Variations on a Theme

So my dear friend sent me a package the other day.  It had two boxes of that lovely Knorr seasoning cubes that my market here doesn't seem to carry (If they do, I sure can't find it!).  And my sweet daughter-in-law called and talked about making beans at her house.  So I knew I needed a pot of beans.  But who wants to wait to soak overnight and all day to cook?  Not me!  So I chose a time when my adult daughter was gone.  She still does not eat beans.  I know, it's a sure sign I failed in the way I raised her.  Or she just doesn't like beans.  Either way, today I am making beans!

I pretty much followed Char's recipe below, only I had Great Northern Beans instead of pintos.  And we are carnivores, so I had to add sausage to the pot.

30 minutes on high with natural release, and then I thickened the juice with a little bit of dehydrated potatoes.   Char was right, they are the best beans ever!

Frogmore Stew

My intentions were good. I took a before picture...then we ate dinner and I forgot to get a picture of the finished product before it was consumed. 

This is also known as 'Lo-Country Boil'.  Whatever the name, we call it delicious.

6 red potatoes cut in half 

2 chicken thighs

3 Cajun sausages

3 ears corn on the cob

10 oz frozen medium size shrimp, cleaned, uncooked

1/4 c Old Bay seasoning

3 c chicken broth 

Brown chicken in a little butter.  

Layer in pressure cooker as follows:

Potatoes

Chicken

Sausage (poke the casing to keep from splitting during pressure)

Shucked corn broke in half

Old Bay

Chicken broth

Pressure on high 4 minutes.  Natural release for 8 minutes, quick release after that.  While waiting for the natural release, sauté the shrimp in a little butter in a separate pan until shrimp is just barely pink.  Open pc cut sausage and chicken into bitesize peices and add the shrimp sausage and chicken to the pot.  Serve in bowls with some rolls on the side.  (Broth is for flavor and cooking, it's too salty to actually eat as a soup).  Enjoy!

Easy Sausage Rice

We eat this meal quite a bit...it's quick and filling.  My issue is I keep forgetting to take a picture of it. But tonight I removed the fork out of my mouth in order to take this photo.

It's very adaptable to families of all sizes. My mother used to feed the masses with 5 cups of rice, but we have downsized significantly so I only used 1 1/2 c rice, which fed the 3 of us and had enough leftover for a lunch later in the week.

Sausage Rice

1/2 lb hot sausage (we like hot, but any flavor will do.  This was Owens brand)

1c chopped celery (3 stalks)

1 envelope Lipton chicken noodle soup mix

1 1/2 c long grain rice

3 c water

Using brown setting, brown the sausage in the pressure cooker.  Add celery, soup mix, rice and water. Mix once.  Lock on lid, push rice button.  If your pc does not offer a rice setting, high pressure 6 minutes.  Natural release for 5 minutes and quick release the rest.  Serve with a green salad and if you are my husband, applesauce, because everyone knows if your meal has rice in it, it must be paired with applesauce.  I don't understand it, but I have learned over the past 29 years when to put the applesauce on the table.

Best Beans Ever!

 

I like a good bowl of pinto beans, but I usually have to add lots of stuff once they are cooked to give them the flavor I like.  Until now!  I found this recipe on Pinterest and it was a keeper!

 

2 cups dry pinto beans (1 lb)

6 cups water

1/2  medium onion chopped

2 garlic cloves minced

1 Knorr's Chipotle cube

1 Knorr's Cilantro cube

1 tsp oregano

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt

 

Put all ingredients in pc.  Cook on high pressure for 45 min.  Allow for natural release.  If you like your juice thicker, stir 2 tsps. cornstarch into a little water to dissolve.  Stir into pot. 

 

*Chipotle and Cilantro cubes are found at Walmart in the Hispanic food section.  They make all the difference in the flavor. 

Easy Peasy Ribs!

So in the past, every time I made ribs it was a fail!  They fell apart, they were burnt, they didn't taste good.....you get the picture.  So I was very nervous about trying them again in the pc, but I gave it a whirl!  Holy bbq sauce!  They were awesome! 

1 had one rack of ribs and cut them in half.  It was more a snack than a whole meal.  I rubbed it with a mixture of equal parts of brown sugar, garlic salt, onion salt, paprika.  I salt and peppered both sides before spreading the rub on.  I let them sit for about 10 min while I set up the pc. 
Put ribs in a steamer above 2 cups water.  Cook on high pressure for 30 min.  Quick release to check for doneness.  Lay ribs on cookie sheet and spread your favorite bbq sauce (mine is Sweet Baby Rays Hickory Brown Sugar) on both sides.  Broil 7-10 min in your oven on both sides.  Delish!

Creamy Italian Pork Chops

My first post!  So I got a pressure cooker because I was "pressured" by Melanie to get one.  And boy do I like playing with it.  Here is my latest test dinner.

4-6 boneless pork chops
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
1 pkg zesty Italian dressing mix
1/2 stick butter
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (optional)
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 c milk or water

Brown pork chops in the oil on the brown setting in your pressure cooker.  Add the soup, dry dressing mix, milk or water, butter, cider vinegar.  Bring to high pressure and cook 8 minutes.  Natural release for 10 min then quick release.   Cut softened cream cheese into chunks.  Open PC and add cream cheese.  Stir until melted through.   Pork chops will be very tender and you have lots of sauce/gravy. Serve with rice or mashed potatoes.  (The apple cider vinegar gives it a little zing).

Pork chops become pork salad

 

Pork chops in the preassure cooker? Yes!  Aside from a lesson learned about trying to brown my chops on too high a heat, and learning that yes, my smoke alarms work very well thankyou...  So because we have the late meeting schedule I wanted to do as much as I could before church.  I marinated my chops overnight in a ziplock bag with a cup of Paul Newmans light sesame ginger dressing.  I just left the bag of meat/dressing in the fridge overnight.  I removed a chop and used a paper towel to blot up some of the dressing before browning in olive oil in a skillet.  Watch that you don't turn your heat up too high, or you too will find yourself testing your own smoke alarms!  After browning, I put the chops back in the fridge until after the meetings were over.  Once we returned home, I placed the chops on my steamer basket and used 2 cups of chicken broth to high pressure for 8 minutes, natural release for 10 minutes and then quick release the rest.  The leftover broth now infused with pork will make the start of a wonderful stew or soup.  And while the pork was cooking, I was assembling this:

2 cups of iceberg lettuce, 1 c fresh spinach, 2 boiled eggs, chopped, 1/2 c chopped cashews.  Chopped sweet bell peppers, tomatoes, bacon bits, fresh parmesan and croutons.  I added some wild rice, sliced the pork chops and drizzled with balsamic vinegrette.  The man I eat with did not add the vinegrette, and he enjoyed it just fine.  I'm going to call this dinner a success!