Instant Pot "Cooking Without Recipes" Soup

I promise you this blog is not going to become an Instant Pot blog! But I am having a lot of fun with it. This soup is based on a sort-of recipe I found on bonappetit.com, the web site of Bon Appetit magazine. It's part of their series called "Cooking Without Recipes." I basically used some things I wanted to use up in my fridge and pantry to put this soup together.

2 tablespoons (more or less) of olive oil
1 pound package of turkey breakfast sausage
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon chili flakes
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 quart beef broth, store bought
1 28 ounce can of tomatoes
1 pound chopped collard greens (part of a pre-chopped bag I bought for New Year)
1/2 pound dried chick peas, soaked
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
3 bay leaves

Heat oil using the saute function of the Instant Pot. Brown sausage, breaking it into pieces. When it’s cooked through and there’s good caramelization on the pieces, remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl. 


Add the onions and garlic to the Instant Pot and saute for about 8 to 10 minutes until softened and beginning to brown. Then stir in the Worcestershire, fennel seed, and red pepper flakes.
Add the beef broth and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add tomatoes and juice and stir to combine. Add collard greens, drained chick peas, basil,  oregano, and sausage. If the soup looks too thick, add some water. I think I ended up adding a tomato can's worth. Stir to combine all ingredients, turn off the saute function, and lock down the lid. Set the Instant Pot to manual at high pressure for 20 minutes. Use a natural pressure release (at least 15 minutes) before opening the Instant Pot and having your soup!

Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas

This dish was my New Year's day dinner. Where I grew up in Kentucky, you ate black eyed peas and collard greens for luck in the New Year. I'm a little late in posting this, but black eyed peas are delicious and healthy. You can eat them anytime! I have packaged up and frozen several servings for reheating for workplace lunches.

My version is based on a recipe from a Tabasco sauce brochure I've had since I lived in Mobile, Alabama in the 1980's.

All of the recipes in the brochure were written by the late New Orleans chef Paul Prudhomme. Although it was available for a minimal price, it's a great little cookbook with stories and pictures of Cajun life "back in the day."

Now that I have the Instant Pot, I've been making a lot more dishes with dried legumes. Before,  preparing them was an all day challenge. since Albuquerque is a mile high city, it took forever to cook beans soft enough to eat. It was easier after I acquired a stovetop pressure cooker, but using it still required a lot of watching, and the thing was a pain to clean. With the Instant Pot, it's  faster and easier, so I've been adapting some of my old recipes.

The original recipe includes chicken fried and smothered with black eyed peas and served with rice. It's good, but rich! So I decided to focus on the black eyed peas instead of making the entire recipe, which is quite a production between frying up a chicken and simmering peas on the stove.

Here's my adapted version:

1/4 cup (approximate) olive oil
4-5 slices of bacon, cut into 1/2" pieces
2 - 2 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1 1/2  - 2 cups finely chopped celery
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 pound dried black eyed peas (soak overnight and drain)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 quart chicken broth
water

Using saute function (medium), heat oil in the Instant Pot. Add the bacon and cook until it starts to become crisp, about 3-4 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the onion, celery, bay leaves, and 1 teaspoon of Tabasco; cook until vegetables start to get tender, about 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add the peas, garlic powder, sage, onion powder, thyme, pepper, and mustard; stir well. Cook until all the oil and juice is absorbed and the mixture starts sticking, about 2-4 minutes. Add the stock and remaining 1 tablespoon of Tabasco. If needed, add additional water if needed to cover mixture about an inch.

Reset the Instant Pot to Manual and 7 minutes, then lock down the lid to pressure cook the peas. Once  the cycle is complete, natural pressure release for 15 minutes and open. If the mixture is too watery, set the Instant Pot to saute and boil off the excess liquid until the the peas and sauce are the desired thickness. I'd describe the texture as saucy but not soupy. I hope that makes sense.

Serve the peas over hot cooked rice. The original recipe used white rice, but I used brown rice that I had previously made in the Instant Pot using the instructions in the manual.

Yes, it does sound like a lot of spice, but it's flavorful, not spicy-hot. This could easily be made vegetarian by omitting the bacon. You do need the oil in order to saute the onion and celery, so don't skip that.

I found the pressure cooking timetables in Hip Pressure Cooking by Laura D. A. Pazzaglia to be helpful for determining the cooking time for the black eyed peas. She also has a good section about soaking beans. So far, I haven't followed any of her recipes exactly but have used them as guidelines to adapt my own recipes.

I also served the peas and rice with some collard greens. This was not a recipe per se, although I figured out how to make it in the Instant Pot by adapting the recipe "Collard or Dandelion Greens with Slab Bacon, Pecans, and Malt Vinegar" from Pressure Cooker Gourmet by Victoria Wise.

Here's my version:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1-2 pounds of collard greens, chopped and large ribs removed (mine was pre bagged and chopped)
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup water
Freshly ground black pepper

Using saute function (medium), heat oil in the Instant Pot and saute the garlic. Making sure the collard greens are dry, add them to the Instant Pot and stir. They will wilt down. Combine vinegar and water and add to the greens. Reset the Instant Pot to manual and 5-7 minutes, then lock down the lid to pressure cook the greens. Once the cycle is complete, natural pressure release for 5 minutes and serve.

This Weekend, I Cooked

Today was my turn to share lunch hosting at Vestry. Two of us do it each month, and it usually works out to twice a year. Not bad. However it meant that this week's creativity was in the kitchen instead of the Sewing Cave. I made two dishes, soup and dessert.

photo: Fine Cooking Magazine

The soup recipe came courtesy of Fine Cooking Magazine, a sister publication of Threads. I don't remember signing up for its emails but I've been getting them for a while now. I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what to make, when Chicken Soup with Lime and Hominy appeared in my mailbox earlier this week. Familiar, yet different than our usual New Mexican style food. It went over very well with the group.

Photo: justataste.com

For dessert, something sweet and seasonal but not too heavy. This recipe for Cranberry Orange Juice Bread came from Just a Taste, via Pinterest. I didn't prepare the batter quite the same way since I wanted my KitchenAid to do the work, but it came out very tasty regardless.The tartness of the cranberries contrasted nicely with the rich, orange batter. I doubled the recipe, so I still have a loaf left over (yum!). Next time, I think I'll use mini loaf pans, which will be great for gift giving.

DH and I are going out for dinner on Turkey Day, so no slaving in the kitchen on Thursday. I'm hoping I can get some sewing done instead! We shall see.

Minty Goodness

There's a reason I'm growing mint in my little patio garden, and this is it:

Mmmm, homemade mojitos! Here's the recipe, as Bacardi recommends:

1 1/2 Oz. Bacardi Superior Rum
Club Soda
12 Mint Leaves (I just use a good size sprig and don't remove the leaves from the stem)
1/2 Lime
2 Tbsp. Simple Syrup or 1 Tbsp. Sugar

Muddle 12 fresh mint leaves and 1/2 a lime. Cover with 2 Tbsp. of simple syrup or 1 Tbsp. of sugar and top with ice. Add 1 1/2 oz of BACARDI Superior Rum and top with Club Soda. Stir well and garnish with a lime wedge and sprig of mint.

The chocolate mint that I'm growing is rather mild, so I use more mint than the recipe calls for. Otherwise, that's it. A refreshing beverage for a summer evening. I bet it would even be good without any rum in it.

Holiday Weekend

So far, no sewing. But I did get my SUV sold! I went through CarMax and was very pleased at their professionalism and speed. Less than an hour of time over 2 trips and I left with check in hand. DF is happy too--more room for his toys and I'm giving him a commission for all the time he spent on this project for me.

With a nod to Cidell, I also made soup. My standard chicken soup is an improv--no formal recipe to speak of. I do make my own stock with a pressure cooker and freeze it, so that's my starting point. Saute an onion, carrot, celery, and some garlic in olive oil, then saute a chicken breast cut into chunks. Add a carton of frozen green chile (a uniquely New Mexican food item), add stock, add 1/2 cup-1 cup raw brown rice. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer for about an hour. Adjust seasonings (salt and pepper) and serve.

Off to church soon, then more football. I hope today's games are better than yesterday's. I'd also like to fit in some sewing. I need to finish up my wool skirt but I'd also like to start on something new.

Hillbilly Cookies

Yeah, I know. The name is not exactly politically correct. However, consider the place and time.

This is one that came from my aunt back in the late 1960s. She was a teacher in the Louisville or Jefferson County (KY) schools. The school system used this recipe to make use of the FDA surplus foods that were supplied to them back then, and they were regularly featured in the school cafeterias of my youth. Yes, they actually cooked food at each school!

This recipe is easy and surprisingly good! I make no claims for dietary goodness or appropriateness for special diets. They're treats, after all.

Hillbilly Cookies

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons cocoa
4 tablespoons butter (the original recipe was made with margarine)
2/3 cup peanut butter
2 cups oatmeal

Measure out all ingredients and lay out sheets of wax paper before starting to cook. This goes fast and you won't have time later.

In a heavy saucepan or dutch oven, stir and boil sugar, milk, cocoa, and butter on high heat for only 3 minutes. Time the 3 minutes for the moment you turn on the burner. If you cook the mixture for too long, the cookies will be too dry to hold together. I realize that individual cooktops may vary, but the point is this--this part goes really fast so have everything measured and ready to add in advance. That includes the peanut butter and the oats! The goal in cooking the sugar mixture is basically to just melt everything together until there aren't any sugar crystals remaining, so don't keep cooking after that has occurred.

Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until melted. Then mix in the oatmeal.

Working quickly, drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto wax paper and allow to cool.

There you have it. Except for the drama of the boiling sugar mixture, it's pretty easy and simple to make.

Fiber Arts Fiesta and More

Albuquerque's biennial Fiber Arts Fiesta was May 21-23, and I got a chance to attend Saturday. It was great to see a lot of my sewing friends, look at exhibits, and shop! Yet I have somewhat mixed feelings--great event but there was an aspect of same ol', same ol'. I suppose I should be happy that vendors are still participating during this recession, and people are still buying, but I'd love to see something different. There were too many vendors that return with the exact same stuff every 2 years. And not that I have anything against quilters, but enough with the quilt stuff already.


Park Bench Patterns likes this event; they've come 2 or 3 times. New things at that booth: fabric kits, pre-packed, coordinating fabrics. Great idea! I bought 2 of them:





I bought some buttons and a fancy bead at Treasures of the Gypsy. They're a New Mexico based company and have had a booth every year that I can remember. Same format, but they always have interesting stock.

I got this little cutie at the Japanese Textiles and Tours booth. I love cats, and combine them with Asian style cuteness, I couldn't resist:



I also bought RTW, a couple of skirts at Silverado, which is still getting out of the clothing business after, ummm, 4 or 5 years now? Yes, I have a bit of a quibble with that. They've been good to the fiber arts guilds in the area, so I guess I'll get over it. I loved the fabrics of the skirts I got, and the price was right at $20 each. They will require a little bit of tweaking (length) but they're basically "me".



I didn't take pictures of any of the exhibits. People are sensitive about their work being photographed and posted on the web. I can't say I blame them.

After the show, I went by Sunflower Market and picked up some dinner items. It's a nice store--somewhat like Whole Foods, but less expensive. I was able to find everything I was looking for. DF and I made pizza Saturday and Sunday nights. I made the dough before heading to the Fiesta. He took over the prep on Saturday evening, even though he'd never made a pizza before! However, he is an Italian-American from New Jersey and has observed the process thousands of times. Oh. My. God. Best pizza I've ever eaten! Extreme thin crust, not greasy, not soggy, good flavor! I definitely recommend using a pizza stone and peel and cooking at the highest heat your oven will generate (550 F for most home ovens, BTW, commercial pizzerias bake between 700 F and 900 F).

On Sunday, he worked on his technique a little more, rolling out the dough less thin for a chewier crust. He wants me to make the next batch of dough with regular whole wheat flour instead of the white whole wheat flour I used this time.

Also on Sunday, I went to a sit and sew with an ASG neighborhood group, Material Girls. I hadn't been in a long time, but when I ran into DJ at the Fiesta, she encouraged me to come. It was fun hanging out and sewing with other people. I worked on a muslin of Louise Cutting's Pure and Simple Shell. It needs an FBA and more hip ease but I think it'll be a great TNT once the pattern is perfected.

Christmas Report

For the most part, this was a relaxing Christmas. I stayed at home this year--after the snow issues of 2006 and the plumbing issues of 2007, I decided not to risk a third year of Christmas Travel Fun. I did take 3 days of vacation in addition to the holiday--Friday was my only work day this week! Well, someone had to be in the office since the company was officially open. Things were extremely slow at the office, even though I did end up with 2 sales calls, one at my office the other at his.

I spent my mini-vacay mostly hanging out at home and running a Christmas-related errand or two. Like Monday. DF's main gift had arrived and was ready for installation: he bought winter tires and rims for my car. The Blizzaks are supposed to enable me to stop on ice, which is a regular feature of winter weather here in the high desert. I realize this is a thoughtful gift, but just a wee bit too practical.

The other gift was for both of us--he ordered wild Alaska salmon, shrimp, and king crab from FishEx. Yum. Through no fault of theirs, the fish was not delivered timely. FedEx had it on the truck on Christmas Eve but neglected to drop it off at my house. So, we are waiting for the replacement order to arrive on Tuesday. I was able to salvage the king salmon and the scallops (FishEx substituted them for the shrimp) and we'll eat them soon, but the crab got pitched.

My sister and brother-in-law sent some tops, all of which fit. My favorite is the Ralph Lauren silk/cashmere sweater on the right of the picture below. I love printed sweater knits, and this one is a subtle gray/olive/plum paisley. I wore it to work on Friday.



DF had to work at the hospital on Christmas Day, so I had the day to myself to sleep in and putter about the house. I actually did something sewing-related, cutting out a couple of patterns that I'm planning to start sewing up this weekend (more on that in other posts). For dinner, I made roast beef with roasted vegetables and my grandmother's heirloom Cranberry Salad recipe. Believe it or not, this was the first time I'd ever made roast beef!! I used the NY Times Cookbook's instructions as my guide, with added references to some other recipes I had pulled from the Food Network.


Of course, I've been shopping. I mean, if DF's going to be practical, someone has to provide the fun stuff. And that would be me.

• Another box arrived from FabricMart this week with some awesome winter fabrics: double faced wool jersey, shearling, double faced taffeta and fleece. (Can you tell that lately I have a fascination with double faced fabrics?) I also picked up a lovely piece of merino wool jersey and a black and white boucle. Darn those box specials they keep inserting with each order! They are too tempting.





• I allowed myself to be led astray by Talbot's and got a gray paisley wrap skirt. Actually I got two of them to test for fit, so one is going back. I'm still having post-traumatic stress over the last store visit, so I shopped on the internet. I'm not sure if I'll return the second skirt to the store or UPS it back. Here's what it looks like:
  
  



• My hairdresser was having a jewelry sale at her salon, so I got the silver bear fetish necklace I've been eyeing for the last few visits. At $20, I had to have it. This is a beautiful piece, heavy with a lot of detail:





• Oh yeah, I also succumbed to J.Jill while at the office yesterday. Several pairs of jeans and a couple of sweaters are on their way. At an additional 40% off of already marked-down merchandise, hmm, well, I do wear jeans a lot...Yes, I'm rationalizing. But really, I'm going to slow down with the shopping. In 2009.

Thanksgiving for Two

As an ER nurse, DF was scheduled to work on Thursday. They had a big potluck at work, and I was invited to a Thanksgiving feast, but I still felt like doing something for us in recognition of the holiday. Both of us had the day off yesterday, so I roasted a turkey breast following the same recipe as last year.

I also cooked some brown rice that I made into a pilaf by stirring in plumped dried cranberries, lemon zest, chopped pistachios and cashews once the rice was done. Not really a recipe per se, but delicious anyway.

I had plans to have a salad, but we didn't get to that. Too busy eating roasted veggies out of the roasting pan and picking meat off the bird! We are very casual diners here at Casa Flan.

The end of the meal featured Zesty Cranberry Cake, which came from The Cake Mix Doctor's first book:

OK, I'm going to make a shameless plug for Anne Byrn, the Cake Mix Doctor, whose recipe this is. I have all three of her cake books, and everything I've made from them has been delicious! The use of cake mix may offend purists, but not me. If it's good, I don't care if it's pure scratch or not. The website and newsletter are also good. Check her out! And buy her books! (I have no affiliation except for being a happy customer)

It's an interesting recipe--jellied cranberry sauce from the can is a major ingredient, and there's no oil added.



I won't make any claims that it's low calorie, but it isn't as sugary and over the top as a lot of holiday baked goods. I made mine in loaf pans, but it's lovely baked in a Bundt pan with the glaze dribbled over the top.

The Cake Mix Doctor's Zesty Cranberry Cake

1 can (16 oz.) jellied cranberry sauce
1 package white cake mix
1/2 cup orange juice, fresh or from the carton
1 Tbsp. orange zest (optional, but a nice addition)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
Extra orange juice if needed.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour pan(s).

Reserve 1/4 cup of the cranberry sauce and set aside for the glaze. Place remaining sauce, cake mix, juice, zest, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend together and pour batter into pan(s), smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Place in oven.

Bake unil light brown on top and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 30-35 minutes. Remove pan(s) from oven and place on rack to cool for 20 minutes. Remove from pan(s) to cool completely, 20 minutes more.

Meanwhile, make the glaze. Place remaining cranberry sauce and the confectoner's sugar in a food processor and blend until well combined and smooth. Thin out with a little extra orange juice if needed. (the original recipe has you mix the glaze with a fork, but I could never get it smooth enough without the food processor).

Spoon glaze over the cooled cake. Slice and serve.

A Literary Meme

Materfamilias has selected me to participate in the following meme:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

So I'm sitting here vegging on the couch after work, and honestly, the closest book is Nigella Lawson's "How to Eat", Wiley paperback edition. Yes, I like reading cookbooks for fun. This one is as much food philosophy as a collection of recipes:

I don't want course upon course, and I don't want excess every day. But when it comes to a feast, I don't know the meaning of enough.

Cooking for two is just an amplification of cooking for one (rather than the former being a diminution of the latter).

So there you are, and how true both thoughts are!

Time to choose five more people. Since I recently did a different meme, I won't pick on you all again. However, if you'd like to do this one instead of the last one, feel free! And vice versa. This is all in fun, folks!

This time around, I invite Christina, Stacy, Melody, Shannon, and Vicki to come out and play.

Vacation, Day 5

Another day of taking things easy around the house.


I worked on a hemming project that's been underway for a while now. I had several skirts that went from looking ok to dowdy as a result of their length, so I've been shortening them. Most are now around 33" long vs. 36". A yard of skirt is very long when you're 5'4" even when most of your height is in your legs. I got 4 more done yesterday, all of which were narrow machine hems, so don't feel too bad for me.


I stopped by Hancock's and picked up more supplies for the cacti top. You know how green is. There are a zillion shades and of course I had nothing close. I'd fudged up till this point, but if the stitching's going to show I want a closer match than medium sage.

I also picked up some bias binding for the armscyes and picked out...hot pink. There were no premade tapes close enough, so I'm picking up the flower color instead. Of course, that change required thread too, but now I can do some accent stitching. After looking at the photo, I think the top needs a little something and maybe the pink thread will help that. Yes, I know I can make my own bias tape. It just isn't something I was in the mood to do. Oh yeah, I got some buttons too. And some notions for the brown and white version of the top.


And given my previous rant on Hancock's slow service, I'll mention that it was attentive and prompt this time. The sales clerk even called out to me as I headed for the register, saying that she'd be right with me as soon as she finished cutting for another customer. That was good.


Ross Dress for Less is located in the same shopping center as Hancock's so I stopped there too. This one usually has some good items if you can make it through the dreck. I found 2 acceptable work ensembles (ummm, both are black), a basic work skirt (black again), a casual skirt (Columbia! I love them!), and a super pair of Timberland clogs for the winter.


Off to the gym, followed by the grocery. I decided to make myself a steak dinner and some homemade peach daiquiri "ice cream" for dessert. Anyway, that's what the article from the Albuquerque Journal calls it, including the quotes. It was published in July 1988, which is a couple of months after I moved here from Florida. It's really frozen yogurt, but maybe that was too exotic back then! No credit was provided, but given the newspaper photo, my guess is Donvier. I got a Donvier ice cream maker as a wedding gift in 1987, and they were pretty popular back then. I still have it, and I used it to make my treat last night:

Peach Daiquiri "Ice Cream"

1 large fresh peach, pitted and quartered (about 1 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon lime zest

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

2 teaspoons dark rum

1 pint plain low-fat yogurt

Combine first 6 ingredients in blender or food processor, whirl until smooth. Add yogurt and whirl just until mixed. Chill thoroughly. Pour into chilled cylinder of 1 quart ice cream maker. Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Serve at once or pack into freezing containers for storage. Makes 7 servings.

Per 1/2 cup serving size: 145 calories, 4 grams protein, 31 grams carbohydrate, 1 gram fat, 4 milligrams sodium, 188 milligrams potassium.

Changes I made: I had a beautiful white peach so that's what I used. The flavor is a little milder than traditional peaches. I bought white rum by accident instead of dark, so that's what I used. Also, I typically have non-fat plain yogurt on hand, so I used it instead of making a special purchase of low-fat.

In the past, I've made a strawberry margarita variation of this by substituting 1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries for the peach and 2 teaspoons of tequila for the rum. Using this basic recipe, you can probably come up with several variations with different fruits and liquors!