Thursday, September 26, 2013

Pressure Cooker Timing

Here is a quick reference on how long it takes to cook meat, poultry, veggies, beans/lentils/chickpeas, rice/grains, seafood/fish and fruit in a pressure cooker.

Click here

Chicken Marsala with carrots

I made this last night and while the chicken was good there wasn't a lot of flavor.  Probably needs the cheese that it calls for in the original recipe... so add something extra to give extra flavor.

3-4 lb chicken (whole) or 4-6 chicken breasts or chicken thighs
1 cup water
1 can cream of mushroom
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup sliced onion
1 cup sliced carrot
1/2 Tbs minced garlic
1 Tbs dried basil
1 Tbs dried oregano
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Prepare the chicken by salt and peppering it.  I score the top and bottom to help flavors seep in.

In the pressure cooker set to saute and add the onions, garlic, carrot, and mushrooms for 5 minutes or until the onion is becoming translucent.  Then add the basil and oregano.  Stir and turn off.

Now pour in the water and cream of mushroom soup (I mix them together first and then add).  Put the chicken in and lock the lid.  Make sure to check that your valve is closed.

Program the cooker on high pressure for 25 minutes if the chicken is completely thawed and 30 minutes if it is slightly frozen and 15 minutes if you are using 4-6 chicken breasts or chicken thighs.  Then push start.

When cooking meat it is said to be a good idea to do a slow release with it so the meat absorbs all the flavors.  You can even leave it all day if you are good enough to prepare it in the morning.

Before serving boil your noodles and serve hot.

Original recipe click here.  It has more cheeses in it and Marsala dry wine.

Meat Loaf with Potatoes and Carrots

Meat Loaf
2 eggs
1 1/2 lbs ground meat (can use beef, veal, or pork)
1 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup quick oats
1/2 catsup or chili sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic
pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients for the meat loaf.  Form it into a circle smaller than the size of pressure cooker insert, and set on a large piece of tin foil and wrap it up.

Putting it all together - Cover the bottom of pressure cooker with potatoes.  Maybe 3-5 red potatoes depending on the size.  Then lay the meat loaf on top.  In another sheet of tin foil cut up some veggies like carrots or whatever you want and wrap them.  Set on top of the meat loaf.

Set on HIGH pressure for 10 minutes.  When it is done release the quick release valve and remove food.  The meat loaf looks really ugly so turn on your broiler and stick it in for 3-5 minutes.  Serve.  This is so yummy!

Original recipe has parsley in it but I don't usually have parsley on hand so I omitted it.  LaDene M. Denniston gave this recipe to me when taking a class from Kitchen Kneads.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Cream Cheese Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
2 Tbl butter
1 yellow onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 cup diced carrots (or a lot more)
3 cups chicken broth
2-3 potatoes, peeled and finely diced (sometimes I leave on the peel)
1 cup milk
4 Tbl flour
1 (8 oz package) regular or light cream cheese
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced

Directions:
In a large pot, melt the butter and add the onion, garlic, celery and carrots.  Saute, stirring often, for 3-4 minutes, until the veggies are slightly tender and the onions are translucent.  Add the chicken broth and potatoes.  Bring the soup to a simmer and cook, partially covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

In a liquid measuring cup, vigorously whisk the flour and milk together until smooth.  Whisk the mixture into the soup, stirring quickly, and cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, until the soup begins to thicken slightly.  Stir often to ensure the soup doesn't burn.

Soften the cream cheese in the microwave until it is very soft/melty.  I (Mel) usually place the unwrapped cream cheese on a plate and microwave it for 1 minutes at 30% power.  I (Mel) like it really, really soft so it doesn't leave lumps in the soup.  Add the cream cheese to the soup in small tablespoon-size pieces.  Let the pieces sit in the soup and warm through, then whisk the soup until the cream cheese melts and mixes in well. (I, as in me... Steph, have never been very good at this part and I don't care about lumps...)

Add the cooked chicken and heat through.  Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Original recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

6 Tbl unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temp
1/2 cup milk

Zest from a lemon
1/4 cup poppy seeds

Glaze:
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
juice from one lemon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9x15 in loag pan (or 4 small bread tins)

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder.  Set aside.

In a larger bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar and eggs until it's light and fluffy.  Add milk and flour mixture in two parts, mixing well.  Stir in the grated lemon peel and poppy seeds.

Pour batter into into prepared baking pan(s).  Bake for 50-60 min (the little tins took 40 min) (rotating pan half-way through bake time from even browning), OR until a toothpick or tester inserted into center of bread comes out clean.  Allow bread to cool for 5 minutes.

Prepare the glaze by mixing sugar and lemon juice, poke wholes into bread with fork and drizzle over warm bread and allow to cool or serve warm.

So yummy :)

Original recipe click here

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Beef or chicken Schnitzel

So... I of course changed this recipe too...

(4-6)Some thin pieces of meat (if you have a thick piece of meat slice it in half)
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
2 cups dry breadcrumbs (more or less with the amount of meat you have)
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
some oil to cook the schnitzel in.

After you get your thin pieces of meat pound both sides with a meat tenderizer thing.  (thin pieces of meat make it easier to cook)

Mix egg and water in one bowl.  Mix breadcrumbs, garlic powder, salt, and cheese in another bowl.  Coat the meat well with egg mixture first then breadcrumbs then put in pan with oil (make sure pan is heated with oil in it.

Cook until cooked through and the schnitzel is browned.  It is really good :)

Original recipe is found here.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup (my style)

Nick really likes sausage and this is a great soup that doesn't have too many ingredients.  The only thing I had to buy is the Kale.  The finished product was really good!  I really liked it to and I am not a sausage fan.  Hope you enjoy :)



Ingredients:
1 lb OR 1 cup cooked sausage (spicy if you prefer more heat)
5-7 slices of bacon OR 1/4 cup crumbed bacon
5 medium russet potatoes (with skin)
1 1/2 cup chopped carrot
2 cups kale, chopped
1 cup heavy whipping cream OR 1/3 cup sour cream with 1/3 cup water
1 qt water
2 cans of chicken broth
1/2 large onion OR 1 onion, chopped
2 - 3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper

Instructions:
1. Cook sausage and bacon then set aside.

2. Slice potatoes between 1/8" and 1/4".  Try to make the slices about the same so they will cook evenly.  Dice up the onion and mince the garlic.  Throw the potatoes, onion, garlic, chicken broth, and water into a large pot on medium heat until the potatoes are cooked through.

3. Add the sausage, bacon, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4.  Prepare the kale by chopping into bite sized pieces.  Kale is wonderful for soups because it holds up to the heat so well.  It's also delicious!

5. During this time the potatoes will start breaking apart into smaller bite sized pieces because they are so tender.  Turn the heat to low and add in the kale and heavy cream.  Let soup heat through and serve.  You can serve this with some grated Parmesan cheese on top.

For things that I changed I marked in the purple color.  The directions are a little different in the original but I think it makes more sense this way.  And I cooked the whole thing in the pressure cooker on the saute setting.  One dish to clean up!  That is the best part!

For the original recipe click here.