Wheat Berry Chili

You might have heard me refer to that man I live with, "the love of my life" or sometimes he might be referred to as "the pickiest eater on the planet".  Yeah same dude.  So here's the thing, the man who won't eat food if it's not naked (no sauces, creams, cheese or toppings), likes what he likes. And for a picky eater, sometimes I am surprised at what he likes.  I am currently sprouting wheat berries in my kitchen, and every time I fail and throw away the bloated kernels, he reminds me that he likes puffed wheat.  Ok good.  I just happen to have 29 5 gallon buckets of wheat in storage.  So this is what inspired today's meal.  Wheat.

and since I rarely plan ahead, I pulled out (cough cough, since it lives on the counter at all times) my trusty pressure cooker.   I decided I "knew" how to puff my wheat without checking any directions and off I went.  While my wheat was being pressured, I did check directions and found quite the discrepancy in various directions.  The first told me to pressure on low for 45 minutes.  The 2nd said 7 minutes on high.  The 3rd said 30 minutes, 10 natural release and quick after that.  Since I had already set my cooker to 20 minutes, I opted to leave it as it was and decide after if I needed more time.  SCORE!! It was just a chewy as we like.  I cooked on high for 20 minutes, natural release for 10 and quick release after that.

Wheat Berry Chili

2 c white wheat berries (or whatever you have open in your food storage)

4 c water

1 tsp salt

1 glurg olive oil or pat of butter. Whatever cooking fat you have available.  This keeps the berries from foaming and spitting at you once you release the rest of the pressure.

Pressure 20 minutes, natural release 10 minutes, quick thereafter.

While wheat is pressuring, on the stovetop brown

3/4 c chopped onion and celery (I have this wonderful seasoning mix I get in the freezer section at the grocery that is always in my freezer for quick meals)

1 lb hamburger.  

season with salt and pepper

Brown meat and vegetables.  Drain if you bought the cheap meat like I did...

1 can stewed tomatoes

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 can mexican style corn

2 tbs tobacco style hot sauce.

Drain the corn.  Mix all cans with the meat.

After draining the excess water from the cooked wheat berries, add the meat mixture to the wheat.  Mine was a little dry, so I added a can of V8 spicy to the mix.

I will serve with soft white rolls and a dollop of sour cream on top (because sour cream makes everything even better than it is already)  And probably some grated cheese.  Because hello, cheese and sour cream...

This makes enough for 2 grown adults who will be starving after 3 hours of church that doesn't start until 2:30, and plenty of leftovers for lunch next week.

:-)

Seriously Yummy Monday Night Pasta

Pasta in the pressure cooker doesn't have to be a hard thing.  Once you know the secret, it's super easy. So here's the secret.  Use a pasta shape that won't stick to itself (like spaghetti or fettuccini)  The more awkward the shape, the better it will work in the pc. And use just enough liquid to barely cover the pasta.  Now turn your pc on high, for HALF the time it tells you to boil it for.  Quick release.  Voila! it's done.

cast of characters

This is a little difficult to see, because I was cooking in the near dark, and using my cell phone.  There's no explaining why I do what I do. Just accept it and move on... But look at the cute message board my daughter-in-law made for me for christmas...

1 lb lean hamburger (please defrost so your won't look brown like it just came out of the microwave)

chopped onion (true there is no picture, but I am assuming you know what chopped onion looks like)

1/2 package pasta

1 jar sundried tomato pesto

fresh mozzarella pearls

brown meat and onions

Brown hamburger and onions... until almost completely brown...since we are going to pressure cook, I left it just a little pink.

place raw pasta on top of meat, cover (just barely) with water or broth

Once your meat is brown, pour the pasta and liquid on top.

pressure on high 6 minutes

Lock the lid in place and pressure on high for 6 minutes (the package directions said to boil 12-14 minutes)

finished product

Once the time is up, do a quick release of the pressure, remove lid.  At this point it was soupier than I wanted, so I drained off my liquid.  Added the jar of pesto and about 1/4 c mozzarella pearls.  Because I love melted cheese, but the man I cook for is not a big fan, so this is a great compromise, I get my melty cheese and he can easily take his and put it on my dish.  Yeah we are a study if perfect symbiocity. *I am almost certain I just made that word up.