Instant pot

Holiday Dinner Menu: Flank Steak Pinwheels

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What’s on your plate for this holiday weekend (how did that happen)? Are you sad summer is waning or is fall more your season? Most importantly, whatcha cookin’?

This steak is easy to make in the oven, but I thought I’d try it on the grill this time. Works great – just remember to cook it away from the coals or turn the grill off if it’s electric, like mine.

Flank Pinwheel Prep Final

This steak can be prepped the day before, just wrap each one tightly in plastic wrap. Makes it great for a date night, anniversary or small dinner party. I pan-seared and finished in the oven/on the grill in the same pan, because of the cheese. The reward was great pan drippings when I was finished, which I drizzled over the potatoes before serving.

Flank Steak Pinwheels Final

On the board:

  • Flank Steak Pinwheels
  • Grilled Sweet Corn
  • 4-Minute Potato Salad (recipe here)
  • Fresh Sliced Peaches

Flank Steak Pinwheels

  • 1 large flank steak, butterflied
  • salt and pepper
  • crushed garlic (at least 2 cloves)
  • 8 oz sliced provolone cheese
  • 1 bunch washed and dried spinach leaves
  • 8 wooden skewers
  • olive oil

Cast iron skillet Continue reading →

Instant Pot: Egg Cups

/ TaMara

I can’t believe I haven’t posted this yet. I make them all the time.  You do need silicone molds, that you can also use for brownie bites, mini-muffins or mini-pancake bites, or a recipe I’ll be trying and will post, mini-cheesecakes.  The molds come with a rack to raise and lower them from the pressure cooker, which is important because they are unstable when filled.

You can mix up just about anything you like with your eggs – diced tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, shredded potato, ham, bacon…you see the list is endless. Continue reading →

Locked Down Cooking: Raiding the Freezer

/ TaMara / 2 Comments

I’m trying to clean out the freezer, using up items before my weekly shopping trip. Since I can’t run out to pick up something I may have forgotten, I’ve had to get creative as I cook. Here are two meals made from what was in the house on those days.

My favorite Oven-Baked Fried Chicken and mashed potatoes, with a little twist: smoked brisket gravy. The thing about oven-baked chicken is there’s not enough drippings to make a good gravy. But in my freezer, I had little secret ingredient to make a great, smoky gravy: burnt ends. These were leftover from my very first smoked brisket.  Continue reading →

Instant Pot: Turkey Noodle Soup

/ TaMara

I found a really good deal on lean ground turkey and packaged most of it up to store in the freezer. While I was there, I decided it was time to make some space, so I pulled out the turkey broth I made from Thanksgiving leftovers.

Ground turkey ✔
Turkey Broth ✔

Time for some turkey noodle soup! And it was mmmm, mmmm, good.

Turkey Noodle Soup

  • 1 lb ground turkey
  • 8 cups of liquid – a combination of turkey or chicken broth and water
  • 16 oz frozen vegetables – you can add a bag of mixed veggies. I used carrots and green beans
  • 2 stalks of celery, chopped
  • 1/4 cup celery leaves, chopped (opt)
  • 1/2 small onion, chopped
  • 10 oz egg noodles
  • 2 tsp crushed garlic
  • 2 tsp sage
  • 3 tsp poultry seasoning
  • salt and pepper to taste (you’ll probably need 1/2 tsp of each for the ground meat and more for the soup itself)

Add salt, pepper and 1 tsp poultry seasoning to turkey and mix well. Continue reading →

Sunday Pot Roast: Instant Pot and Slow-Cooker Recipes

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Sunday Pot Roast In my quest to update some of my older recipes for Instant Pot style cooking, here is one of my favorites. I love being able to set this up and an hour and a half later have a perfectly cooked pot roast – tender and flavorful – along with all the sides.

Sunday Pot Roast

  • 4 lbs Pot Roast (chuck roast)
  • ¼  cup good whiskey (or red wine)
  • ¼ cup beef broth or water (more if needed)
  • 1 tsp rosemary
  • 2 bay leaves (remove before serving)
  • ½ tsp salt & pepper
  • 1 large onion, quartered
  • 6 medium potatoes, quartered
  • 1 lb bag baby carrots

slow-cooker or Instant Pot Continue reading →

Instant Pot Pancakes: Light, Fluffy and Fun

/ TaMara

Whole instant pot pancakeQuiet weekend here, so I made a half batch

I just found out about a taste treat called Japanese Souffle Pancakes and I was discussing how they would be on my list to make soon. They are a little complicated and I knew I wouldn’t have time this weekend. Then my cousin Scott chimed in and told me about Rice Cooker Pancakes, a simple pancake recipe you make in your rice cooker. They looked amazing.

One problem. I don’t have a rice cooker.

But I do have a Multi-Pot (a type of Instant Pot) and I figured there must be an equivalent recipe. There were several. So I had to try it.

First, the pancakes:

Perfect Pancakes:

  • 2-1/2 cups flour
  • 1-1/2 tbsp baking powder
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups buttermilk (I use buttermilk powder and water)
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 2 eggs
  • Opt: blueberries, cinnamon, pecans, bacon

Bowl, whisk

Whisk together dry ingredients, then add wet ingredients and mix until everything is combined. The batter should still be lumpy, you don’t want to overmix. Continue reading →

Multi Pot: Chicken and Dumplings

/ TaMara

I’ve updated my Chicken and Dumpling recipe for the Instant Pot/Multi-Pot version.

Creamy Chicken & Dumplings

  • 2 boneless chicken breasts*
  • 4 boneless chicken thighs*
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 sprigs of parsley
  • 2 stalks of celery, chopped, w/leaves
  • 8 oz carrots
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • 32 oz chicken broth or water
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 cup milk or cream

Instant pot (I have a Multi-Pot)

Cut chicken into large pieces. Heat oil with the saute feature, add chicken and brown. Add remaining ingredients (except flour, butter & milk). Set to soup setting and pressure cook for 20 minutes.  Let pressure release naturally. Continue reading →