Author: cia

Beef Stir-Fry with Sweet Potatoes and Bok Choy

Contrary to what you think, I have not only been cooking using the Instant Pot. I haven’t lost all my passion for actual cooking, you know. Of course, I tried this in the Instant Pot first, but the cornstarch burned and it refused to pressurize after that. (Very nifty actually; the display said “burn”.) I had to scoop everything out and almost re-do it on my skillet. You see? This is why I test recipes for you, so you don’t have to soak your Instant Pot liner for hours and scrub its bottom clean. I go through the bad shit so you don’t have to.

Ingredients:
vegetable oil
3 tbsps soy sauce
3 garlic cloves, grated
a small knob of ginger, grated
2 tsps cornstarch
1 lb beef round, patted dry, sliced into strips
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 sweet potato, cut into small cubes
5 bok choy, separated
salt, pepper

1. In a bowl, whisk together the oil, the soy sauce, garlic, ginger, cornstarch and some black pepper. Add the beef and mix and toss with your hands to coat well. Let stand for about 15 minutes to marinate.
2. In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, add some oil and saute the onions until translucent. Add the sweet potatoes and cook until tender. Season with salt. Add a splash of water or two and cover to steam a little bit and help cook faster. Remove to a small bowl.
3. In the same skillet, add some more oil until almost smoking. Add the beef in a single layer and cook, turning after 2 minutes, for medium-rare. Repeat for the rest of the beef if necessary. Add back the potatoes and toss in the bok choy. Add a splash of water again to help cook the greens.

Instant Pot: Rib-Eye Ragu

Is an Instant Pot necessary to make this recipe? Absolutely not, especially because I used ground rib eye rather than big pieces of it. But I wanted to be able to cook the pasta in the 15 minutes it took to cook the meat. Everything was basically ready at the same time and I was eating my single dinner in half the time. If it was the weekend, I would try browning a couple of pounds of chuck roast and then shredding them to pieces before thickening the sauce again, but who wants to spend their weekend cooking ragu?

Ingredients:
a chunk of bacon, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 carrots, peeled, chopped
1.5 lb ground rib eye
1 28-oz can whole stewed tomatoes
2 thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
2 tsp allspice
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 cup beef stock
salt, pepper

1. Using the sauté function of your Instant Pot, heat some olive oil. Sauté garlic until golden brown and onions until translucent. Stir in the carrots and celery and cook until soft. Season with salt and pepper. Move everything to the side and add the ground beef to brown.
2. Gently add the stewed tomatoes while crushing them with your hands. Mix well. Cover and lock the lid properly. Select the Pressure Cook function for 15 minutes. When it’s done, do a quick release after venting and letting the steam out.
3. Turn back to the maximum setting of the sauté function to reduce and thicken the sauce. Discard the thyme stems, the bay leaves, and the cinnamon stick before serving on top of your favorite pasta.

Related post/s:
This is a similar model to my Instant Pot

Instant Pot: Vietnamese-Style Caramelized Pork

The Instant Pot has been working well for me that it’s now my personal mission to go back to my favorite recipes and check if I can cook them in a more efficient way. I found some rib tips at my grocery store and I thought they would work well and cook faster for this recipe. I think if they were boneless, they would be less challenging to eat, but no one said you can’t use your fingers to eat these.

If you can get a sweet Vidalia onion, it would be nice; a regular white onion will do, but Vidalias have a sweetness to them that would nicely hold the fat back from becoming too overwhelming here.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 pork rib tips, boneless if possible
1/4 cup fish sauce
3 garlic cloves, minced
sesame oil
1 large white onion, sliced
salt, pepper

1. Using the sauté function of your Instant Pot, add 1 cup of the sugar. As soon as it melts and turns golden, add pork, raise heat to maximum, and stir until coated. The sugar will harden, but it will re-melt as it becomes a sauce.
2. Add the remaining sugar and the fish sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well. Cover and lock the lid properly. Select the Pressure Cook function for 20 minutes. When it’s done, do a quick release after venting and letting the steam out.
3. Stir in the garlic and a dash of sesame oil, and turn back to the lowest setting of the sauté function to reduce the sauce. Add the onions and keep mixing until they’re translucent. Pork should be caramelized and the sauce thickened. Transfer to a bowl with white rice and sprinkle with scallions.

Related post/s:
I can’t find the Instant Pot model I have now, but this is a similar model

Farro Arugula and Mint Salad

I can’t give you exact measurements to make this salad because I was assembling it by taste and by eye: a handful of arugula leaves in a bowl balanced with torn parsley and mint leaves, and then enough cherry tomatoes to add some color to the bowl.

The apple cider vinegar is a nice touch to the farro; it makes it brighter than if you just cook it in water or broth.

Ingredients:
1 cup farro
1 cup apple cider
2 bay leaves
lemon juice
Parmesan cheese, shaved with a vegetable peeler
a handful of pistachio nuts, lightly crushed
arugula leaves
a handful of parsley, torn
a handful of mint leaves, torn
cherry tomatoes, halved
2 radishes, sliced
oil, salt

1. Cook the farro. In a medium saucepan, bring farro, apple cider, salt, bay leaves, and 2 cups water to a simmer. Simmer until farro is tender and liquid evaporates, about 30 minutes. If all the liquid evaporates before the farro is done, add a little more water. Let farro cool, then discard bay leaves.
2. In a salad bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, and some salt. Add farro, shaved cheese, and pistachios. Mix well. Fold in arugula, herbs, tomatoes, and radish. I used my hands to toss everything well together.

Instant Pot: Asian Soy Sticky Chicken

Now that I know the magic of Instant Pot with chicken–I mean, 8 minutes? Come on!–I’m going through my favorite chicken dishes and cooking them again using my Instant Pot. With this dish, I didn’t get the sticky consistency I would normally get if I make it on my hot wok, so I had to improvise and add more honey when I was reducing the sauce. I increased the sauté heat from “normal” to its maximum, just like I would on stovetop.

This is even better with kimchi!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1-2 tbsps Gochujang sauce, or Korean chili paste
2 tbsps toasted sesame oil
a knob of ginger, grated
2 cloves of garlic, grated
1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
sesame seeds, toasted
scallions

1. In your Instant Pot, combine 1/4 cup water, the soy sauce, honey, Gochujang sauce, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic. Add the chicken, tossing to coat. Cover and lock the lid properly. Select the Pressure Cook function for 8 minutes. When it’s done, do a quick release after venting and letting the steam out.
2. You will need to thicken the sauce. Turn the sauté function of your Instant Pot and cook for at least 5 minutes to reduce the sauce until you like the consistency. Feel free to squeeze in another dollop of honey to add more stickiness. Stir a few times to keep coating the chicken.
3. Scoop to a bowl of white rice and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and scallions.

Related post/s:
I can’t find the Instant Pot model I have now, but this is a similar model