Over the Kitchen Counter: Angie's Place for Cooking and Crafts

Instant Pot Pizza Pasta

I wanted to try some new recipes and this Instant Pot Pizza Pasta was a great place to start. Dinner is always so rushed and since I had all the ingredients ready to go it was only a few minutes to get this meal on the table.

The kids love anything with pepperoni so I knew it would be a hit. They weren't crazy about the mushrooms but I always try to keep them in there for 'exposure'! One day.....

I didn't have penne so I used bowtie pasta and it worked just as well. Hubby said the centre of the bows were a bit too al dente so next time I will increase the cook time slightly if I have to use that variety again. Other than that, everyone said it smelled amazing and loved the cheesy pasta. This was definitely a hit all around and I will be making it again. It's a great way to use up pepperoni and sauce after pizza night too!

You can watch the video below and use the Instant Pot link in the info to print out the written recipe. Enjoy!

Amazing Tip for Pulled Pork and Shredded Chicken

I recently saw a random post of someone shredding chicken in the Instant Pot using a hand-held electric mixer. This intrigued me as that is a job I hate doing. Usually, I remove the chicken to a plate and use two forks to pick and pull apart the meat. It's kind of messy and hot, and it seems to take me forever. I couldn't wait to experiment with the mixer technique to see if it actually worked.

On Wednesday I made bar-b-qued pulled pork sandwiches for dinner. The pork tenderloin had cooked slowly in the crockpot all day and it was time to start shredding. I took the lid off about 1/2 an hour before I wanted to serve to allow it to cool somewhat. I put on an apron and glasses (not knowing if the beaters would splatter up hot bar-b-que sauce!) and used the slowest speed on my Kitchen-Aid hand mixer. I hoped this would work for pork in addition to the chicken breasts I saw demonstrated.

It took a minute but the pork chunks easily started to shred. It combined perfectly with the sauce and became the ideal texture to spoon on the brioche sesame seed buns. It was a fabulous dinner and it was just so easy! The pork wasn't gloppy and drippy so there were no soggy buns and we could add a bit of extra bar-b-que sauce to the meat, as desired. I do not know who to thank for this idea but pulled pork sandwiches and chicken tacos or enchiladas just got a whole lot more enticing to make for dinner! Try it out sometime, I swear it works like a charm!

P.S. I'm so excited to share some new things with you so please check back! I will get the posts written as soon as I can - this summer has been super busy!

Instant Pot Spinach and Herb Lasagna

The Instant Pot is still my most loved, and most used(!), cooking appliance in the kitchen! I seriously use it at least once, and many times twice, a day. I adore it. When I saw the quick video tutorial for Spinach and Herb Lasagna I knew it had to be made a.s.a.p. I love lasagna and even though it obviously wasn't going to be exactly the same experience as a homemade, oven baked version, for a fast weekday pasta meal this method couldn't be a bad thing.

It was soooo easy to assemble the lasagna using no-boil noodles and good quality jarred marinara sauce. I did grate the cheese by hand as I find the pre-shredded variety in the bags never melts quite the same nor has a strong flavour. Of course, the process is the same by mixing a ricotta/spinach/egg mixture and then layering it with noodles, sauce, and cheese.

In order to lower the baking dish into the Instant Pot it is necessary to make a foil sling. The lasagna is also covered with foil while it pressure cooks. The directions say to cook on high for ten minutes but I found my pasta was still a little too firm for my liking. Next time I will cook it a bit longer. I will say that the noodles softened perfectly overnight and leftovers for lunch were amazing! The sauce just needed a little extra time to get into those noodles!

The recipe is meatless so that was perfect for me but you certainly could make your own meat sauce and use that instead. I will definitely be making this again. The one thing to remember is to make sure you have the correct size dish that is safe to use in the Instant Pot pressure cooker. I have a ceramic 8" soufflé dish that is simply ideal for mine so I keep it together with the IP exclusively so it's always ready to use.

They had some amazing Black Friday deals on the Instant Pot but by the time I got to the store they were gone. Still, the price has come down so much since I got mine last Christmas and there are now more models and features to choose from. I talk about it so much that I think the kids know they are all getting one when they get married!

Here is the video tutorial for you to try the Spinach and Herb Lasagna...

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Blue Zones Red Beans and Rice

I love this recipe for Red Beans and Rice from the Blue Zones website. It's super simple and really fast to prepare, especially if you use parboiled brown rice or the Instant Pot.

After the cauliflower Buffalo 'wing' incident, I am relived that this version of beans and rice isn't spicy! This is a perfect dish for me to have when the fam dines on a meaty meal...it's very filling and healthy, with protein to keep me going, plus I love the leftovers for lunch with a corn tortilla.

Cycling Rice Cakes

Cycling rice cakes aren't anything like those crunchy, chip-like flavoured snack food ones in the bag. These are high energy squares of cooked rice with added flavourings, like raisins, apple, and cinnamon. I learned about them from watching GCN videos (the Global Cycling Network) and they are a favourite food of pro racers while on the bike. They can be kept in a jersey pocket while riding, are quick to eat (barely need chewing), and pack easy to digest nutrition. The rice cakes sounded good and since they seem to be a universally eaten cycling food, I thought I'd give the GCN recipe a try.

Basically, the rice cakes are cooked short grain rice, such as arborio, combined with flavours and then cooled in a pan, chilled, and cut into portable squares. There is a lot of energy and calories going into the rice from brown sugar, apple juice, and dried fruit but that burst of energy is what long ride cyclists and racers require. I used my Instant Pot to cook the rice (really it's a sweet risotto) and then I mixed in the raisins, dried apples, cinnamon and brown sugar. We tasted it warm straight from the pot and it was delicious!!! If you like rice pudding, it had a very similar flavour.

The cooked mixture is spread into a baking sheet and cooled before it's chilled overnight in the fridge. In the morning, I cut the solidified rice into squares and wrapped them individually. Cooked rice needs to be handled carefully in terms of food safety and should be kept refrigerated or frozen, and not left a room temperature longer than a couple hours. The rice cakes tasted a lot less sweet once they are cold (which is another reason why there is so much sugar in the recipe), but were quite good. However, I did not enjoy the squares as much once they had been frozen and then thawed. The texture was much more dry and the flavour much more subtle. They weren't horrible or anything, just not as good, but they still served their nutritional purpose and eased hunger pangs after a ride. Since we are not racing or in the saddle for hours and hours, I cut the squares into very small portions and we only have the rice cakes occasionally.

Speaking of GCN, I am such a GCN fan that I ordered a bunch of gear from their on-line store. I bought a new hoodie (so fluffy and cozy!), a beautiful cycling jersey made in Italy, a geeky fan GCN water bottle (which is the exact CamelBak Podium model I currently use but red with the logo), and a phone pouch. Everything was awesome and I was also delighted to get a postcard featuring the presenters and a couple of stickers. They are now in my scrapbook album! :)

Irish Beef Stew with Stout

I was a little late for St. Patrick's Day but the Irish Stew with Stout I made last night in the Instant Pot was a hit anyway. The recipe is from the One Pot cookbook and although uses a stovetop pressure cooker I adapted it to the IP by using the Meat/Stew smart button and then reducing the cook time by ten minutes. I have enough experience and reference sources now that I'm feeling confident in making small changes to a recipe.

The stew was pretty standard compared to my usual crockpot version other than replacing red wine with a cup of stout beer. I also added some other vegetables - celery, carrot, and mushrooms - to increase the health benefits, add colour and flavour, and stretch the meal even further. We also love those ingredients in our stew!

A can of tomato paste was something I don't usually use but it was good addition, making the stew more tomato-y (obviously), and delicious. After sautéing the meat and veggies first, I added the beer, some beef broth, and then the paste. I cooked the stew under high pressure for twenty minutes and did a ten minute natural release (wait ten minutes, then release pressure manually). I prefer a thick stew broth (great for soaking up with bread, biscuits, or polenta!) so after releasing the pressure I removed the lid, added frozen peas, and then a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch dissolved in cold water. I used the sauté feature to bring it to a boil and it thickened up nicely.

Although it was different than my traditional beef stew, hubby and I loved it! It's so quick to make and I really liked the beer substitution. The flavour was wonderful and I will be making this version again soon. Of course, you can make this recipe in a slow cooker or in a Dutch oven just as easily - it will just need a bit more simmering time.

Dried Beans & the Instant Pot

I am thrilled with how the Instant Pot pressure cooker cooks dried beans. I have made baked beans with navy pea beans from scratch many times, baking them slowly in the crock pot or Dutch oven. However, despite soaking overnight and boiling, I could never get them tender enough. With the IP, they come out perfectly - soft but with texture and bite.

The first batch of baked beans I made were awesome, using my regular recipe but with pre-cooked beans from the pressure cooker. I also used my 'own' kidney beans in my chili and they were so good! After that I wanted to try some other bean dishes so started with basic white kidney beans in tomato sauce. It takes only about 20 minutes and the flavour is wonderful. The recipe is from Hip Pressure Cooking and I added sautéed mild Italian turkey sausage to make it more substantial. There is a flavour hit added with fresh sage sprigs and crushed garlic and I think next time I will throw in some diced onions as well. I loved the beans prepared this way and it is an easy way to add dried beans (cheap, healthful, and tasty) to our meals, either alone or as a simple side dish.

I'm going to research other bean recipes and I've picked up a few varieties of dried beans. They are much more economical if purchased dry in a bag versus canned, with less sodium, improved flavour and I found, larger in size. Black eyed peas are something I've always wanted to try so I might start there.

It's been a very busy few days as my kids were all back home. We've been running around and I've been making some of their favourites so the regular routine has been altered with not much time left for sewing or crafting!

Instant Pot Soups

  

Second to steel cut oats, I think soup is the thing I have made most in my Instant Pot so far. It makes incredible batches of hearty, nutritious soup that taste phenomenal. I just can't bring myself to buy canned any longer since I know I can whip up a huge pot of homemade for fractions of the cost with way more flavour and texture.

Starting with stock from bones, the pressure cooker makes fast and easy work of this worthwhile task. If you enjoy a roast chicken or turkey, a rich stock is only minutes away. I toss the bones in the cooker with water and veg (carrot, onion, celery, garlic) and in under half an hour, it's done. My usual crock pot recipe cooks all night and while the house smells incredible, garlic and chicken is not really what I want to smell over breakfast! With either method, I could not ever throw away meat bones again and if I'm too busy to make the stock I put them in the freezer for when I have time. There is a pre-set program for soup on the Instant Pot or you can use the manual setting; no matter which, it only takes about 20-25 minutes to have a long-simmered tasting stock or soup.

I have made a wonderful turkey soup using the stock and the leftover meat, minestrone, standard chicken noodle or barley (the most amazing chicken soup ever), carrot and leak, butternut squash, incredible lentil, and my current favourite - roasted red pepper and cauliflower. There is something about the pressure cooking that yields the most amazing flavour. With the thick, puréed soups I simply prepare the soup and then blend it right in the Instant Pot stainless steel insert using an immersion blender. It comes out incredibly smooth because the vegetables are so tender.

There are no limits to the varieties of soups you can make in a short amount of time and it's easy to create a unique batch using what's in the fridge and cupboard (I will sometimes use a dry bean mix, lentils, split peas, barley, rice, or pasta; various meats like poultry, ham, beef, or even sausage, and of course, as many vegetables as will suit). The large quantity means there is lunch ready all week and I usually freeze a few containers for another day. It's so healthy, easy, tasty, and cheap!

Make Even More from Your Pressure Cooker

I frequently check out the NEWEST CRAFTSY CLASSES and they always seem to be on the 'cutting edge' of what's current. Not only that, I feel like they have a window into my life because Craftsy never fails to mirror exactly what I'm currently focusing on! (Maybe that means I'M on the cutting edge too!!). Once again, I was delighted to discover the Make Even More from Your Pressure Cooker class. Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough share pasta, seafood, grain, breakfast, and dessert ideas in this fun and recipe-filled series of lessons aimed at getting plenty of use from your pressure cooker.

I hadn't realized that this is the second class from this pair of chefs so I must have missed the first offering, Make the Most of Your Pressure Cooker. Both classes are currently ON SALE! I really like that the guys demonstrate on both a stovetop cookers and electric models, including my Instant Pot. I love when instructors are using the tools or machines that I'm using - it makes it super easy to follow along.

I was anxious to try out several of the recipes right away and just had to start with the good ole' mac and cheese. Their version is made with 4 different cheeses and is out of this world delish. It's more like my traditional mac and cheese compared with the 'quick and easy' one I shared in THIS POST and you can even add a yummy cheese and breadcrumb topping and quickly broil it in the oven (it just requires transferring the pasta to an oven-safe dish).

I have already gone out and bought all the ingredients to make a steamed Christmas pudding. I have ALWAYS wanted to make one but was totally intimidated with the steaming part. In a pressure cooker, it will be a breeze...and FAST! The recipe from the class is so easy too, made with simple dried fruits and a quick batter. I will definitely let you know how it goes!

My recent posts have hopefully conveyed my love for the Instant Pot and I hope if you have one you are using it too! This class is a great addition to Craftsy. If you're new to pressure cooking, check out Make the Most of Your Pressure Cooker and if you're ready to move on, Make Even More from Your Pressure Cooker could be just what you're looking for.

Scrapbooking & Yogurt Day

I completed Part 1 of my England scrapbook and even with the slide-in pages, all the pics took up the entire Uncharted album. I ordered another complete set of the bundle (album, pre-designed pages, pen, tape runner, and embellishments) because a) it's a great value compared to purchasing separately, b) my photos look amazing in the theme and colours of that collection, and c) I've invested in these memories and they deserve a beautiful scrapbook (considering the cost and special nature of the trip itself, all the printed photos, and the time I've spent putting together the incredible souvenir).

I still have many days of the trip to scrap; I'm on page 3 of the next album and it's coming together nicely. I am so happy with how Part 1 turned out and the Sherlock Holmes page is my favourite. I love that even though I only had a couple photos I was able to add in a cool postcard from the shop and Sherlock's business card to make a really neat layout. I added the random numbers as decoration to represent the puzzles and codes he figures out. I am reliving the amazing tours we enjoyed too and Windsor Castle was one of the highlights. The landscape hasn't changed there in hundreds of years and it is such a wonder to me to imagine people strolling along the 'Long Walk' for generations before us.

There is nasty weather outside today so I'm not leaving the house to battle it. I plan on cropping a little more, working on the last few blocks of quilting on the Vintage project, and I already have yogurt incubating in the Instant Pot. I switched from pouring the milk and making the yogurt directly in the pressure cooker insert to using 500 ml canning jars. With this method the process is so much easier and my IP isn't out of commission all night. The milk is sterilized so much faster too so I've got the routine down pat in terms of timing. It's also a lot tidier to have the yogurt already in the jars; no need to ladle it and slop all over! I've got my recipe perfected to our taste now too. My last batch was just a wee bit on the tart side so this time I think I've got it just right. I can't wait until tomorrow to enjoy a taste.