Tag Archives: Instant Pot

Instant Pot Whole30 Moroccan Chicken

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My conversion of a slow cooker recipe for a pressure cooker.

I’m trying to do Whole30 these days. It was recommended by a friend late last summer and I hopped on in August. It was a huge change in my diet, mostly because I could no longer eat dairy and grains — and I’d been eating a ton of yogurt and granola for quite some time. But I came to feel that Whole 30’s emphasis on fresh lean meats and vegetables was good for me. It certainly makes me feel healthier.

Lots of folks complain about the amount of cooking you have to do with Whole30. I think that’s what I like best. I can make a batch of something and have leftovers for lunch. I especially love making a big batch of Paleo Moussaka, cutting it into single serving pieces, and freezing it in vacuum sealed packages for a quick and easy meal anytime I want it. And I like the challenge of taking a recipe that’s almost Whole30-compliant and modifying it to be fully compliant.

My friend Elizabeth loaned me a Whole30 cookbook and I browsed through it the other night looking for something new and interesting to make. I found a recipe for Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken. I love the seasonings in middle-eastern and Moroccan foods so I figured I’d give it a try. But 6 hours in a slow-cooker? No thanks. I’ll make it in my instant pot.

Moroccan Chicken
My version of Moroccan Chicken, served on cauliflower “rice.” 30 minutes from an Instant Pot.

The recipe that follows was my first and very successful attempt. What threw me is that the original recipe did not call for any liquids to be added at all. I’ve never seen a slow cooker or pressure cooker recipe with no liquids, so I added about a half cup of coconut milk that was in my fridge, leftover from another meal I’d made earlier in the week. When I popped the lid on the Instant Pot, I was very surprised to see quite a bit of liquid in the pot, so I’m thinking that the coconut milk listed here isn’t necessary. I’ll leave it out next time.

Ingredients

Seasonings:

  • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
  • 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tsp minced garlic. (I’ll admit it; I used it from a jar.)
  • 2 tsp minced ginger. (I just happened to buy some frozen cubes of ginger earlier in the day and I used that.)
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp ground cardamon

Other ingredients:

  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1-1/2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 5 dates, pitted and sliced or chopped. (In a pinch, you could use the equivalent amount of raisins or prunes instead, but dates are best.)
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup coconut milk. (This is optional. See my note above.)
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted. (I used sliced and did not toast them.)

Instructions

  1. Combine the seasoning ingredients in a small food processor or blender and process or blend until smooth. The result will be a paste.
  2. Put the onions into the bottom of the Instant Pot’s inner pot.
  3. Poke the chicken all over with a fork and then rub the seasoning paste into them, reserving about 2 tablespoons of the paste. Put the chicken on top of the onions. (I made sure I spread open the thigh pieces so they would cook thoroughly.)
  4. Coat the sweet potatoes with the rest of the seasoning paste. Put them in the pan on top of the chicken.
  5. Sprinkle the dates on top of the sweet potatoes.
  6. If using coconut milk, pour it as evenly as possible over the contents in the pot.
  7. Lock the pot. Press Manual and set the timer for 10 minutes.
  8. Allow the pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes. Open the pot carefully.
  9. Garnish with cilantro and almonds.

You can serve this over cooked cauliflower “rice,” other steamed vegetables (zucchini “noodles” are good for this), or real rice if you’re not following Whole30. The flavor is amazing.

Instant Pot Goat (or Lamb) Tagine

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Another quick and tasty pressure cooker meal.

Last spring, I bought a half a lamb and a half a goat from a local organic rancher. The meat came butchered (of course), packaged into a variety of cuts, and frozen solid. Each package of meat was tightly wrapped with plastic and then covered with white butcher paper. Some of it spent a little more than a year in my freezer with no ill effects.

Goat Tagine
Goat tagine, prepared in an Instant Pot.

As I’m working on clearing all the meat out of my big garage freezer for a new batch of meat next spring, I’m searching for recipes that are easy, tasty, and, if possible, Whole30 compliant. I found one called Goat Tagine with almonds and apricots on The Guardian website. I fiddled around with it a bit to Americanize the ingredient list and turn it into a recipe for my Instant Pot pressure cooker. Here’s my version.

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp cumin seeds. Not easy to find; ground cumin, which I use a lot, is widely available.
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds. I could not find these locally; all I could find was ground coriander. So I used slightly less than 1 tsp of that.
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 12 black peppercorns. I don’t see why they can’t be rainbow peppercorns if that’s all you have.
  • 2 tbsp olive, rapeseed, or sunflower oil. I used olive oil.
  • 2-1/2 pounds goat or lamb, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces. The original recipe specifies shoulder of kid or goat, but I went into my freezer and pulled all all the remaining goat packages I had: steaks, chops, shanks. Goats are small animals so although that might sound like a lot of meat, I think I came up short on the total amount of meat after I’d cut out the bones and trimmed away what little fat there was. My main goal, however, was to finish up all the goat left in the freezer and I succeeded.
  • 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped. I used yellow onions.
  • 1/2 cinnamon stick.
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced. I suppose you can use the kind in a jar.
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated.
  • 1 tsp hot, smoked paprika. I didn’t have this so I used 1 tsp of regular (sweet) paprika and about 1/8 tsp chili powder. I also added a drop of liquid smoke, but I think I could have used 2 or more drops because I didn’t taste any smokiness at all.
  • 1 15-oz can crushed tomatoes. I used a pint-sized jar of chopped tomatoes in their natural juice. I’d canned them earlier this year. I really love being able to use my own garden vegetables in recipes year-round.
  • 1 cup dried apricots, cut in half. I got Turkish apricots in the natural foods section of my supermarket. They’re available in bulk. They’re not the pretty orange ones that come prepackaged and are available elsewhere in the store. Instead, they were dark colored and didn’t look very appetizing. They tasted great and weren’t nearly as sweet as the orange ones. (That’s all I’m buying from now on.)
  • 1/2 cup whole blanched almonds. I used slivered almonds because I prefer smaller pieces in my food.
  • 1 small bunch fresh cilantro, chopped.

Instructions:

  1. Set up the Instant Pot and make sure the pot is clean and dry. Press Sauté and allow the pot to heat. Then add the cumin, coriander, cloves, and peppercorns. Toast lightly for a few minutes, stirring frequently to prevent scorching.
  2. Transfer spices to a mortar and pestle (or spice grinder). Pound or grind into a powder and set aside.
  3. Add 1 tbsp oil to the Instant Pot and allow it to heat. Then add the meat and brown it. You might have to do it in two batches with some additional oil; I didn’t. Transfer the meat into a bowl and set aside.
  4. Add 1 tbsp oil to the instant pot. Then stir in the onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender; about 5-10 minutes.
  5. Stir in the ground spices, cinnamon stick, garlic, ginger, paprika, and salt and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
  6. Stir in the tomatoes and their juices. While cooking, use a heat-resistant rubber spoon or wooden spoon to scrape away at any dark bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. The liquid in the tomatoes should make this easy.
  7. When the mixture has come to a boil, stir in the meat and any of its released juices.
  8. If necessary, add hot water to bring the level of liquid up to nearly cover the meat.
  9. Add the apricots and almonds and stir well.
  10. Cover the pot and lock the lid. Turn the steam vent so it’s closed.
  11. On the Instant Pot, press Off, and then Manual. Set the time to 30 minutes.
  12. Allow the stream to release naturally for about 10-15 minutes, then carefully open the pot.
  13. Stir in the chopped cilantro and serve.

A few notes about this recipe:

  • You might need to add more salt. The original recipe was vague on what was needed so I made it without salt. It definitely needed salt so I added about a half teaspoon before locking down the lid. I try to minimize my salt intake for health reasons so you might want more.
  • The original recipe, which was written for the stovetop, instructs you to cook kid for 45 minutes or goat for 60-75 minutes before adding the apricots and almonds and then cook for another 45 minutes. This would obviously cook the apricots less. You could simulate this in the Instant Pot by pressure cooking without the apricots and almonds for 20 minutes, adding them, and then pressure cooking for another 10 minutes. Then you’d have to deal with pressure release to open the pot to add the apricots and almonds. I’m lazy so I didn’t bother. It’s up to you. I don’t think the flavor will change.
  • Reduce the pressure cooking time by 5 minutes if you’re using kid instead of goat.
  • The recipe suggested serving with couscous, rice, or flatbread. But since I’m trying to avoid grains and gluten — yes, I’m still on that Whole30 thing and I’m actually liking it — I cooked up some finely chopped cauliflower and pretended it was rice. I poured some tagine right over that. Excellent.

Slow-Cooker German Pork with Sauerkraut, Onions, and Apples

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A twist on a family recipe…kind of.

My grandfather was German — born in Germany — and trained as a pastry chef. He owned a bakery in New Jersey and ran it with my grandmother until I was about 10 years old, when they retired to a life of leisure in their New Jersey home.

He was also an excellent cook who whipped up the real German dishes I grew up with. One of them was pork with sauerkraut. Years after my grandparents were gone, I got the recipe and whipped up a batch at home, which, if I recall, called for boneless country-style pork ribs. I’ve since lost the recipe and pretty much forgot all about it.

Until my friend Shirley shared a similar recipe on Facebook. That got me thinking about it. She linked to another recipe even more similar to the one I remembered. I decided to make it. I bought the pork. And then I got busy with other things (as usual) and forgot about making it (as usual). Fortunately, I’d put the pork in the freezer and when I was poking around in there thinking about what to make this weekend, I found it and remembered the recipe.

Pork w/Sauerkraut
Here’s a closeup of my version of the finished dish. (Do you really need to see more than one picture?)

Of course, by then I’d lost Shirley’s recipes. Rather than trying to find it on Facebook, I did a Google search, came up with a few recipes that were similar, and zoomed in on one of them. But since that wasn’t really what I wanted to make — I don’t remember potatoes being in the dish — I fine-tuned it to make it into something similar but different.

Following me after all that?

Anyway, here’s my version, which includes instructions specific to an Instant Pot. One of the things that sold me on Instant Pot was that it was a slow cooker, too; no need for multiple devices filling my pantry shelves.

Ingredients:

  • 1 2 to 4 pound boneless pork loin roast. This is not the same as a pork tenderloin. (I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: do not waste a pork tenderloin in a slow-cooked or pressure-cooked recipe. It is naturally tender and is best grilled.) If there’s any visible fat on the roast, trim it off.
  • Salt and pepper to taste.
  • 2 strips uncooked bacon, chopped. I used buckboard bacon, since that’s what I had.
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar. I bet you could substitute maple syrup or even honey.
  • 1 14 oz. can sauerkraut. Or whatever “standard” sized can or jar you find. You don’t want the big jar. Don’t drain it!
  • 1 large onion, cut into 1/4 inch wedges. That’s the way I cut them, anyway. I used regular yellow onions, but I suppose you can use any kind of onion you want.
  • 1 large apple, cut into 1/4-1/2 inch wedges. I used a Honeycrisp, because that’s all I had in the house. Silly me. I kept one segment for the cook. Quality control, you know.
  • 2 teaspoons caraway seeds. That’s the one part of the recipe that I definitely do remember, mostly because when I was a kid I hated caraway seeds and my baker grandfather would make me rye bread without it. (Talk about a spoiled kid.)

You know, if you’re really big on starches with your food, you could add potatoes. The original recipe called for 6 white ones, peeled and quartered.

Instructions:

  1. Season the pork with salt and pepper and set aside.
  2. Press Sauté on the Instant Pot and toss in the bacon. Cook it up to release its yummy aroma and fat. (Okay, so if you don’t have an instant pot, you’ll need to do this in a pot on stove.)
  3. Note about browning the meat:
    The recipe I based this (loosely) on instructed cooks to simply put the raw pork into the pot with the other ingredients and cook it. But my understanding is that browning meats helps increase flavor so that’s why I did it here — and nearly always do it in any slow cooker or pressure cooker recipe. I added the bacon merely as a source of tasty fat; you could, I suppose skip the bacon and use some sort of oil instead.

    Add the pork and brown on all sides. This could take a while. Be patient. Try to stir around the bacon so it doesn’t get all burned.

  4. Remove the pork and set it aside again.
  5. Deglaze the pan with about 2 cups of hot water. This means adding the hot water and using a wooden or silicone spoon to rub away the burned bits at the bottom of the pan. Along the way, the water will turn into bacon soup. (At this point, if you’re not using an Instant Pot, you might want to transfer everything in the pot to your slow cooker which you should then turn on high. And remember later, when you’re washing two pots, that Instant Pot users only washed one. Just saying.)
  6. Add the brown sugar and stir it in.
  7. Return the pork to the pan.
  8. If you’re including potatoes, I recommend putting them in the slow cooker around the pork right now.
  9. Add the sauerkraut (with all juices), onions, and apple. Just dump them in right on top of the roast.
  10. Sprinkle the caraway seeds on top.
  11. Cover and bring the mixture to a boil, then press Off. Then press Slow Cooker and adjust the temperature to Low and the Time to 6 hours. (If you’re using a regular slow cooker, you’ll probably need to cover it to get it up to temperature. Once it’s bubbling, turn the temperature down to low.)
  12. Slow cook 6 hours.
  13. Remove the meat from the pot, slice it as thin as you can (against the grain; good luck), and arrange it on a serving plate. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the rest of the goodies and arrange them around the pork. You can put some of the juices in a milk pitcher or gravy boat for guests who might want to pour it over on their plates.
  14. Serve hot (duh), possibly with some crusty bread. Or rye bread, with or without seeds.

If you try this, please do let me know what you think.

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Pressure Cooker Beef (or Oxtail) Barley Soup

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One of my favorites, made quickly with a twist.

Oxtails
Oxtails, fresh from the butcher.

One of my favorite “comfort foods” is beef barley soup. I blogged my recipe last December; here’s the pressure cooker version that’ll get yummy barley goodness to your mouth quicker. But rather than use plain old stew meat, this time I used fresh oxtails that I picked up from a local butcher this past week. I whipped it up in my Instant Pot in about an hour.

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil. The original recipe called for cooking spray. But why not use a little olive oil instead?
  • 2 pounds oxtails, trimmed (or 1 to 1-1/2 pounds stew meat, trimmed and cut into 1/2- to 1-inch pieces). You can make it with less meat, but if you have more, use it. It’ll make a heartier soup.
  • 3-4 large carrots, sliced. Carrots are a must-have in any meat-based soup.
  • 2-3 stalks of celery, sliced. I don’t care for celery, but it is part of the aromatic trilogy.
  • 1 large onion, chopped. The third member of the aromatic trilogy, I put onions in most soups and stews. I still have onions from my garden.
  • 1 large parsnip, sliced. If you can’t find parsnips, add another carrot or two, which is what I did today.
  • 1 medium turnip, cut into 1/2-inch cubes. I skipped this today.
  • 4 cups fat-free, low-sodium beef broth. Today I cheated and used water with bullion, which is the only thing I had.
  • 1 bay leaf.
  • 2/3 cup uncooked pearl barley.
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt. You can probably omit the salt if you don’t use low-sodium beef broth. I did, but then again, I’m trying to keep my salt intake down. Remember you can always add salt; you can’t remove it.
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Pepper is always good with beef.

Instructions:

These instructions are for an Instant Pot, but I tried to include generic pressure cooker instructions, too.

  1. Heat the pressure cooker for browning. On an Instant Pot, press Sauté.

  2. Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat.
  3. Add oxtail or stew meat to pot and cook until browned on all sides.
  4. Remove meat from pot with a slotted spoon and set aside.
  5. Add vegetables to the pot; cook 6-8 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates.
  6. Return beef to pot with beef broth and bay leaf.
  7. Bring to a simmer and turn off the pressure cooker.
  8. Stir in remaining ingredients
  9. Cover and lock down the cover. Set the pressure cooker to high for 20 minutes. (On an Instant Pot, press Manual and set to 20.
  10. When pressure cycle is over turn pressure cooker off and allow pressure to release naturally. This should take about 15 to 20 minutes.
  11. Remove cover carefully, fish out bay leaf, and serve.

Oxtail Barley Soup
Oxtail barley soup. It was delicious!

Keep in mind that the longer you cook the pearl barley or let it sit in the hot soup, the more liquid it will absorb. The net result could be more of a stew than a soup. If you want a soupier soup, either reduce the amount of barley or increase the amount of broth.

This yields about six to eight servings, depending on serving size. I think it would be excellent with some crusty bread on a cold winter day.

Instant Pot Chicken Mole

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Another great recipe for my pressure cooker.

Chicken Mole
Chicken mole from my Instant Pot.

A friend came by for dinner yesterday. I expected her at 5 and worked down in the garage until 4:50 PM. I wasn’t worried about time; I was cooking up dinner in my Instant Pot and had all the ingredients ready. She kept me company while I got everything into the pot and we drank wine and snacked on caprese with tomatoes from my garden and fresh mozzarella while we waited.

Here’s my version of the Mole Chicken Chili recipe I found in my newPressure Cooker Perfection cookbook. I served it over white rice and it was delicious: slightly chocolatey from the cocoa, slightly sweet from the raisins, and with just enough heat to catch your attention from the chili powder and chipotle peppers.

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil.
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder.
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa.
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced.
  • 2 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce. This stuff, which you can find in the Hispanic food aisle of your grocery story — assuming your store has one — is spicy! I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do with the rest of the can. Freeze it in a small container?
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 2-1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth. If you use a quart sized container, as I did, you can use the remainder with water to make the rice. If you use canned chicken broth, you can get away with using one can and making up the difference to 2-1/2 cups with water.
  • 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes. I used 3 medium, very ripe fresh tomatoes from my garden.
  • 1 cup raisins.
  • 1/4 cup peanut butter.
  • 3 to 4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, with fat trimmed off. The original recipe calls for 4 pounds bone-in thighs.
  • Salt and pepper.
  • 1 onion, halved and sliced in 1/2 inch thick pieces. I used a red onion from my garden.
  • 1 red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, cut into 1/2 inch pieces. In general, I don’t like peppers, but I’m trying very hard to like them so I included them.
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped.

Instructions

  1. Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to Instant Pot and press Sauté to start heating.

  2. When oil is shimmering, add chili powder, cocoa, garlic, chipotle, cinnamon, and cloves. Cook about 30 seconds. (It will smell really good.)
  3. Stir in broth, tomatoes, raisins, and peanut butter. Be sure to scrape any bits of the dry ingredients off the bottom of the pan. (I have a silicone spoon I use for this and it does a great job without damaging any of my cookware.)
  4. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
  5. Remove the sauce from the pot and puree it in a blender. (I use an immersion blender, which does a great job.) Set it aside.
  6. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
  7. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the pot.
  8. Add the onions and sauté until softened, about five minutes.
  9. Stir in sauce, chicken, and peppers.
  10. Cover and lock pot; close steam vent.
  11. On the Instant Pot, press Off and then press Manual and set the time to 20 minutes.
  12. When the timer beeps, press Off. Do a quick pressure release and then carefully remove the lid.
  13. Stir in cilantro and serve.

The original recipe instructs you to leave the red pepper out in step 9. Instead, when the pressure cooking is done, you remove the chicken and shred it. While doing that, you cook the pepper in the sauce for 10-15 minutes and then add the chicken back in. My way is quicker and easier and I’ve found that the chicken shreds a bit on its own as it’s served. Also keep in mind that if you use bone-in chicken, you should increase pressure cooking time to 25 minutes.

This makes a lot of food. With rice, it fed both of us two servings and there was enough leftover to give my friend some to take home and feed me at least two more meals. We were too full for dessert!

If you make this, let me know what you think.