Seems like so many people have an instapot. What do you love about it so much? I’ve been reluctant to try because I don’t have room for it, but I feel like I’m missing out.
Tonight for dinner will be Caprese with olives and chips for appetizer with Aperol Spritz Apertif! Then frozen Newman’s Own supreme pizza.
I like my Instant Pot. I use it probably once a week. Could def use it more but since I’ve had it for almost 3 years now (?) I think once a week use is still good use of it.
What I like about it:
@abasket, thanks. I always wondered. Sounds like it would be a nice appliance to have.
I don’t have an Instant Pot but I do have another brand of multicooker that does those functions. For what we eat, I get the most use out of the pressure cook function and the yogurt function. We’ve never really been into crockpot type meals, so don’t use the slow cook function often.
Even in the winter it’s warm here, so it’s great use the multicooker and not heat up the oven or have to cook over the hot stovetop.
These are the things we make in it regularly:
I bought an Instant Pot for D1 and she has been using it quite a bit. I think I’m going to have to buy one for myself with all the good recipes all of you are posting!
Yesterday I bought a rack of lamb from Costco, cut it into individual ribs, seasoned it with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and fresh rosemary from the garden, and grilled them to medium rare on the barbecue.
We pick them up by the bone and eat them like popsicles, hence our name for them: lambsicles.
I don’t have an Instapot–have a different brand that has the same functions, it’s a Fagor… My H bought it at the kitchen store where he’s a regular. because the owners recommended it. Anyway, IMO the best things about this appliance: cooking rice (better than the rice cooker I have) and hard boiled eggs. Also, there’s an Instapot chicken recipe that’s quick and provides really tender chicken that we shred/chop to use in soup. I never considered making stock in the Instapot. H bought himself a huge (18 qt) copper stockpot from Williams Sonom. Making chicken or beef stock is an all-day production that he loves. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t abandon his big pot it for the Fagor. I, on the other hand, would do so–copper pots are a pain to clean!!
Tonight’s menu.
Bleach with a side dish of Lysol.
My husband has been feeding his sourdough starter for a while. Today is his attempt at making a loaf of bread but it’s not looking promising. I think his starter might be messed up. His dough isn’t rising the way it should. However, on the bright side, this morning he made sourdough pancakes with some of his sourdough starter discard. OH my, so good! My 19 y/o actually got out of bed before noon to have some and said they were the best pancakes he’s ever had. They really did have a wonderful taste and texture.
Hopefully the bread turns out to be edible. I’m making macadamia nut pesto today which we will have for dinner mixed with linguini with chicken. I use fresh herbs from my herb garden. This is one of our long time favorite meals - the original recipe is from Bon Appetit from about 20 years ago. The recipe calls for shrimp but my husband can’t eat shrimp anymore so I’m making it with chicken tonight. If anyone is interested in the recipe, let me know and I’ll share it.
@abasket - DH hasn’t liked the crockpot function on the Instantpot, but we only have the original lid. Does using a glass lid make a difference? I’d love to get rid of our crockpot, but he still likes using it.
If you’re going to try this, take the extra steps of pounding them with a meat mallet and then trimming most of the excess fat before grilling. You’ll be glad you did.
@shellfell , I think it does make a difference. I remember my first time using the Instant Pot with the regular lid it comes with and thinking I wasn’t so sure about the outcome. I felt like it was almost TOO slow cooking! I bought the glass lid on Amazon and since then I’ve been happy.
Now I will say I’ve used it for all day cooking - putting it on before I leave work and then letting it go for probably at least 9 hours. If I wanted something done in 6 maybe I wouldn’t be as satisfied.
Good to know. Thanks @abasket.
I use the instapot several times a week. I will never cook pasta another way, even when going into another recipe. Set, walk away, perfect every time with no watching for boil overs. Rice, risotto is so easy. Beans don’t have to be soaked. Fall off the bones ribs in less than 2 hrs. Stews and soups are so flavorful and easy. As mentioned you can start with frozen meat and it just takes a little longer, but not much. Even deserts are good. Cheesecake and pudding cakes are easy. You can tell I’m a convert. And most of the time it is one pot easy cleanup. ?
That’s what I have, too. It regularly got the top reviews when I was looking at buying a multicooker. I really like it. And yes, the Fagor pot is much easier to clean than an 18 qt copper stock pot since it can just go right in the dishwasher (stainless.)
I had that for breakfast!
It’s been a baking kind of morning. I made two challahs which are in their last minutes of baking and smell wonderful. Last week my challahs tasted good but looked horrible. This week I tried a new recipe (Tori Avey) and they look fit for a magazine cover. Hope they taste good too! Also made a lemon poppy seed pond cake that we’ve been meaning to try. Found poppy seeds in my last shopping foray, so today was the day. Easy, easy recipe (I made a few adjustments based on the comments to the original recipe) and delicious! Now the question is what else we will eat for dinner.
My instant pot is a couple of years old but if I were to buy one now, I would buy an instant pot/air fryer combo https://www.crateandbarrel.com/instant-pot-8-quart-duo-crisp-air-fryer/s590705?localedetail=US&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PLA&a=1869&scid=scbplp590705&sc_intid=590705&adpos=&device=c&network=o&gclid=CPS3w67PgekCFTyxZQodV5sHwQ
I found that i had a lid from one of my skillets that fits on my instant pot perfectly, so before you buy one, I’d look and see if you already have one that fits.
Reporting that the citrus marinated chicken recipe that @Bromfield2 linked was a hit. I used boneless breasts that had skin on them. Marinated for about an hour and baked. It’s an easy marinade to make and I had all the ingredients aside from the scallions. I had just two wilted ones and I used those and it was still good.
I’m putting off my babka recipe until I can get to the market to get milk.
Next week I might try challah.
We are having older D and her bf for dinner tonight. We can social distance on our patio and they can use the downstairs bathroom which I will clean after they leave. They have only been out of their house to get groceries and walk their dog.
I am making Ina Garten’s potato salad, burgers (mixed in red onions, garlic, spicy jack cheese and jalapenos with cheddar cheese on top) on brioche buns and corn on the cob. I have an apple pie in the oven and french vanilla ice cream to top it off with. I also have the ingredients for the spicy margaritas we all love.
D1 is going to trim D2’s bangs while she is here. They will both wear their masks when doing this.
I hope everyone has a good weekend. It is going to be 80 degrees here by the coast where I live in San Diego.