Instant Pot Adventures

These are things that have worked for me with the Instant Pot. This is just a record of how I've cooked them.

Main Dishes
Beef
Beef roast with vegetables - Brown 2-4 pound roast on all sides in oil using sauté; May remove meat and braise an onion; Deglaze pot with 1-1/2 cups chicken stock; Replace meat in pot; Cook meat 45 minutes on Meat/Stew; Quick pressure release; Add potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms, etc to pot; Cook on Meat/Stew 10 minutes; Quick release; Remove and tent meat with foil and let rest;   Remove vegetables; Heat stock on Sauté and add slurry (3T cornstarch with 3T water); Cook a couple of minutes.

Swiss Steak - use round steak - cut pieces with no bone not fat; dredge each piece with flour, salt, pepper. sauté in a little fat/oil in instant pot until brown on all sides; deglaze pot with tomato juice. Layer meat with 2T minced onion; 2T dehydrated mixed vegetable flakes; tomato juice just to the top of the meat. (I made my juice from tomato powder - about  2.5 cups for 2.5# meat.) Cook 45 minutes with a natural 10 minute release. Remove meat and thicken sauce with 3T four mixed with 3T water. Could also reduce sauce by cooking on sauté. This freezes well. I think I like the oven version better though.

Pork
Baby Back Ribs - Remove the membrane from the ribs and apply a dry rub. Cut the ribs into 3-4 rib pieces. Put 1 cup Apple Juice in the IP. Put ribs on a rack or in a basket. Manual HP for 14 min. Then NR for 15 min. Put on baking sheet and spread BBQ sauce over them. Broil in oven 3-5 min per side. I think 1.5 - 2 racks would be the limit at one time in a 6 qt pot.

Pork Chops with Homemade Mushroom Gravy - http://thisoldgal.com/pressure-cooker-pork-chops-in-homemade-mushroom-gravy/  with these changes: 3/4T butter should be plenty; I used chicken broth; Try 9 minutes instead of 10 cooking time.

Poultry
Whole Chicken - My pot will hold a 5# chicken. Wash the chicken and rub seasonings into the skin.  Add a little oil (1 - 2 T) and sauté the chicken on all sides in the Instant Pot. Remove chicken from the pot. Add 1c water or chicken broth to the pot. I put the chicken in a basket and cook on manual for 32 min. (6 minutes per pound plus 2 minutes). Then let it natural release for 15 minutes. You can leave is a little longer.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts  - Pound 4 boneless, skinless breast halves to 1/8” thickness. Stir together: 2 ½ ounces sliced mushrooms, drained, ½ c fine dry bread crumbs, ½ t sage, ¼ t marjoram, dash garlic salt, dash pepper, and 2T chicken broth. Put 1/4 of mixture on each half and roll. Secure with toothpicks. Place the rolls in the Instant Pot (right in the pot not in a basket). Add 1/2 - 1 c chicken broth to Instant Pot. Use high pressure for 5 minutes with a quick release. Remove breasts. Turn pot to sauté. Add 1 c chicken broth. Mix 1 T cornstarch and 1 T chicken broth. Add to the liquid in the pot. Cook and stir until thickened. Cook 2 minutes more.

Sides

Apple Sauce - Quarter up to 12 apples or so. Add 1/2 - 1 c water. Use Manual setting for 8 minutes then 10 minutes of natural release. I put through a sieve then to remove peelings.

Green Beans - Frozen Green beans, Bacon pieces – partially cooked, 1 c water in bottom of Instant Pot. Put green beans and bacon in a bowl  8 min on steam – needs to be longer for softer beans Use quick release 
    
Potatoes, baked and for dehydrating - Cut good sized potatoes in half; Steam with 1 cup water for 10 minutes; Natural decompress for 10 minutes

Rice, Brown - 1 c rice, 1 - 1 1/4 c water. Rinse rice before adding to pot. High pressure for 20 minutes. 10 minute natural decompress. Strain rice - I rinse with warm/hot water. DUO60 will hold 4 cups of rice to cook at once.
OR
Cook rice in Instant Pot 1:1 ratio of rice to water. Manual set on High Pressure about 23 minutes. Natural Release for 10 minutes

Soups/Stews

Life Changing Instant Pot Beef Stew

From https://pinchofyum.com/instant-pot-beef-stew

(My additions in red; my choices in blue)

The recipe says it serves 5-6. We found more like 4.

• 2 lbs. beef cut into 1-inch or less chunks
• 2 potatoes
• 1 medium onion sliced thin
• 2 stalks of celery sliced diagonally in thick pieces
• 6 carrots slide diagonally in thick pieces
• 1/3 cup flour
• ½ cup tomato juice
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Toss beef in the flour and use Saute function on the Instant Pot to brown. Turn pot off. Add everything to the Instant Pot and select stew/meat setting or manual setting for 35 minutes. Use a natural release for 10 minutes before releasing steam.

Double this recipe for a full 6 quart pot. When doubling, add 2-3 minutes to the stewing time.

Chicken Noodle Soup - Sauté 1 diced medium onion, 2 diced large carrots and 3 diced celery stalks in 2 - 3T butter with a little salt. About 5 minutes. Add the 3 cloves of minced garlic, and 1 teaspoon each of dried thyme, dried oregano, and dried basil. Cook for 1 minute. Add 8 cups chicken broth, 2 cups cooked chicken, 8 oz noodles (or less - this seemed to be a lot). Push the Soup button and cook 4 minutes. Do a quick release. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup Prep/cook time:  90 min

Serves: 8

▪   2c leftover cooked beef

▪   32 ounce container beef broth

▪   1 cup water

▪   3 c chicken broth

▪   14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes

▪   15.5 ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

▪   ½ teaspoon salt

▪   ½ teaspoon garlic powder

▪   ½ teaspoon basil

▪   ¼ teaspoon parsley

▪   ¼ teaspoon oregano

▪   ¼ teaspoon black pepper

▪   2 c carrots

▪   1 c celery

▪   1 c mushrooms

▪   1.5 c potatoes

▪   ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese 

Mix everything in IP except cheese. Cover and lock lid.

Set cooker to manual or soup for 30 minutes. 

Use a Natural Release of 15 - 20 minutes. 

Serve with Parmesan cheese.

This really filled the IP. Took quite a while to come up to pressure and to Natural Release after 15 min.

Slow Cooker Vegetable Barley Soup Recipe

From  http://www.cookincanuck.com/2016/01/slow-cooker-vegetable-barley-soup-recipe/

Makes 11 cups

• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, cut into 1/2” circles
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces I used 2 regular potatoes
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 cups frozen green beans
• ¾ cup pearl barley
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ¾ tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp salt
• ½  tsp ground pepper
• 1 (14 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes
• 6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth I used what I had - chicken and beef broth
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup minced flat-leaf parsley I skipped this.

Put everything except parsley in Instant Pot and set to venting  (no pressure). Press Slow Cooker. Set time to 8:00 hours. Press Adjust to set to Low.  When finished cooking, stir in parsley and serve.

Miscellaneous

Eggs, boiled - Put 1 cup water in pot and steamer basket. Place eggs in steamer basket. Steam for 5 minutes; Natural release for 5 minutes; Place eggs in cold water to stop heating process.

Juice, Grape (probably any fruit juice)- Place 1 c water in pot. Place washed grapes in colander (ok to have stems). Put the colander in a bowl and set the bowl with the colander on the steamer rack. Steam 10 min and natural decompress for 10 min. May want to mush the grapes to get more juice. I dilute the juice with an equal amount of water. Add sweetener.

Yogurt, unflavored - *Put milk into IP (Any amount up to 1 gallon – I usually do about 8-12 c). Press yogurt button, then press adjust until it displays “boil”. When milk gets to 180-185 degrees, IP will beep and display “yogt”. Unplug IP.

*Cool milk to 110 degrees. You can let it sit and wait but I put the inside pot in the sink in ice water – check temperature with a digital thermometer. This will just take a few minutes.

*Add starter (purchased yogurt with a live active culture OR yogurt I have frozen and defrosted from a previous batch – 1-2T or more per quart) and mix with a whisk.

*Put the inside pot back into the IP (wipe off the outside of the pot if it was in ice water). Seal the IP and press yogurt, press adjust until it displays 8:00 (8 hours). When you hear the beep, it is done. Whisk until smooth. (note: IP counts up.)

* optional step - For Greek yogurt, strain for 45 minutes - 1 hour. I use a bouillon strainer. Put back in inside pot and whisk until smooth.

*Put into jars, label with date and use within 3 weeks. Don’t forget to freeze some of the yogurt for your next session starter. I drop 1-2 T globs on a paper plate (usually 4); place that in Ziploc bag; label and freeze.