Chinese pie VIDEO tutorial, the mashed potato topping too

This is a super quick, easy, cheap and delicious meal, it's a one pot on the stove and into the oven.  These are the videos, just go make it, trust me, you're going to love it.

Here is the blog post link to my Chinese pie:
http://www.tracycooksinaustin.com/2013/02/chinese-pie-isnt-this-cottage-pie.html


I was asked to do a video, so I did... it includes two videos, one for the pie and one for the pressure cooked mashed potatoes.

Hope they're clear enough, oh and be kind, I'm new at this.

the mashed potatoes recipe is:

6 potatoes peeled and cut into hunks
salt, pepper, water, milk, butter

Place the potatoes on a rack in the pressure cooker over about an inch of water, lock and load, high pressure for 8 minutes.

Remove the rack and drain the water out, put the potatoes back in the hot insert and mash, add butter and salt, pepper and milk as you like.  EAT.

Here's the video:

THE NEW NESCO PRESSURE COOKER

WELL WELL WELL, lookie what came in the mail for me today!!  *insert squeals of delight here*  My BELOVED Nesco pressure cooker of 'old' has started to die a slow death.  I have used it daily DAILY for 3 years and I think that's an amazing record of survival for any appliance.  I think the death of the old Nesco is due to the sealing ring and I think a new ring will revert it to it's former glory.

This is the new Nesco Pressure Cooker that I have in my house and am testing:
http://www.nesco.com/products/Kitchen-Appliances/Electric-Pressure-Cookers/Pressure-Cooker-6-Liter-4-functions-in-1-UnitDigital-Controls/session_fd7737ff255b/?utm_campaign=Nesco&utm_medium=Paid%2BSearch&utm_source=Google&utm_term=dehydrator%2Baccessories

THAT being said, I wrote to Nesco and told them about me, my blog and my love of all things Pressure Cooker and VOILA, I'm a product tester (for the moment anyway)

I'm going to be brutal with my testings and will tell you exactly what I think.  I could, easily, write pages about how much I love it, blindly, but that wouldn't be me taking this job very seriously.  I'm going to be honest, brutally honest... ok, that being said, let's rip this baby open and start playing!!

The box is gorgeous! The Cooker is GORGEOUS!
   
I love it in white! The whole cooker feels more substantial than the older model.  Hinged lid! YAY!  I never know where to put the lid when I pull it off the pressure cooker. LOOK at the control panel, fabulous!  BIGGER buttons and a dual color display.  I like the bigger buttons, I don't have squint to see what I want and I won't squash two at once. So far, so brilliant, Nesco.

Oh, uh.  Look at this...  if I lift the lid...and there's still steam in there, isn't it going to cook my wrist?  Who thought this up?  Ok, I won't judge just yet but this isn't brilliant.  On to the cooking.
  

I chopped an onion and threw it in the cooker, set to BROWN, with a squirt of oil and got an instant sizzle! BRILLIANT!  It browns hotter and faster than the old one.  The unit also didn't turn off and have to be reset after a few minutes.  Oh yes, this is good.
   

*ASIDE*  These are two of my Pugs (BabyAlice, rear left and WalterPug rear right) and Guestpug waiting for dinner.  I am trying to explain the recent time change to them, they aren't 'getting' it.

BACK to the onions, beautifully soft and lightly browned in no time at all. I added some beef and shushed it around, a squirt of tomato paste and salt and pepper and browned it.  It browned beautifully evenly.  I'm impressed.  No hot spots and no slanting bottom that sends the stuff to the sides.

I think it's ready to test at pressure.  You will notice I didn't add extra liquid.  There was enough liquid with the fat the water that came out of the meat to be deep enough.  It's how I do it.  IF you feel the need, then add a little water.

    

LOCK AND LOAD, 10 minutes
     at the end, it tells you that it's done... nice.  

Ok, the release button is large and I love the fact you can turn it either way to release it.  It's in the middle of the top and easy to stay out of the way. Ah, the reveal.  The handle is much larger than the previous model, lovely to hold and smooth.  The top didn't get as hot because of the plastic, nice and nice.
   
COLLOSAL BAD DESIGN moment.  If you have to open the pressure cooker before the steam from inside is dissipated...you have to reach over it.  OH WHO THOUGHT THIS UP?

I burned my wrist and I'm a PRO so I switched to using a spoon to open it.  *I later learned how to open it, QUICKLY, without burning myself but people don't usually open pressure cookers QUICKLY.  

I was SO impressed with the design of this model:

THESE THINGS I LOVE;

1.  The condensation reservoir is at the back, with the hinged lid so that it catches liquid from the lid.
2.  The plug is slightly off center at the back so you CAN push it against a wall and not have a plug in the way.
3.  BIG handle.
4.  Easy to reach, read and use regulator knob
5.  BEAUTIFUL control panel.
6.  Easy to read and use buttons.
7.  BIG buttons.
8.  Dual color timer display that also displays when you're at pressure.
9.  LOVE the hinge.
10.  It's easy to remove the lid as well as use the hinge so you're good either way you want to use it.

THE LIST OF WHAT'S WRONG WRONG WRONG:

1.  Having to open the lid across the emerging steam.  BAD form Nesco.

BACK to the test:

I opened it with the spoon but LOOK, the meat is perfect!  Perfectly cooked, perfectly moist, perfectly absorbed the flavors.  I'm happy, even with the singed wrist.
   

The reason I like to make my Chinese Pie in this way is that I can drain the meat into a strainer in the pan I'm going to cook it in.  I can throw away most of the fat (I always keep a little in the pan) then toss the meat in.  I think it's an easier way to do it
.   
After the meat is drained, cover it with frozen corn, I like a lot.  Then make some mashed potatoes and cover the whole thing with them.
   
BAKE the whole thing at about 425 till the tops are brown and the meat is hot
  
 

Serve it with some crusty bread that you make like this one:
http://www.tracycooksinaustin.com/2013/03/crusty-rustic-italian-bread.html
I'd made it the day before and cut off a hunk and threw it in the oven for about 15 minutes to get crusty and warm.  Yeah, it was that good.


SO, the Nesco Test.  In addition to my thoughts above, here's more thoughts, pros and cons:

1. PRO;  The cooker is fabulous, overall and it's a looker!
2. PRO;  The whole thing feels more secure and substantial than the older model.
3. CON;  The recipe book is sad, sad, sad.  They need ME to write them one or at least link to me in their paperwork or website.  I mean, who writes a cookbook to go with a pressure cooker and under meatballs, uses frozen meatballs as an ingredient.  Boo Boo Hiss.
4.  PRO;  I think it browns faster and hotter.
5.  CON:  BAD handle/hinge design placement.  A simple shift of the hinge to the 3'oclock position would allow you to open the unit from the side, thus avoiding any steam on your hand, arm, wrist.  You CAN spin the whole unit and open it away from you but that's a pain to do, especially if you have limited space.

VERDICT:  Day one, I LOVE this machine.  I think you should go and buy it now.  I think it's absolutely worth the money and if you can remember to open the lid fast and use me as your recipe place, the Nesco Digital Pressure Cooker is absolutely the one to get.

THAT being said... let's move to the NEXT TEST

Sticky Rice

Chinese Pie (isn't this Cottage pie?)

I belong to more than a few foodie type groups on Facebook.

The groups I prefer are the type where all the members list the things everyone is making for dinner. No chit chat, no drama, just lists, the odd recipe and some pictures of the tastiest morsels. I participate (contribute) regularly in 3 of them and hope I pull my weight. I tend to post pictures of the final product and since I'm bad at writing actual recipes when I cook, I tend to throw a link to this blog instead of dutifully typing out exactly what I did. I rarely know what I did. I just do it.

Yesterday, a man said he was making Chinese Pie. ?? What the heck is Chinese pie. I looked it up and they said it originated in Quebec. HEY, I grew up in Canada and I've never heard of Chinese pie. I kept Googling and after reviewing the first 45,873 hits of the exact same thing, I decided that tonight, for dinner, it was Chinese pie night. I think it's Shrove Tuesday and we should be eating pancakes but we can do that tomorrow... today is Chinese pie.

Apparently, Chinese pie is ground beef, layered with corn and mashed potatoes, then baked. Well, isn't that Cottage Pie? Cottage pie without the vegetables? I'm so confused. Some recipes had creamed corn which makes me wretch at the thought so I stayed with the versions that use straight up corn.

I decided that on this bad day I'm having, Chinese pie seemed the perfect meal. I had beef, corn and potatoes so that's a solid bonus. I can't see how this isn't going to be bland and awful. Seriously, I'm a snob for veggies and herbs and seasonings and stock. I can't understand how this won't be a dry, powdery blob on my plate.

Although, that being said, there's really nothing bad if it's under mashed potatoes so here we go. I've never made this before so we're going through the first time together.

CHINESE PIE (Tracy's version?  is it my version simply because *I* made it?  I say yes)
(I was accused recently of not giving credit for a recipe I wrote and posted. Well, I didn't because I'd MADE UP that recipe that day and thought it silly to give credit to me, in this case; I did not make this recipe up so I duly and humbly give credit to the entire population of Quebec, the entire Chinese railroad worker population and all their descendants and relatives as well as the whole of the Internet)

Quickie instructions:

1 lb ground beef
1/2 onion (NOT in the original recipes I saw but I HAD to put it in because I'm genetically incapable of cooking meat without an onion, maybe the addition of the onion makes it my version?)
15 oz can corn
mashed potatoes (I'm going to mash 4 giant ones which I'll pressure cook)

Brown beef in cast iron skillet
Add onion and fry around a bit
Pour drained corn over it, smooth it out but don't mix
Layer with mashed potatoes (I'll make a thick layer!)
Bake until brown and delicious looking.
Eat it

Long winded, with photos and commentary, version of instructions:

Brown the beef in a cast iron skillet, i put a little bacon fat in there to help get it started and brown it up, after all I'm going to drain this so it'll just leave flavor. Ohh, look how lovely and brown. Add the onion and shush that around a bit then smooth it out.

  
Melt a little bacon fat in there, you know, to help get it started and brown the meat.  For those who know me in real life, you KNOW I took this bacon fat picture then immediately added more ;)  Just a bit.  I browned the meat until there were dark crispy bits.  There wasn't any fat to drain off so I didn't bother.
  
Add the onions and shush 'em around a bit. Pour the drained corn on it and flatten it out a bit
   
Now, take some potatoes and peel then, cut them up and throw them in the pressure cooker, on a trivet, over about 1 cup of water.  ONLY because I got asked how I cut.  In half lengthwise, cut off the roundy bits about 1 inch, both sides then cut the square middle bit into strips.
  
Cut and into the pressure cooker
  
Lock and load for 7 minutes.  Quick release and I just lift out the steamer basket and let them dry a minute while I toss the water out.
  
I'm going old school masher today. Put the cooked potatoes back in the insert, it's hot so they stay warm and mash your heart out.  I'm not even going to pretend to give you a mashed potato recipe.  It's a personal thing, everyone's is the best.  Make your best version.  I just added copious amounts of butter and milk, salt and pepper and a few grates of nutmeg to be chefy.  I made them a little looser than usual because I wanted them to spread nicely.
  
MASH MASH MASH then plunk it on top of the meat and corn, spread it out a bit
  
Yeah, I drew a fork through so it'd have peaks to go brown and valleys to hold the little puddles of butter I'm about to dot on top.  Yeah I did it.  I also sprinkled paprika on it because that's what all of the online recipes said to do, I'm nothing if not obedient. Into the oven, 400 for 30 and we'll see how it comes out.

WELL WELL, that came out BEAUTIFULLY!  The potatoes puffed up a bit and have a bit of a crust but they're soft and yielding beneath...I see successful crispy peaks and little butter kissed valleys... yeah, that works.
   
As per instruction, I let it sit about 10 minutes and scooped out portions.  It's not much to to look at and for reasons completely unknown, it's absolutely, totally, wonderfully delicious.  I thought it would be bland, dense and awful and I was WRONG!
 
Absolutely delicious.  The meat is meaty, the corn tastes like corn and the potatoes are rich and crisp and soft all at the same time.  There's no sauce but it doesn't NEED any.  Connor had some ketchup on the side because I told him I'd seen that on some of the posts.  He's not a ketchup kid but LOVED it with a little Heinz red.

I'll make it again.  Often.  As I said, Connor absolutely LOVED it and had THREE helpings!  I managed to convince him he needed to leave some for his father (after I helped myself to just a little bit more).  I'm sure he'll like it, even if he won't gush.  I think this would be great in individual servings, even jars, in the freezer, pop 'em out and heat them up.

I have to say, clean up was a breeze too, fry up and layer in the same pan and I did the potatoes in the Pressure Cooker so there was only a masher, a knife and the insert.  EASY.  We LOVE easy.

I'll take a moment to say I am pleased I didn't futz with this first time out,  I briefly thought of adding other veggies, carrots and then maybe some liquid to make a sauce or a gravy and then I realized I was trying to turn it into cottage pie, or shepherd's pie.  This isn't either of those.  It's old school, simple, good, food.

I'm a great champion of old fashioned, simple, food.  Food that takes a little time and sometimes is as easy as three ingredients baked in the oven.

I'm pleased I did this straight.  Next time, though, I'll do it exactly the same way. So, the verdict: 100% success.  Go make this...SOON!

/enjoy