Hi list.
Just wanted to share my latest success with the Instant Pot a couple days ago.
The recipe I made comes from one of the cookbooks put out by America’s Test
Kitchen, with recipes specifically made for these multi cookers. The recipe
was for a Sicilian Chickpea stew with escarole. I couldn’t find escarole when
we placed our grocery order, so I just used spinach. The recipe starts out by
soaking dry chickpeas in a brine for up to 24 hours, then they’re drained and
rinsed. I then sauteed two fennel bulbs, chopped into small chunks, with a
good amount of salt until they just turhned soft, then added 5 cloves of garlic
I minced up and cooked that for about half a minute. Into the pot went a
couple bay leaves, some dry oregano, a pinch of red pepper flakes, my
chickpeas, and a quart of chicken broth. I then locked on the lid and cooked
it under pressure for 12 minutes. I then released the steam, then turned on
the saute function so I could stir in the spinach and wilt that down. Finished
with a fresh tomato I chopped up, stirred in a bit of fresh parsley, and served
it up with plenty of Parmesan cheese and a d rizzle of olive oil. It went well
with some crusty sourdough bread, though next time I make this, I think some
rosemary focaccia would be better. Of course, I removed the Parmesan rind and
bay leaves before serving. The flavor was great, intense, and it was
satisfying without being too heavy. I will definitely make it again. My next
instant pot dish I plan to make is braised sausages with lentils and kale. The
recipe looked good enough that I added it to my menu plan that starts next
week. I’m also going to try out quinoa on the next menu as well. There is a
book from these same authors up on book share called bowls, and I intend to
look through that book closely to see what sounds good to try.
In closing, if it seems like I haven’t been around much lately, it’s just
because things are a little busy lately. Emily is taking on a lot of new
clients, and just made the move into a new office space with what we sincerely
hope are far better landlords. If we can get everything to fall into place
over the next couple months, we will hopefully see our income go up, which
would be great. Tonight is leftovers, so I’m taking a day off from most
kitchen work. All I really need to do tonight is make the marinade for some
roasted chicken I plan to make on Thursday before we leave on a weekend car
trip on Friday with the family.
Jon
