All posts filed under: Pressure cooker

Brown hard boiled eggs on a teal plate

Instant Pot 7-Hour Eggs in 75 minutes (Korean Sauna Eggs)

Published by Mike Vrobel

Forget about 5-5-5 hard-boiled eggs. How about 7 hour eggs, cooked under pressure in an Instant Pot for an hour? Cooked so long the whites turn brown? Instant pot 7-Hour eggs sound so weird. I MUST TRY THEM. The picture of a brown egg inside a white shell grabbed me: Make Korean Sauna Eggs in Your Instant Pot[skillet.lifehacker.com]. I read the recipe, then started googling around, trying to figure out why it’s “Sauna Eggs”. The story is, Korean bathhouses take advantage of the wet, steamy heat in their saunas to cook eggs all day long. They cook for so long that the eggs brown in the shell. (I also found references to food scientist Harold McGee trying this, getting similar results with an hour of pressure cooking.) Like I said, I had to try this out. Based on Harold McGee’s timings, with my usual adjustment for electric pressure cookers, I went for 75 minutes in my Instant Pot. Water, salt, a rack, and the eggs – that’s everything. Lock the lid, set the pot to …

A bowl of beef brisket soup with carrots, green onions, and thyme, in an orange bowl on a slate-gray background

Instant Pot Beef Brisket Soup

Published by Mike Vrobel

“Beef brisket soup? That sounds goooood” said my dental hygienist. “Uhnhuh” I gargled back. It was the usual dentist office conversation – get asked a question (What am I cooking right now? “Instant Pot Beef Brisket Soup”) and then try to carry my side of the conversation with a mouth full of dental tools. But my hygenist is right – this soup is gooood. (I could hear the extra O’s when she said it). The key is homemade beef broth. Yes, you can use store-bought beef broth, but the difference between homemade and store-bought is dramatic. Homemade broth is pressure cooking’s killer feature. Take the time, at least once, to make broth in your Instant pot, and you’ll see what you’re missing. I make a big batch of broth on a lazy Sunday afternoon, and freeze the results. Then I’m stocked up for soup1, and can hurry through the rest of this recipe on a busy weeknight. (And, if you’re really into it, you can make homemade hominy, like I did last week.) Brisket is …

An orange bowl of turkey and bean chili, sprinkled with cheese and green onions, with a bowl of cheese and green onions in the background

Instant Pot Quick Turkey Chili with Canned Beans

Published by Mike Vrobel

It’s chili time! The super bowl means chili for a crowd. For my family’s Super Bowl party, I make two chilis; a real-deal Texas Red chili, and a wimpy chili. (What can I say – I’m from Ohio. Around here, “chili” means ground meat and beans.) Not that I’m against Wimpy Chili – I grew up on it, and I’m a big fan. This is the quickest way I can make it: Instant Pot Quick Turkey Chili with Canned Beans. I have a standard chili technique, so this recipe will look familiar to long-time readers. The mix of spices is the key – I like the hint of Mexican Mole that coriander, cinnamon and cocoa powder bring to the turkey chili. Now, I say “canned beans” here, but I know you have an Instant Pot. (If not, I’m impressed you’re still reading!) To take this recipe from great to fantastic, pressure cook your own beans. Homemade beans are easy with an Instant Pot (or other pressure cooker), and so much better than canned. Check out …

A red bowl of Turkey Soup with Mashed Potato Dumplings on a white background

Instant Pot Day-After-Thanksgiving Turkey Soup with Mashed Potato Dumplings

Published by Mike Vrobel

I have a confession: I didn’t make this soup the Day After Thanksgiving. I stashed the leftovers from my Christmas turkey in the freezer…and forgot about them. I was googling around for a recipe idea when I stumbled across the idea of mashed potato dumplings. That’s when I remembered the frozen turkey bones in my freezer, and the leftover mashed potatoes from Sunday dinner. I loaded up my Instant Pot with frozen turkey bones and I was off to the races. This is why I beg people to save the bones from roast birds. Leftover turkey, roast chicken, whatever you’ve got – it makes a fantastic pressure cooker broth. After you have broth, the world is your…soup? Yes, the world is your soup. Where was I? Oh, yes, mashed potato dumplings. I couldn’t pass up using leftover mashed potatoes in turkey soup, or calling it Day-After-Thanksgiving soup. (If I could work stuffing and cranberries in somehow, I would. But that seems a bit too far.) The potato takes the place of the milk, butter, and …

Cooked black beans in an orange bowl with a jar of chipotles behind it

Instant Pot Chipotle Beans

Published by Mike Vrobel

When I’m not busy being a food nerd, I’m a Science Fiction and Fantasy nerd. (I’m sure this is a shock to all of you.) One of my favorite authors is Ursala Vernon; her Clockwork Boys series were , and she mentioned “Chipotle Beans” on Twitter a while back. I immediately thought “What a great idea!” Instant Pot Chipotle Beans, here we come. So I made a batch – saute some aromatics, add chipotle, cook the beans in my magic bean cooker, the Instant Pot. They were fantastic…and it looks like I’m not the only one to think so. It turns out, Ursula’s husband Kevin got the recipe from the Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook. Which, I’m ashamed to say, has been on my Kindle for over a year now, but I never got around to opening it up. In other words, special thanks to Laurel Randolph’s cookbook for indirectly inspiring this recipe… What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below. Related Posts Instant Pot Pinto Beans Pressure …

Instant Pot German Pot Roast with Mustard (Senfbraten)

Published by Mike Vrobel

Grandma said: If you want luck in the New Year, you have to have pork on New Year’s Day. Who am I to argue with Grandma? Here’s my New Year’s day recipe inspired by the German side of my family, Instant Pot German Pot Roast with Mustard. In Germany this is a Senfbraten, or mustard roast, pork rubbed with mustard and cooked with onions, carrots, and thyme. I use my Instant Pot Pot Roast trick of cutting the roast into pieces – it cooks faster and more evenly. Other than that, it’s a standard pot roast; brown it to add a flavorful crust, sauté the onions, simmer in a little wine, add the roast and some broth, and cook with carrots until falling-apart tender. (You don’t have to add the carrots, but they’re my wife’s favorite part. I get asked a lot of pointed questions if there aren’t carrots.) Oh, and of course I made a side of Sauerkraut and Kielbasa – Grandma says you need pork AND sauerkraut for luck in the new year. …

Instant Pot Italian Ricotta Cheesecake

Published by Mike Vrobel

Reader Ray needs an Instant Pot Italian Ricotta Cheesecake recipe. I can’t let him down, can I? Of course not! I started researching recipes, which broke down into two major techniques. The first is all-ricotta-cheese cakes, usually with the egg separated, the egg whites whipped and folded into the cake. In other words, a ricotta soufflé. The other kind are Italian-American hybrids, using both cream cheese and ricotta cheese. That’s the kind I went with – I’ve never had much luck with soufflés, and separating and whipping seemed like too much work. After that it was pretty much my standard Instant Pot Cheesecake Technique, with ricotta mixed in. Oh, and a dusting of powdered sugar, and seedless raspberry jam as a topping. Looking for a cheesecake with Italian sprezzatura? Here it is. What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below. Related Posts Pressure Cooker Pumpkin Cheesecake Pressure Cooker New York Cheesecake Pressure Cooker Salted Caramel Cheesecake My other Pressure Cooker Recipes Enjoyed this post? Want to help out DadCooksDinner? …

Fagor America is now Zavor

Published by Mike Vrobel

ZAVOR is the inspired creation of the team behind Fagor America. After closing its doors, the minds behind the top pressure cooker brand in the country put all their efforts into continuing the product line on their own terms, enter ZAVOR. ZavorAmerica.com I was worried we were losing the Fagor line of pressure cookers. Great news! I was wrong! Zavor has risen from the ashes of Fagor America. My long-time favorite stovetop cooker, the Fagor Duo, is back as the Zavor Duo (along with the Zavor Elite, a Macy’s exclusive, and the Versa, a Bed Bath and Beyond exclusive..) Even better, the Fagor Lux electric pressure cooker line is now the Zavor Lux, Lux Edge, and Lux LCD, all in 4-, 6-, and 8-quart sizes. They’re my favorite “Non Instant Pot” electric pressure cookers, and I’m glad they’re still around to keep Instant Pot on their toes. Zavor fixed a couple of my complaints from earlier models. They changed the gasket holder on the 8-quart lids, and they added a “Mute” feature to stop the …