Tonight i made a somewhat creamy cajun chicken pasta with some leftover rotisserie chicken, andouille, lots of green and red peppers, onion. Sauce was some random tomato sauce thinned with chicken stock and made creamy with some light cream cheese mixed in. Mixed it all with whole wheat penne. didn’t take a pic, but this will be repeated as my DH loves this dish.
I roasted some herb and garlic marinated chicken breasts for the kids (who don’t prefer creamy sauced pasta), roasted sweet potatoes, broccoli and salad with a little garlicky penne. All were pleased.
I’ve probably made my strong distaste for the Instant Pot abundantly clear. I consider cooking with the IP to be analogous to a mechanic working on a car with a Leatherman multi-tool. I actually like Leathermans.
I have found a good use for the IP. It makes a dandy door stop to hold the door open for ventilation and fresh breezes while you cook in real pots.
I was on a boat recently that had solved the problem of cooking rice AND something at the same time. The owner had three IPs lined up on the counter with fiddles and tie downs. That meant there was no counter space left for prep. In my notes, should I win that job, is “remove, wrap, and store IPs for trip; return to counter at destination.”
Like any tool, it has a learning curve. I like that it drastically reduces stovetop mess and can cut cook time, or allow for cooking and holding at serving temp. 24-hour yogurt is also a breeze. I wasn’t convinced at first but now I’m not looking back.
While it’s not for me, as I love the preparation of food, I understand the attraction to the IP for parents with kids who are running this way and that with after-school activities who want to put a healthy meal on the table with as little fuss as possible, for those people who aren’t good cooks, or for individuals who can’t stand for long periods of time doing prep work or stirring. Sometimes a “set it and forget it” works.
Yesterday was all over the place. We hit the beach for a few hours in the morning. Weather was beautiful and despite the warning of a storm later in the day, the water was as tranquil as ever. Given our schedules in the next week and my sheer avoidance of the beach on weekends due to traffic, this might have been our last beach visit of the summer. Well, until “Local Summer” begins in September after Labor Day.
Then in the afternoon, we attended the wake of my good friend who passed a few days ago. We picked up pizza on the way home since one of our favorite spots is near the funeral home. There were plenty of martinis when I got home.
No knife and fork for you @Auspicious! Frankly I don’t use mine as much as I thought I would, but that’s true about a few things in my kitchen, and it seems fairy innocuous. As you know, I think of being in a cult as a much more threatening and dangerous thing.
Also it’s great for cooking then keeping something like chili or rice warm when serving to a group.
No, bc I am the only one chez us who likes it. They are dumdums. My sauce was after sauteeing, in turn, the mushrooms, then onions, then beef. I deglazed with white wine, then a little shot of dijon, then a can of broth (it was chicken - all I had), and then maybe a cup of half and half. Thickened with a little cornstarch slurry after all the goodies were added back in.
So sorry for the loss of your friend. It will require more martinis, I’m sure. I wish I could jump into the photo of that pizza and grab a slice. I also resonate with your description of “Local Summer” - we live on the bayside of Cape Cod. After Labor Day, dogs are once again allowed on the beaches and the tourists are gone. It’s a true “Ahhh” season. Again, I’m sorry for your grief.
IP has done a smart job of repackaging a pressure cooker for modern use, by people who didn’t grow up with one or were scared of it or didn’t understand the benefits.
I am a regular PC user, the IP is just a convenient version of one so I don’t need to watch the stove.
Others in the house never used the PCs because their parents didn’t and they were scared. The IP has become a daily use item for them, which is an achievement on the part of the machine designers.
The challenge is the shape and where the heating elements are located. It’s not hard to adapt. I was just particularly annoyed yesterday.
I do appreciate the enhancements to my stovetop PC, and am finally thinking about creating space for it in my apt kitchen.
I AM somewhat wistful about it, Sasha! Just sad that I love good food, eat tons of veggies, and have very few things I don’t like. But I do like cooked tomatoes and am going to roast some because these responses have inspired me!
I’m another!! Chocolate and candy can actually ‘expire’ in my house. Cookies are a different story. I’ve been blessed with a low-grade sweet tooth (my dad is the same way)…I’m the friend who can literally have ONE BITE of your dessert and that’s all I need. If I’m going to have something I choose citrus/berry or savory. Most times, however, I’d rather drink my dessert.
This year, that will start in October (really) at the Jersey Shore. AP and BB have already announced we should hang on to our seasonal beach badges, as they’ll be needed through 9/30 [sidebar: for those of you outside of NJ, we have to pay to get on the beach, and that revenue is really important for most towns].
We’re not losing the tourists nearly fast enough for my taste…word is that many tenants have asked for extensions on their rentals through or at least in to September. SIGH. This is usually my favorite week of the summer because of the ‘outflux’ (If there’s an influx over Memorial Day, shouldn’t it be an outflux now?? Where’s George Carlin when I need him?) /rant
I can bring my own knife and fork. My own chopsticks also. And a knife. grin
I’ll button down my engineering assessment of the idiot pot (I love that - taking it - do you need a payment per use?). It includes things like circuit boards and conformal coating and functionality through short duration power outages (not your current problem).
A real honest-to-goodness manual slow cooker is much better for cooking and keeping warm. I may have posted before that I use a small motorcycle battery (the start battery for my dinghy outboard), a small inverter, and a slow cooker to keep food warm for the ride to a beach potluck. You quite literally cannot do that with an IP.
So those people have no standard of comparison to a real pressure cooker.
I’ve had Gran Marnier for dessert more than once. Sometimes shrimp cocktail. grin
Yeah, that sounds much smarter. A beach sounds nice too.
“I’ll button down my engineering assessment of the idiot pot (I love that - taking it - do you need a payment per use?). It includes things like circuit boards and conformal coating and functionality through short duration power outages (not your current problem).”
I’m not sure what all that means, but still not thinking the Instant Pot equals Jim Jones. I do like a slow cooker with “multicooker” functions.
I’ve been blessed with a low-grade sweet tooth (my dad is the same way)…I’m the friend who can literally have ONE BITE of your dessert and that’s all I need. If I’m going to have something I choose citrus/berry or savory. Most times, however, I’d rather drink my dessert.