Pressure Cooker, Our BEST Recipe In 40 Years!!

We all have a favorite recipe,, ours changed tonight!! :smile:

I used the Pressure cooker.

We did this as a guess, because it is what we had in the house,
The results would be considered restaurant quality.

I browned a pound of stew beef cubes that had been coated with AP flour. I used some peanut oil in the skillet to brown the meat.

We tossed that, in the pressure cooker, plus;
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups cut up carrots
one cup cut up celery
2 cups water
one box of Zatarain's Dirty Rice

We put it on high heat, then adjusted to slight rock of the rocker for exactly 3 minutes.

Everything came out perfect, the rice was cooked, the "Dirty Rice" seasoning was exactly what was needed.

It was one of our best pressure cooker meals. :eek:

I guess the Insta Pot would do it, but, I would not know how long to cook it??

Do you have a favorite pressure cooker recipe?? :D

Last night wife shake and baked 6 pork chops. They were a bit overcooked, dry, tough.

Took 2, sliced them in half the long way, scraped breading off, then gave them a light scrub with hot water and a brush.

Dropped them into the instapot with 1.5 cups of water and a shot of Teryaki sauce for 15 min.

They came out juicy, tender, shredded 2 strips with a fork, put in a dish, added barbeque sauce, warmed lightly in Microwave.
Loaded a 4" chunk of sliced, buttered french bread with the pulled pork & sauce and wow.

It was awesome, and really simple. Took longer to tell about it than to do it. Think the other 2 strips will go into a stir fry or fried rice.

The pressure cooker is our 2nd favorite way to cook, smoker is #1. What my wife can do with veggies, cheap meat and potatoes is unreal.

The only time our pressure cooker gets some use is when cooking gray squirrels.
Some of the older ones can be pretty tough.
My wife pan frys them to a golden brown then pressures them for 15 minutes or more to be sure they are all tender.

What is "AP flour?"

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Originally Posted by Tatume

What is "AP flour?"

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AP is All Purpose flour. the other main type is "Self Rising" that flour has baking powder pre-mixed in the flour.

If you make biscuits, and the baking powder is not included correctly, no CO2 gas bubbles form, the biscuit does not rise.

Self Rising flour is used to make biscuits,, and IIRC,, may have a metallic taste if the counterbalancing acid is not present.
I am not a cook, I just get these tid-bits from watching cooking shows,,,

Well, I'm not going to argue about self-rising flour being "the second" type of flour, seeing that it's only AP flour with baking powder added. I'll just add that there is a 3rd type, bread flour which has a higher gluten (protein) content, better for making yeasted breads. Then there is a 4th type used for pastry and cakes which has very low protein to prevent gluten development.

Baking powder, even the stuff in self rising flour, self destructs over time since it contains both the acid and the base. Atmospheric moisture makes the two react over time neutralizing any leavening action it once had. It doesn't take long for that to happen. If my BP is more than about 6 months old it's suspect. But it can be checked by adding some to hot water. If it fizzes vigorously its good, any other reaction means it needs to be replaced.

For baking powder that does NOT self destruct over time get some Bakewell Cream. Unless you live in Maine you'll probably need to mail order it. It was developed during the shortages of WW2, but I like it better than the traditional baking powders; it has a much better taste. It will always be ready to activate since all it is is the acid portion of baking powder. One adds sodium bicarb' to the recipe along with the Bakewell Cream. It can stay on a shelf, opened, for decades and still be good to go when you need it. Folks "at camp" love the stuff since traditional baking powder won't last to the next season. But Bakewell Cream will still be good to use the next time they open the camp. The downside? It's single acting. But it's not much of a downside since it always works when called upon to work. It makes the best biscuits.

I tried you 'best recipe' last week. Indeed, it is a keeper. Next time I will cook the meat first for 5 minutes, then add the 'Dirty Rice mix". I had to add a little time to my instant pot to get the stew meat tender. I also added an onion, duh! I think I had 5 meals from that pot, someday my wife will get smarter! She has trouble 'Trusting the cook'! Later, Tom

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Originally Posted by hc18flyer

I tried you 'best recipe' last week. Indeed, it is a keeper.
Next time I will cook the meat first for 5 minutes, then add the 'Dirty Rice mix".

I had to add a little time to my instant pot to get the stew meat tender. Tom

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We have both the Insta-Pot, and the pressure cooker.
The Insta-Pot cooks on "high" at 10-11 psi pressure,
The pressure cooker cooks at close to 15 psi.

The higher the pressure, the higher the temperature,,
the higher the temp, the faster the food will cook.

So, yes, the Insta-Pot will take a little more cooking time..

I think that is a BIG portion of the success of the Insta-Pot, the longer cooking time allows better flavor to develop.

In the case of what I cooked in post #1, I think ALL the flavors came from the "spices" in the Dirty Rice,
so, the extra time to develop flavor is not as necessary.

I may use the Insta-Pot the next time I prepare that,, to see if it gets better flavor.

We have been pressure cooking since 1976,, and,, actually we own five pressure cookers,, plus the Insta-Pot.

Three of the pressure cookers were purchased in series as we wanted to do more and more jars per batch of pressure canning.
Our biggest one will hold 21 quart jars at one time, which processes food,,, FAST!!.

I have 2 pressure canners I use for venison. I like the instant pot, and I am working to learn how to use it better. I used a little Tony Cacharay seasoning on the stew meat, was plenty spicy. Tom