PressureCooker InstantPot Bangers (sausages) and Onion gravy to be smothered over your favorite mashed potatoes

I love bangers and mash.  I love sausages in a thick, rich, onion gravy.  I love it smothering mashed potatoes.  Yeah there's not much that makes me happier, culinarily speaking of course.

Sausages are cheap, potatoes are cheap, frozen peas and fresh onions, super cheap. 

I am suffering miserably with allergies in the Air Plague of Austin, Texas, 2017, half the population can't breathe or speak without coughing up a lung.  I am living in that musty area between and am suffering with both.  I want warm, squishy, food and don't want to watch an oven or DO much.

Hello Mr. PressureCooker, let's play

TRACY'S PRESSURE COOKER INSTANT POT BANGERS AND MASH 

(WITHOUT THE MASH, MAKE YOUR OWN FAVORITE MASHED POTATOES) 

WITH ONION GRAVY

INGREDIENTS

Sausages, you favorite.  I am using Italian, medium, 5, cut in half
olive oil
2 large onions
salt
pepper
thyme
sage
water/broth/combo, 10 oz
worcestershire sauce
THICKENING
2 tb cornstarch
1/4 cup water


METHOD AND PLAY BY PLAYS

Turn on the pot, saute setting, fry the sausages around
Add onion, spices, fry around a bit
Add liquid
LOCK AND LOAD high pressure 18 minutes
OPEN when timer is done, if you want thicker sauce; combine 2 TB cornstarch and 1/4 cup water in a glass, add to boiling liquid, a little at a time, until desired thickness.
Turn off pot, cover, leave till dinner.

THE PICS AND STUFF

Turn the pot on to SAUTE and add a little olive oil.
Remember this:  HOT PAN, COLD OIL, FOOD WON'T STICK.
Remember that always and you will never have food stick.  So, preheat the oil then drop your sausauges in, I cut mine in half, don't if you don't want to.  I used 5 Italian Sausages, medium.

    

OH look how they're looking, when they're sort of brown, add pepper then add cut onion and shush them around a bit, pepper the onions and cook them for a minute or so.  ALWAYS cut your onion for this pole to  pole, that way they will not go stringy.    Cut the top and bottom off the onion (north and south pole)  Cut through the middle of the onion (the equator) then slice the onion with the knife going north to south into pieces as thick as you'd like.

    

Add salt, thyme, sage, stir around and then add a little worcestershire sauce.

    

Add 10 oz liquid, water, broth, combo... I have a little bisto added and a secret ingredient that if I told you, my family would never eat it again so just leave it... add water/broth or your favorite liquid combo.  LOCK AND LOAD, manual for 18 minutes

    

When the times goes, turn the cooker off and wait 10 minutes then release the pressure.  The reason?  when the timer went off, the dog started having an issue outside so I needed to go deal with it so, I turned the pot off and went outside to help him for about 10 minutes.  You can quick release if you want, this is cooking, not brain surgery :) 

OPEN the pot, oh man this smells good and the sauce is so sausage-y, much more than if you fry these on the stovetop or even bake them.  Wow.  ANYWAY

Turn the pot to SAUTE and bring back to a quick boil.  I want my gravy thicker so I mixed a TB of cornstarch with about 1/4 cup water and added it, a little bit at a time, stirring and waiting till it comes back to the boil each time, until it was the thickness I want.

    

Stirr, sample, stir, sample.  OH it's rich and thick, man I love this. I think it needed more pepper

    

OK, done.  I put the lid back on, pushed it back, turned it off... it'll stay warm in there for hours.  Dinner is in about 2 hours for me so I'll make some mashed potatoes and serve it up.  I'll add the purely for beauty shots in a couple hours.  FOR NOW, grab some sausages, onion and the instantpot and let's get everyone eating this delicious, cheap, easy, rib sticking, tummy warming and absolutely fabulous meal.

/enjoy

OK, here's the beauty shots

 

 

Mince or Hamburger stew in the Pressure Cooker, dinner on the table with one pan and 15 mins of pressure.

I  have certain dishes that are my comfort zone motherlodes.  I need the flavor, texture and smells of my mother's kitchen.  Mince is one of those meals, actually it's probably THE meal.  I love it, it's fast, easy and delicious.  Best of all, it reminds me of my mom and being cooked for and taken care of.

I had three 'playdays' in a row with girlfriends.  Not that I'm complaining about girlfriend playdates but as joyful it makes the soul, it exhausts the body.  I stood in the middle of the kitchen with a 1.3 lb pack of ground beef and knew I had no energy to be creative.  I wanted my mom to come cook for me and then I spied it....my pressure cooker....looking at me, smiling.  Ok, it wasn't actually smiling at me but I felt the love.

I've been making mince (hamburger stew to the locals) on the stovetop for a hundred years and didn't think to pressure cook it.  That's changed.  This is what I did and frankly, I'll never cook it stovetop again.  Wow, no hours of simmering to get the thick beefy veggie gravy, 15 at high pressure and we're there.  Get your pen and dig out the pressure cooker, we're making mince.

TRACY'S MINCEMEAT (OR HAMBURGER STEW) IN THE PRESSURE COOKER

*ok, technically it's my mom's :D

INGREDIENTS

1 lb +/- ground meat.  I use beef all the time but if you want something different, go for it.
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 rib of celery, chopped
(any other root veggies you have, chopped, like rutabaga, parsnip, turnip, potatoes)
Bayleaf, fresh or dry
Worcestershire sauce
oil (or bacon fat)
handful of frozen peas
handful of frozen corn
salt, pepper
tomato paste (optional)
water
flour

INSTRUCTION AND METHOD

Fry up the meat and veggies (not frozen) in the pressure cooker till the meat is browned.  Add a little flour and fry it till the flour is dark and there's no loose oil/fat around in the pan. IF you are using a little tomato paste, add it with the flour and fry till dark. Add water to almost cover and scrape up the brown bits.  Add some worcestershire and drop in the bay leaf.

Lock and load, 15 minutes on high pressure.

Release immediately or leave it to come down on it's own, it doesn't matter.

Add the frozen veggies and stir.   Cook about 3 minutes.

If the mince is too loose, boil it down a little, if it's too dry, add a little water or stock :)

Season with salt and pepper.

Serve over mashed potatoes or in baked potatoes.  It takes a little meat a much longer way, use leftovers in pie or in a bowl.

PLAY BY PLAY PICS 

Throw the meat, carrots, celery and onion in the bowl of the pressure cooker, set to brown and fry it up.  When the meat is brown, sprinkle a little flour over it, fry till the meat is dry and there's little yummy brown bits to scrape up.

    

Add the bay leaf, water to almost cover and a little worcestershire sauce.  Lock and load, set for 15 mins, high pressure.

    

 Prepare the gargantuan potatoes.  I had baked potato (jacket potato), as a bowl for my mince, the gravy mixes into the potato, oh it's all kinds of good.

Release pressure if you're starving, leave it on warm if you're not.  Open and stir and check for seasoning, add salt and pepper.  If it's too thick, add water/stock and if it's too loose, boil it down for a few minutes.

Add a handful of frozen peas and frozen corn, shush it around a bit and leave about 3 mins to cook through. Taste for seasoning, add salt and pepper as you desire.

    

Random beauty shots... I love this stuff.  it's rib sticking, delicious and crazy comforting. 

  

Go make some and think of me and my mom :D 

/enjoy