I have entered my favourite Pressure Cooker recipe into a competition with Lee Kum Kee.
Please would you be lovely and vote for me? You can find the recipe when you vote.
It is a one click vote and the recipe is so good. The teenager asks for it every week.
PLEASE and THANK YOU
I have talked about fellow blogger Two Sleeves and her Indian cookbook for the pressure cooker before. Tonight I used her Rice Kheer recipe as a guide for making my Rice Kheer. I changed it up a bit because I just have to. It was delicious. Her recipe says it serves 6 but that would be very small portions, I would say 4.
I like mine thick but if you want to thin it out add more milk or even a bit of cream. You can eat this at any temperature and it works. Mine was just warm as I took the pressure cooker lid off after 5 minutes on keep warm, gave it a stir and put the lid back on with the cooker unplugged.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cups raisins or other small dried fruit (I used goji berries)
1/4 cup nuts cut into pieces (I used almonds and cut each into 2 pieces)
4 green cardamom pods
1/2 stick cinnamon bark
1/4 cup basmati rice
2 cups of milk (I used trim milk)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar (I used demerara)
Method
Heat pressure cooker in saute mode
When hot add the butter when melted add nuts, fruit, cardamom and cinnamon
Cook for 2 minutes or until you can smell the cardamom
Add the rice and stir until coated
Tip in milk, water and sugar
Put the lid on and set to pressure cook for 15 minutes
At the end of cooking leave the steam to release naturally
Serve as is or with more nuts, fruit and a bit of cream
I didn’t expect us to love this but we did. It is way to easy and a great way to use up those random last tortilla bread, stick them in the freezer and defrost when you are making this.
I warmed ours in a frying pan before cutting them and we had toasted one each too. All you do is heat the pan and put the bread in, turn when it gets a few bubbles and then remove when it is browned. They taste so much better this way.
For the spices, I had some Simon Gault Mexico Fiesta spice mix knocking around so used 3 teaspoons of that. The spices in the recipe will be similar if you don’t have any but it is handy to make life easy. You could even use up the half packet of taco seasoning you have in the cupboard.
This recipe is so easy and I hope you and yours like it too. I read several recipes and came up with this one. Adjust the chili level to your families taste. I kept it mild and we added our own tabasco and jalapenos.
1 tbs olive oil
1 chopped onion
2 cloves chopped garlic
1 fresh chili (your choice with heat) chopped
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp paprika (smoked is fine)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups of chicken broth (Oxo is fine)
1 400g tin black beans
2 x 400g tin tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup lime juice (plastic bottle here, classy!)
1 large chicken breast
Tortilla bread
Heat the olive oil, saute the onion for 3-4 minutes, add garlic and chili
When the onion is soft add the spices and stir for a minute
Add the chicken broth, drained beans, tinned toms, corn, lime juice and place the chicken breast on top
Turn multicooker to pressure cook, set for 7 minutes
Let sit to release steam for 10 minutes (toast your tortillas!)
Open, remove the chicken, shred and return to the cooker, add tortilla strips and stir
Serve with all the bits you like – cheese, coriander, more chili and things like that
Enjoy
I combined several recipes and methods then panicked, flapped and made an excellent Kung Pao chicken dinner. This is seriously going down as a regular dinner in our house. It is pretty healthy and is one of those recipes that will get easier the more you make it.
Apparently, it makes good leftovers.
Ingredients
The sauce
1/3 cup soy sauce (I use low sodium)
1 tablespoon of honey
3 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, minced
1 heaped teaspoon ginger (I use the stuff from the pot as it lasts longer)
1 teaspoon chili flakes (more or less to taste)
1/2 cup water
2-3 dried chilies
The rest-
2 tsp sesame oil
2 chicken breast cut into roughly 2cm chunks
1 tablespoon cornflour
Salt and pepper
1 onion cut into small cubes
2 capsicum in small cubes
1/2 head broccoli sliced through so it is thin
1/2 cup peanuts or cashews
2 tsp cornflour mixed with enough water to make 1/4 cup of paste
Instructions
To make sauce mix everything in a jug. If you are making it in advance, don’t add the dried chili until you add it to the multi-cooker
Put multi-cooker on the saute setting to heat.
Place chicken, cornflour, salt and pepper in a plastic pot with a lid or bag and shake.
Add sesame oil to the multi-cooker and when sizzling add the chicken and onion to brown.
When the chicken and onion are browned add the sauce.
Lock the lid on and set the pressure cooker for 4 minutes. When the 4 minutes have finished leave the pressure cooker for 4 minutes to release pressure naturally (NPR).
Prepare the capsicum, broccoli and cornstarch mix while the pressure cooker is doing its magic.
Release the remaining steam and lift the lid, add the vegetables, cook for 3-4 minutes stirring to stop the sauce from burning.
Add the cornflour paste stir, then add nuts.
Remove dried chili and serve with rice.
To be honest, when I got my pressure cooker I didn’t think I would use it half as much as I do. I love it. When the day comes that the kitchen gets revamped we will live off pressure cooker meals. We cook all sorts in it and it is great. So much more taste than slow cooker meals. There is still a bit of faffing around but once that lid is on and it is doing its thing, there is freedom.
Currently, our favourite thing to cook is Indian Food. I am following the recipes of another blogger, Two Sleevers. She has a great FB group where everyone is very friendly and full of advice. For a while there I was just an observer but I bought the book and it is my most used recipe book. I used it just tonight.
Our dinner this evening was a very good chicken biryani from Two Sleevers book. It didn’t look much, it was marvellous and full of taste. The only things I changed were sneaking in a few frozen mixed vegetables right at the end and using chicken breasts. It was a really decent dinner.
If you are sitting on the fence about getting a pressure cooker, I say do it. You can email me and ask anything. I have a Sunbeam Avia which was on sale at JBHIFI a while ago.
You can see my post about cheesecake in the pressure cooker here.
You know when Facebook tells you that you will like a certain page and you click and think ,YEAH! Well that happened with me and BexanCo NZ. I clicked the link to the page, shared the page on my Muffin Mum page to ask if anyone had tried it. BexanCo got back to me and offered me a couple of sachets to try. Us Muffins love our spicy food and buy our rice in bulk, I wasn’t going to say no. Tonight we tried the Cashew Nut Curry.
To be honest, I didn’t expect to be impressed and was wondering why I would buy a sachet of spices? I have spices in my cupboard and can make a good mix. However, my spices are not fresh. I confess I am a spice hoarder and it has to stop.
This sealed packet of perfectly balanced spices and cashews was fresh, very fresh and smelt delicious. To cook I went a little off track from the directions on the packet and used the Pressure Cooker.
I browned the onions, then the chicken, added the spice, a drained tin of chopped tomatoes and a tin of coconut milk.
I cooked it in the pressure cooker for ten minutes, did the instant release and added some frozen international vegetables, I simmered for about 10 minutes.
This Cashew Nut Curry was delicious, seriously delicious. I would happily serve it at a dinner party and be proud. That is a very an excellent approval rating from me. BexanCo NZ impressed me and I didn’t expect it. Mr Muffin commented that it wasn’t a curry he would normally order but it had opened his eyes. It was similar to a Madras in a NZ curry house. The spice rating was balanced and Miss ate a good sized portion and no complaints were heard.
All up, yes I would buy the Cashew Nut Curry, it was a great easy dinner in the pressure cooker and we all look forward to trying the BexanCo NZ Curry.
I apologise for the not very impressive photos but we were hungry
Yes, I did.
We recently purchased a multi cooker with a pressure cooker setting and we are loving it. I am using the term we because Mr has got on the Pressure Cooker bandwagon and has perfected a chicken and cashew dish. The most interesting thing I have made is the cheesecake.
This cheesecake is the best I have ever made. It is a thing of beauty, well not when it first comes out and looks a bit like the moons surface, it defiantly needs some form of decorating to make it look fab. It certainly tastes fab.
The recipe I used is a mash up of a couple. I combined my favourite biscuit base from Hummingbird Bakery and the cheese part is from Great Big Pressure Cooker Book : 500 Recipes For Every Day And Every Make Of Machine. I tweaked and made it mint flavoured with nice layers effect. One layer was chocolate mint and the the top was mint chocolate chip.
Right, the recipe. If you don’t get any of my bumbling let me know and I will clear anything up. The most important thing is to have the sour cream and cream cheese at room temperature, I said ROOM TEMPERATURE. My plan is to keep the basic recipe the same but use different types of chocolate. I see a future where I add cherry in some form.
Above you can see the foil sling, the cheesecake in the cooker with the handles folded back and the final result. If you look closely at the final result you will see a few finger dents. I tested it by touching it and feeling it was solid.
A 20cm (8 inch diameter) spring-form cake tin (check fits in pressure cooker) lightly oiled – butter is fine.
About 50 cm length of foil folded in to 1/3 length ways
Base
220g (8oz) digestive biscuits (I used Wine biscuits)
100g (3½oz) unsalted butter, melted
Filling
2 packets of cream cheese (Philadelphia)
1/4 c packed dark brown sugar
1/4 c white sugar
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks (at room temp)
250g Whittakers Ghana Dark Peppermint
1/4 c sour cream
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Put 2 cups of water in the pressure cooker and put the rack in too (should come with cooker)
Crush biscuits and stir in melted butter, leave for a few minutes for the butter to absorb
Put crumbs mix in base of prepared pan and press gently with a glass, craft the biscuits up the side of the tin so there is a lip of 2/3cm up the side
Place in fridge for a minimum of 1/2 hour
Break off 2 rows of the chocolate and set aside
Gently melt remaining chocolate in microwave or over a double boiler, allow to cool for 10 mins
In a food processor with a blade process the cream cheese and sugars until smooth
Scrape down the sides, add the whole egg and process.
Add yolks one at a time processing in between
Scrap sides again and add , sour cream , flour and vanilla
Process again until kind of soft and fluffy
Remove 1/3 of the mix and put into a bowl, cut the 2 lines of chocolate into chunks and stir through this mix
Add the melted chocolate in to the remaining 2/3 of mix
Place prepared tin onto the centre of your foil sling , you are going to use it to take the pan out of the pressure cooker
Pour chocolate mixture onto the biscuit base and then top with the chocolate chunk mix
Give it a gentle wobble to level
Using the sling, lower the pan into the pressure cooker. Try to make sure the foil is pushed away so it doesn’t cover the pan at all but you can unroll to use as handles
Cook on High for 25 mins
Unplug the pressure cooker at the wall and allow to release pressure naturally
Remove using the sling
There may be water on the top, don’t panic just blot with a piece of kitchen roll
Run a knife around the outer edge/tin to loosen
Allow to cool on a rack for 1 hour, refrigerate for a few hours before eating.
Decorate the top with whatever takes your fancy, sorry but it isn’t pretty. I grated a Whittakers Mint Sante Bar over the top
Enjoy
Muffin Mum 