled is fine)
2 celery stalks
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons salt
8 cups water (or fill to line on Pot)

Place chicken bones and skin in the Pot. Roughly chop all vegetables and place on top of the chicken bones. Add bay leaf, salt, and water. Pressure cook for 30 minutes, and natural release. Open Pot and allow to cool briefly. Strain through a mesh strainer into a large bowl and ladle into mason jars or tupperware containers. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Corn on the Cob

This is absolutely the easiest recipe imaginable. Corn on the cob comes out wonderfully tender, and in the same time it takes to boil it on the stove - but there's no babysitting! Throw it in, press a few buttons, wait for the beep, and enjoy!

Place the trivet in the bottom of your instant pot and add 1 cup of water, then stack ears of husked corn on the trivet. You can cook as many as will fit in the pot and still put the lid on. Seal the Pot and pressure cook for 5 minutes, then quick release and serve immediately. If the corn won't be eaten right away, reduce the cooking time to 3-4 minutes. Serve with butter (herbed butter is especially delicious!) and salt.

Enjoy!

Easy Crockpot Roast Chicken

I've posted this recipe before, but since it's such a great recipe for beginners, I thought I'd repost it with photo illustrations. If you're not much of a cook - because you never learned, because you live alone and usually cook for only one, because the oven is scary, whatever your reason - this is a good recipe for you. A crockpot is a great tool for a beginning cook, because it's very forgiving in terms of cooking time and gauging doneness. Most of the meats you cook in a crockpot are intended to be very tender, and since the lid traps in moisture, it's difficult to overcook anything to the point of it being dry. So if you're a non-cook who would like to become a cook, a crockpot is a worthwhile investment.

If you're generally cooking for only one or two, a smaller crockpot is probably your best bet. Making a small recipe in a large crockpot often results in cooking too fast and burning sauces at the top edge. Luckily, most crockpot recipes can be cut down without too much difficulty. But if you often cook for a larger family or for company, or if you have a freezer in which to save the leftovers, a larger crockpot is for you.

This roast chicken recipe can be used with either a small or a large crockpot, simply by varying the size of the chicken you use. I love using the largest bird I can, because it allows for a full meal for my family of four plus enough leftovers for a second (and often a third) meal, and of course plenty of homemade broth from the carcass! A 3-4 pound bird is fine for a small crockpot; up to an 8-pounder will fit in a larger one.

Let's get started! First of all, peel the plastic from the bird and remove the giblets and neck. If you choose to rinse the chicken, pat it dry with paper towels.

Place the chicken into the crock, breast-side down. With some crockpot recipes, I like to spray the crock with cooking spray or use a crockpot liner, but roast chicken creates enough of its own juices to avoid sticking, and it's easier to make the stock afterwards without a liner, so for this recipe I don't bother. 

Sprinkle the bird generously with salt, pepper, and whatever seasonings you prefer. I like to use poultry seasoning, but an Italian seasoning blend also works nicely, or just toss in whatever herbs you like and have on hand. 

Carefully flip the bird over and repeat the process, covering the breast side with salt, pepper, and herbs. This particular chicken came with a little doneness thingy (I'm sure there's a technical term for it, but you know we all just call it the "thingy"), but don't worry if yours doesn't have one. You can easily gauge if the meat is cooked by poking it with a fork. When it's ready, the breast meat will come apart easily. Turn the crockpot onto high and forget about it for 4-6 hours (if cooking a small bird, 4 hours is plenty; a larger one may need closer to 6).

Very soon you'll start to smell a wonderful aroma, and if you take a peek, the lid will have some condensation on it, and you'll notice that there is a fair amount of liquid in the crock.

This particular chicken was about 7-1/2 pounds, and the thingie popped at about 5-1/2 hours. If I was planning to shred the chicken, I'd have let it go another half hour or so, but since we were eating it as is, I wanted to keep the meat a bit firmer. 

The skin doesn't crisp up in the crockpot (if you like crispy skin, you can always toss it under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp it up), so simply peel it off and cut off large pieces of breast to serve - you can leave it right in the crock to carve it, if you like. 

I served mine with herbed oven roasted potatoes (cut 2 pounds of potatoes - skin on but well scrubbed - into 1" chunks and toss them with 1 tsp each of garlic powder, black pepper, parsley, and rosemary, a little salt, and 2 Tbsp of olive oil, then lay them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 425 for 30 minutes or so) and peas. So yummy!

After dinner, finish pulling the meat off the carcass (for this step, I do pull it out of the crock and use a cutting board; it's easier to get at all the small bits of meat) and toss it in the fridge for later, then return everything else to the crock, including the skin. Don't dump out the liquid from the cooking! If you're planning to make soup right away, don't worry about getting every last bit of meat off - you can retrieve it when you strain it and put it right back into the soup.  If you're not squeamish, break any of the smaller bones that you can. That will release the marrow and give the broth a richer flavor.  

Here is where it gets creative. I like to use onion, celery, carrots, garlic, poultry seasoning, and salt and pepper in my stock. But use whatever you like and/or have on hand. No celery? Leave it out or toss in some celery salt. Don't have an onion? Throw in a bit of onion powder or onion salt. Ditto for replacing fresh or minced garlic with powder or salt. (If you use salt for any of these, omit or greatly reduce the added salt.) 

I prefer to peel my onions and carrots, although some people don't bother. Just cut everything into big chunks and toss them in the pot. 

I gauge my amounts by what I have on hand. if I have a huge bag of carrots that I know I'll never use up before they go bad, I'll toss in 4 or 5 of them. If I only have two sad stalks of wilted celery, I'll use it up. If I'm running low on onions, I'll only use half of one or toss in a handful of frozen chopped. 

Once you've added all the vegetables, fill the crock with water until it's about an inch lower than the level of the lid. (It's an interesting lesson on flotation: onions and celery float; carrots sink.)

Add the garlic, herbs, salt and pepper, and any other incidentals you like (some people like to add a pinch of red pepper flakes!) and give the whole shebang a quick stir.

Since I usually do this process right after supper, I set my crockpot on high for a few hours until I go to bed, then I turn it down to low and leave it overnight. If you're doing it late at night, leave it on low all night and it'll be just fine. If you'd rather finish up in less than 8-12 hours, leave it on high for 4 or 5. It's not picky. (See? This is why I love crockpots. They're very forgiving.)

In the morning, turn off the crock, remove the lid, and allow the broth to cool for a bit, then set a metal sieve (or a plastic colander) over a leftover container and use a large ladle to scoop up the contents of the crock and pour them in. If your containers are an inconvenient size or shape for straining, strain the broth into a large glass measuring cup with a spout and pour it into the containers from there. I put two plastic grocery bags together in the sink and periodically dump out the contents of the sieve. If you're planning on making soup, sift through the remains in the colander and save any decent-sized bits of meat to add to the soup.

Let the broth cool a bit more before storing in the refrigerator or freezing for later use. Once the broth has chilled, you can go back and skim off the fat that's congealed at the top, or you can just wait until you use that particular container and skim it then. Homemade stock is much thicker than storebought, so don't worry if your stock is the texture of melty jello! It will liquefy as it reaches room temperature. You may also notice a dark sludge in the bottom of the containers - this is the herbs and seasonings! Use it if you want a stronger herb flavor to your broth, or leave it behind if you prefer a milder flavor or a clearer look.

You can also make broth from the carcass of a storebought rotisserie chicken or a chicken you roasted in the oven. If you don't have time to make stock right away and you have room in the freezer, wrap the carcass in plastic wrap and freeze it until it's convenient. You can even save celery, onions, and carrots in the freezer to use in your broth - freezing ruins the texture but not the flavor, and since you're throwing away the vegetables, the texture doesn't matter in the least.

I find the flavor of homemade broth is much richer and tastier than the stuff from a box or a can. If you have a large crockpot, you'll end up with quite a bit of broth, so you may want to experiment with replacing part of the water when you cook rice or make instant mashed potatoes, use it instead of milk when you make real mashed potatoes, use it for risotto and soup and anything else you can think of!

Enjoy!