Alright so the most recent craze in cooking gadgets (at least to my knowledge) is something called an instant pot (or in my case a Pampered Chef Quick Cooker). It is essentially a multi purpose tool. Any brand that makes them has several features. Generally they sear, slow cook, and best of all take old time on the stove pressure cooking into a much safer realm!!! No green beans on the ceiling in this house!!!
I think calling them instant pot is a bit misleading. When you are cooking a roast and other things it is quite quick compared to other methods but it is not INSTANT dinner! The ingredients need to be prepped and placed in the cooker, and it does take some time (all depending upon what you are putting in it) for an electric pressure cooker to come to pressure and seal. I’d say generally it is upwards of 15 minutes! SO calling it instant is sort of wrong, but on the positive they are a wonderful tool. Pressure cooking allows food to cook with moisture and I feel it seals in flavors far better than any other manner of cooking.
The only electric pressure cooker I have used is the newer model. Pampered Chef waited to see how the general public would think of pressure cookers and I believe did a lot of research to ensure that their model was one of the best out there. It has several safety features and if one has never cooked with pressure (or even if they have) before it can be a bit daunting.
I had a SOS message from a friend last night who was having issues with cooking her roast. Unfortunately, we did not get to talk until after the roast was less than what she had been anticipating. This morning I put together this very unrefined video tutorial on using the Quick Cooker (and I’m hoping it would address some concerns with other pressure cookers) with a simple quick recipe of Rice Pudding. Feel free to look at it and see if it might help you, or don’t!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0gJeYQ153k
the recipe is as follows:
Rice Pudding (Electric pressure cooker edition)
- 1 cup jasmine (or basmati) rice
- 1 cup cold water
- 1 cinnamon stick or 1 tsp of cinnamon ground
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tbsp. unsalted butter (my butter is always salted doesn’t seem to make a difference)
Mik & Egg Mixture
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (the real thing is better)
- 2 pinches of sea salt
- 1 large egg, beaten
Toppings
- Raisins
- ground cinnamon
- Add I cup of rinsed rice to inner pot
- Add water and spices (and butter) and stir
- Pressure cook on High pressure for 3 minutes and than let your pressure natural release for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes release any extra pressure and remove lid) Turn off the cooker
- While the rice is pressure cooking, beat a large egg and than add the salt, vanilla extract and sugar. Mix well and add the Milk and mix again.
- Turn the cooker back on and set it to sear.
- Pour the milk mixture into the pot with the rice and stir. As the pudding heats up the starch will release and it will start to thicken. You can add more butter at this point if you wish.
- Continue to stir until it reaches the consistency you desire, keeping in mind that as it cools it will continue to thicken.
Your done, if you wish to add raisins, I suggest placing them in the bottom of your serving bowl and topping with the pudding and any spices you wish to add at this time. Enjoy. Rice pudding is great warm but also wonderful cool. It makes a great dessert, breakfast or snack!
So that is today’s addition of #eatingmywaythruwinter I hope it helped some and you might have found something worth reading out of it!
Bon Appetite